The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 425
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya The Status of Khilafat: Before going into further detail, let me explain the status o f Khilafat, for whose sake we had pledged not to fear any opposition. At the demise o f Hadrat Khalifatul Maslh Ira, I met the people who had broken away from the Jama'at and had established their own Anjuman, and told them that there could be no second opinion about the election o f the Khalifa, and I was willing to accept as Khalifa anyone whom they chose. At that time I also assembled the members o f my family and told them that if the other party insisted that the Khalifa should not be from amongst those o f our way o f thinking, we should accept their choice for the Khalifa in order to maintain the unity o f the Jama'at. At this someone said, how can we accept as Khalifa someone who does not conform to our beliefs? I said that if you cannot tolerate this, then how can they tolerate that one o f us should be the Khalifa? If you do not accept the person o f their choice, I w ill leave you and accept him as the Khalifa. Thus it was decided that we should try to elect as a Khalifa someone who has not expressed opposition to our beliefs, and has the confidence o f the other group. The names o f Mir Hamid Shah Sahib and Maulawl Muhammad Ahsan Sahib were proposed, and we agreed that if they chose any one o f them as the Khalifa, w e would readily accept him. But (I said) if they insist that Maulawl Muhammad ‘A ll Sahib should be made the Khalifa, even then we should agree with them, otherwise I w ill part company with you. I took this pledge from everyone and then I said to Maulawl Muhammad ‘A ll Sahib, “If you want anyone from your group to assume the office o f Khalifa, we are ready to accept him, but if you say that there should be no Khalifa, this we w ill never accept, and our ways shall 4 2 5