The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 225
THE SYSTEM OF MUSHAWARAT IN JAMA‘AT-E-AHMADIYYA importance o f the work, more and more delegates w ill be participating, and the work w ill not be completed in three days. Moreover, longer duration w ill make it easy for us to give more time to those who wish to speak at length. There is a proverb in Punjabi: ‘The fruit which takes longer to ripen is all the sweeter for it. ’ If a mango is covered up with fifteen quilts to ripen it quickly, it shall only rot because o f excess heat, but if it is allowed to ripen in moderate heat, it w ill turn out very sweet. The progress o f the Jama'at has also been gradual. Take for instance the case o f the first Shura. Only about 150 dele gates participated in it, but later the number exceeded 500. True, the numbers did come down after the Parti tion, but they are beginning to increase once more. Whenever something new is started, only a few people at first take part in it. Very few people turned up for the. first Jalsa Salana in Rabwah, but now the number has gone up to forty, even fifty thousand, and in the coming years the figure shall, Inshaallah, rise to a hundred thou sand and more. This year the Agenda o f Shura was completed in three days, instead o f four, but when we get used to holding it for four days the delegates w ill be mentally prepared, and the number o f participants w ill also increase. ” [Report Majlis-e-Shur§, 1956, pp. 105-106] Thus a number o f suggestions were considered for the duration o f Shura, but in practice its duration remained three days. Except in case o f emergencies, the Shura has neither been held twice a year nor has it been extended to four days. 22 5