The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 183
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama * at - e -A hmadiyya clear from his assessment o f the matter that he not only approved o f it but also felt that a time would come when women would have to participate in these matters along side men. As a proof o f this, he permitted women to speak in this Majlis for the first time, but he did not make this a rule and said that the previous procedure would continue. In order to dispel the apprehension that perhaps it was against the Shariah, he invited the representatives o f women to speak, but no one spoke. Then he felt that perhaps men would not like to hear the voice o f their own women, so he said that the women o f his own fam ily may speak if they so wished. Still silence reigned. He then said, Look! You are making history for all times to come. If you shy away from exercising your right while men are speaking in your favour, you w ill prove that you are not competent for this task. I am telling you so, and I w ill now give you a few minutes to speak if you want to. The first woman who made history and spoke in Majlis- e-Shura was UstanI Maimuna, an active member o f Lajna Imaillah, who was the mother o f the late Malik Ghulam Ahmad ‘Ata Sahib, Waqif-e-Zindagl and Wakil (Tehrlk Jadid). She addressed the Shura for a few minutes. Therefore, we cannot say that this is the first Majlis-e- Mushawarat in which a woman has directly addressed the house. This may be the third such Majlis-e-Mushawarat. The first one was that in which UstanI Maimuna spoke, the second was this year’s Majlis-e-Shura which consisted o f representatives from other countries, and in which women from Africa and America directly expressed then- views. And this (Mushawarat o f 1983) is the third such Majlis-e-Shura in the history o f Ahmadiyyat, and this practice shall continue in future, Inshaallah. ” 183