The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 32
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ' at - e -A hmadiyya S hura in the F inal D ays of K hilafat - e -R ashida As already mentioned, Hadrat cUmarra firmly established and organized the system o f Shura during his Khilafat. Hadrat ‘Uthmanra continued this process by consulting eminent Companions and government officials. Most of the time when important matters came before him, he would call the Shura, and this Shura would include gov ernment officials. Once an issue pertaining to the Holy Quran was brought to the notice o f Hadrat ‘Uthman1 3 by the people o f Iraq. They argued that since they had been taught the Holy Quran by Hadrat Abu Musa Al-Ash‘arira, their Q ira’at (recitation) o f the Holy Quran was more accurate than that of the Syrians. The Syrians, on the other hand, claimed that their recitation was more correct as they had been taught by Hadrat Miqdad bin Al-Aswadra. Hadrat ‘Uthmanra consulted the Companions on this issue and it was decided that only that particular manuscript o f the Holy Quran should be followed which had been collected in written form during the Khilafat o f Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddlqra and had been handed over to Hadrat Hafsara for safekeeping. He also ordered that all other manuscripts should be burnt, and this order was carried out. [Al-Kamil fit-Tarikh by Ibn-e-Athlr, vol. 3, pp. 11M12J Once Hadrat ‘Uthmanra summoned all the governors to Medina to discuss measures for maintaining law and or der in the land. Officials from the smaller provinces were also invited, as were members of Majlis-e-Shura 32