The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 68
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya one speaks out. For this reason, only a selected few are invited and they are either consulted separately or some particular people are called to speak. Therefore, no one speaks by him self, and if someone does so, something useful can at times be deduced. The same procedure can be adopted even today if there are regular leaders, but since this is no longer the custom, people have to be se lected for the purpose. (2) The second procedure adopted in the days o f the Holy Prophetsa was that only a few Companions, who were considered competent to render advice, were invited, and the Holy Prophet5 3 would consult them. Such advisers would number around thirty. At tim es, the Holy Prophef3 would call all o f them, and at times he would invite only three or four o f them for consultation. (3) The third method o f consultation adopted by the Holy Prophet5 3 was that, in extremely delicate matters, when he did not consider it proper to bring even two people to gether, he would hold individual consultations. He would call them one by one and discuss the matter separately. This would normally happen when he feared that people might get into a row due to their difference o f opinion. These were the three methods o f consultation, each effec tive in its own way, and it is these three methods that I also use for consultation. Guidelines for Consultation: Since w e are now going to hold consultations, I w ish to point out the things that we need to bear in mind. (1) We have not come here for any worldly gain. I live in Qadian and I have not come from outside, but some o f you, who are farmers, have had to get away from your 68