The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 76
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya advantages o f the system followed by the Anjuman, and the defects that are cited in this system are present in that system as w ell. Majority opinion, in fact, is not the opinion o f the majority, for there is one leader who influences the opinions o f all others. It is not a question o f the majority, but only a matter o f who is able to attract more votes. This is also what happens in the Parliament when members vote to save the government. Not everyone is competent enough to form a correct opinion, therefore most people follow others. Even those who have an opinion o f their own are influenced by those who are more powerful, and ultimately join them. Thus one party competes with the other and a constant wrangling goes on. But this does not happen in the Shura, since there is no concept o f group or party. The concept o f Anjuman comes to play when some people wish to move ahead o f others, for they know that if everyone is in agreement they w ill have no opportunity for self projection. They, therefore, keep wrangling over issues and try to bring people around to their point o f view and create parties. We have seen an example o f this: as soon as the Anjuman was formed, parties came into existence and the result is self-evident. Although those people have left the Jama'at, some people are still under the spell o f the Anjuman and cannot free themselves from it. Such things happen despite the fact that all the current members o f the Anjuman have pledged B ai‘at and are devoted members. Some time ago a delegation o f Anjuman came to me and said that the work o f the Anjuman was being hampered because a certain person had been sent o ff on some other assignment. They said that he should be reassigned to his previous post. I agreed with them and said that henceforth I w ill not send him 76