What are the merits of the Shura, the community's consultative body?

In the Shura people consult one another to find the best way together, instead of fighting each other as opponents. Hardly anything improves a community, its planning and the carrying out of its plans as much as this consultation.

Many people first compare the Shura to a parliament. Yet the difference is great. In many parliaments, opposing camps face each other, each trying to attack and weaken the other. In the Shura there are no opponents. Everyone sits together because they share the same goal, the good of the whole community.

The first verse above names consultation together with Prayer and giving in charity. In Islam, then, consultation is not merely a procedure but a quality of people of faith. Whoever speaks in the Shura should say honestly what they believe is right, while remaining open to the views of others.

The second verse shows how this consultation is ordered. Even the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) was to consult people on important matters. But once a decision has been made, one puts one’s trust in God and acts. In this way the Shura joins shared reflection with a clear decision.

Here lies its great merit. Hardly any other institution improves people and their work so much. Plans become better because many experiences come together. And they are carried out well because everyone took part in the decision and stands behind it.

This is why, in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, the Shura is no longer held in one central place only, but on that pattern in many countries. Wherever it has been introduced, people soon found that nothing helps them move forward like this shared consultation.