The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 411
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya whether or not the Shura is entitled to amend the rules o f Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya pertaining to the election o f office-bearers. Hadrat M usleh-e-M au‘udra gave the following explanation: “A delegate has raised a question as to whether the Shura has the authority to effect any change in the rules o f Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya regarding the appointment o f the office-bearers. This is an important question which needs to be clarified, for it has risen due to lack o f understand ing. If w e are to leave this question unattended it w ill create all kinds o f misunderstandings. The fact is that the Shura never makes any decisions. This is something I have highlighted a number of'tim es. I have repeatedly said that the Shura does not make any decisions, it only gives advice to the Khalifa when he asks for it. Hence the Shura is not the one that decides, rather, in keeping with. the Divine injunction ‘Consult them in mat ters o f importance’, it is the Khalifa who asks for advice and uses it to reach a decision. The Shura does not decide anything by itself. So when you ask whether or not ‘w e’ can change the rules o f the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, it implies that the Shura is a separate and independent body as opposed to Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, and that both affect one another without any intermediary. This is ab solutely wrong. There is no ‘w e’ that can act or react directly. And if by ‘w e’ you mean the Shura, and we take into consideration the fact that the Shura is presided over by the Khalifa, and the Shura can only give advice when the Khalifa asks for it, the question would become: Does the Khalifa have the authority to change a rule o f Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya? This question is again wrong. Hence both aspects o f this question are wrong. It is not 411