The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 359
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama 1 at - e -A hmadiyya ered a sermon standing under a flag. He used the flag on another occasion also, and I do not clearly remember whether it was on the occasion o f Hajj or ‘Umra. But it es tablishes the point that the flag was used on occasions other than wars. ” [Report Majlis-e-Shura 1939, pp. 57-61] R ole of S hura in I ssues R elating to M arriage Marriage is an issue which has always demanded par ticular attention o f the Jama'at, and it has repeatedly been discussed at Shura. In the beginning, the problems were o f a different na ture. Members o f the JamS‘at were o f the view that marrying non-Ahmadi women without permission from Markaz should be prohibited. A proposal to this effect was first initiated by Nazarat Umur ‘Amma and was put before Majlis-e-Mushawarat in 1927. What prompted this proposal was the fact that non-Ahmadi relatives, impressed as they were by the piety o f Ahmadls and their adherence to Islamic values, preferred Ahmad! bridegrooms for their daughters. As far as Ahmad! girls were concerned, the Promised Messiah (as) himself had bound them to marry Ahmad! men only. But since there was no such restriction upon Ahmad! men, they would marry non-Ahmad! girls and Ahmad! girls would go unmarried. This is what strongly motivated members of the Jama'at to propose that, in order to safeguard the rights o f Ahmad! girls, similar restrictions should be placed upon Ahmad! men also, so that they may marry 359