The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 159
T he S ystem of M ush A warat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya number 1871. In the last Shura 579 representatives came. This would imply that 1300 people, who were supposed to come for consultation, did not come, and were guilty o f disobedience. Secondly, if all the representatives were to come, they would number 1871, and if w e also include the representatives o f the various Departments and the Companions o f the Promised Messiah^ who are eligible for membership o f Shura, the total number comes to between 1950 and 2000. But at present we do not have a hall spacious enough to accommodate these numbers, and we would have to meet in some open place, hoping that it does not rain. On the other hand, it is difficult to hold proper consultations with such a large number o f people. This is why I want to establish a sub-committee to determine what the total number o f representatives should be, and how this number should be divided between the various districts. . . I want this sub-committee to consist o f ten members. I w ill give them these statistics to deliberate upon. They w ill have to determine the strength o f the representatives, and if they can divide these numbers between the dis tricts, so much the better, but they must at least come up with a formula to make this distribution. ” [Report Majiis-e-Shiira 1967, pp. 7-9] The sub-committee submitted the following recommen dations to Hudur for approval: 1. The number o f representatives from Jama'ats should be 550. The Companions o f the Promised Messiah (as) and the representatives o f Markaz will be in addition to this 159