The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 352
THE S ystem of M ush A warat in J am A‘ at - e -A hmadiyya to vote in this atmosphere, and the delegates had learnt o f the various aspects of the matter, more often than not they would adopt one view. Yes, at times the opinion would be almost equally divided. In either case, Hadrat Musleh-e-Mau‘udra would mostly accept the opinion of the majority. The same procedure is in place even today. People who judge this spiritual institution of Jama'at-e- Ahmadiyya from a worldly point o f view, at times won der, ‘What is the use o f consultation when the Khalifa has the final authority to accept or reject our opinions?’ They even tend to see these consultations as a camou flage for dictatorship. A study o f the proceedings of Mushawarat, however, will be an eye-opener for such people. They will be amazed to see that in more than ninety-nine percent o f the cases, the Khalifa approves the opinion o f the majority, and on occasions when he disagrees with them, he produces such incontrovertible arguments in favour o f his opinion, so that not only the majority, but the whole house becomes convinced that his opinion is the best. In other words, this is a forum where either the one in authority accepts the verdict of the majority, or the delegates wholeheartedly and enthu siastically accept his decision. Nowhere in the whole wide world can we find an example o f such unity. Moreover, members o f the Jama'at have been trained in such a way—and this is what actually happens—that when the views o f certain members have been rejected by the majority, they do not attach even as much impor tance to their rejected views as they would to a scrap of 352