The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 453
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya at the head o f this century you have come together to demonstrate the best example o f Islamic Majlis-e-Shura. But from another aspect, this Shura cannot be rightly called the first Shura o f Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya in the second century, despite the fact that it is being held in Markaz. This is because it does not enjoy the presence and participation o f Khallfatul Masih. Although Rabwah is currently called the Markaz o f Ahmadiyyat, we can never ignore the fact that Qadian is, and shall remain, the eternal Markaz o f Ahmadiyyat. Why is it then that the events which take place in Rabwah are taken to rep resent the world-wide Ahmadiyya Jama'at, rather than those o f Qadian? The reason is that, although Qadian was and continues to be the physical Markaz, the Markaz— for all practical purposes— shifted to Lahore, and then to Rabwah, when Khallfatul Masih migrated from Qadian. So, both in the physical and spiritual sense, the Jalsas or Majalis-e-Shura that are held in Markaz in the absence o f the Khalifa, cannot be consid ered MarkazI Jalsas or Markazi Majalis-e-Shura. So, although this can be considered the first Shura o f the second century from one point o f view , from another point o f view the first Shura w ill be the one in which the Khalifa is able to participate, by the grace o f Allah. I am not saying this to hurt you in any way or to lessen the importance o f this extremely important Majlis, I only want to make you realize that you should always keep your eyes focussed on the essence and spirit o f things and should not get entangled in the mere physical aspects. I also make a strong appeal to you to join me in prayers so that the (physical) distances which have come between the real and the virtual Markaz may be bridged, and may 453