Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian

Mirza Ghulām Ahmad (ميرزا غلام احمد) ( ਮਿਰਜ਼ਾ ਗੁਲਾਮ ਅਹਮਦ ) (February 13, 1835 - May 26, 1908 CE, Shawal 14, 1250 - Rabi' al-thani 24, 1326 AH) was an Indian religious figure and founder of the Ahmadiyya movement. He claimed to be the Mujaddid (divine reformer) of the 14th Islamic century, the Promised Messiah (“Second Coming of Christ”), the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the latter-days, and a “subordinate prophet”, with some qualifications. He declared that Jesus (Isa) had in fact survived the crucifixion and later died a natural death, after having migrated towards Srinagar, Kashmir in India and claimed that he had appeared in the spirit and power of Jesus. He also maintained that the Messiah and the Imam Mahdi are two titles for one and the same person. His claims caused grave concern in the Muslim and Christian religious circles. According to the established Muslim theological position Jesus, being alive in heaven, will descend himself and that the Imam Mahdi and Jesus were two distinct messianic figures.

He traveled extensively across the subcontinent of India preaching his new religious ideas and ideals and won a sizable following. He is known to have engaged in numerous debates and dialogues with the Muslim, Christian and Hindu priesthood and leadership. Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyya movement in 1889. The mission of the movement, according to him, was the propagation of Islam in its pristine form. His religious endeavor resulted in the emergence of what is known today as Ahmadiyya community.

Ghulam Ahmad wrote more than 80 books, mostly in Urdu and some in Arabic. They contain the exposition and explanation of the teaching which he claimed to have received from God. A wide range of subjects are also dealt with such as the intricate issues of Islamic theology (often expressing his own interpretation or infusing them with new meanings) and mysticism. Many of his books bear a polemic and vindicatory tone. A few of his books were distributed globally during his lifetime. His essay entitled “Philosophy of Teachings of Islam” was well received by many intellectuals including Leo Tolstoy of Russia.

Lineage and background

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's lineage through his forefathers can be traced back to Mirza Hadi Beg, a reputed scholar and chieftain of Mughal / Persian descent. In 1530 Mirza Hadi Beg migrated from Khorasan along with an entourage of two hundred persons consisting of his family, servants and followers.Travelling through Samarkand, they finally settled in the Punjab, India, where Mirza Hadi founded the town known today as Qadian during the reign of the Mughal King Zaheer al-Din Babur. the family were all known as Mughals within the British governmental records of India probably for the high positions it occupied within the Mughal empire and their courts. Mirza Hadi beg was granted a Jagir of several hundred villages and was appointed the Qadhi (judge) of the surrounding district. For generations the descendants of Mirza Hadi held important positions within the Mughal empire and had consecutively been the chieftains of Qadian. Through his fore-mothers, Ghulam Ahmad claimed descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra.

Life

Early life

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born at dawn on Friday February 13, 1835 CE in Qadian, Punjab, India the surviving child of twins born to an affluent family. As a child, he received his early education at home. He learned to read the Arabic text of the Qur'an and studied basic Arabic Grammar and the Persian language. In addition, he also studied some works on medicine from his father, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza who was a physician.

Around the age of sixteen or seventeen he also started studying Christianity. Particularly the Christian missionary arguments against Islam. During this period he is said to have collected some three thousand objections to Islam and set out to reply to them. This culminated in his book entitled Baraheen-e-Ahmadiyya, which earned him some fame and respect among the Muslim scholars.

From 1864 to 1868, upon his father's wishes, he worked as a clerk in Sialkot where he is said to have come in contact with Christian missionaries with whom he would have conversations on religion. After 1868 he returned to Qadian, as per his father’s wishes, where he was entrusted to look after some estate affairs. During all this time Ahmad was known as a social recluse because he would spend most of his time in seclusion studying religious books and praying in the local Mosque. As time passed, he began to engage more with the Christian missionaries, particularly in defending Islam against their criticism. He would often confront them in public debates, especially with the ones based in the town of Batala, about 11 miles (18 km) from Qadian in India.

Revelation before claim

Template:POV-title Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to have received true dreams, visions and revelation even as a youth. In 1869 Muhammad Husein, a leader of the Ahle Hadith sect who had known Ahmad from childhood, came to Batala. Upon Ahmad's visit to Batala, he was requested to hold a debate with Hussein. It is said that he sat himself in the Mosque opposite Muhammad Hussein where crowds had gathered eagerly awaiting an intellectual exchange between the two. He began by asking him what his position was regarding a certain theological point.

Upon hearing his answer and finding that it was in accordance with the Islamic teaching he exclaimed “If that is your view it is most reasonable. There is nothing to be said against it” and he then left to the disapproval of his supporters who, thinking themselves humiliated, began shouting. Ahmad however was not moved and upon his return to Qadian claimed that God had revealed to him His appreciation regarding this matter and told him: “God is Pleased with your humble ways, He will shower his blessings on you, so much so that Kings would seek blessings from your garments.” (Baraheen-e-Ahmadiyya, Vol IV p 520)

Forty days of solitude

In 1886 certain leaders of the Arya Samaj held discussion and debate with Ghulam Ahmad about the truthfulness of Islam and asked for a sign to prove that Islam was a living religion. In order to dedicate special prayers for this purpose and so as to seek further divine guidance, Ghulam Ahmad travelled to Hoshiarpur upon what he claimed was divine instruction. Here he spent 40 days in seclusion, a practice known as chilla-nashini. He travelled accompanied by 3 other companions to the small 2-storied house of one of his followers and was left alone in a room where his companions would bring him food and leave without speaking to him as he prayed and contemplated. He only left the house on Fridays and used an abandoned mosque for Jumu'ah (Friday prayers). It is during this period that he declared God had given him the glad tidings of an illustrious son.

His Claim

Main article: The claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claims were not given all at once but rather developed gradually. He declared that he was the promised Messiah and Mahdi, and that his advent was in fulfilment of the various prophecies regarding the promised reformer of the latter days. This sparked great controversy, especially among the Muslim, Christian and to some extent Hindu clergy. However it is worth noting that he never claimed to be the same physical Jesus who lived 19 centuries before him, as is often misunderstood, but claimed only a spiritual likeness and affinity, and that he had appeared in the same manner and style as Jesus who, according to him, had died a natural death, in contradiction to the traditional Muslim view of Jesus' physical ascension to heaven instead of crucifixion. He sought to justify his claimed position in his books Fateh Islam, Tawzih-i-Marām and Izāla-i-Auhām, in which he persistently wrote about the general decay of Islamic life and the dire need of a messiah. He argued on the basis of scripture that just as Jesus had appeared 1400 years after the time of Moses, the promised messiah must also come now in the 14th century after the appearance of the Muhammad.

In Tazkiratush-Shahadatain he wrote about the fulfilment of various prophecies. In it he enumerated a variety of prophecies and descriptions from both the Qur'an and Hadith relating to the advent of the Mahdi and the descriptions of his age which he ascribed to himself and his age. These include assertions that he was physically described in the Hadith and manifested various other signs; some of them being wider in scope, such as focusing on world events coming to certain points, certain conditions within the Muslim community, and varied social, political, economic, and physical conditions.

He was accused of creating a new religion, a heretical act in Islam, which he repeatedly denied claiming only an Islamic revival and rejuvenation and that he was a Prophet within the Ummah and dispensation of Muhammad just as Jesus was a prophet within the dispensation of Moses. Islamic critics assert that Muhammad is the last Prophet and Muhammad's title of “Seal of the Prophets” and numerous hadith leave no room for ambiguity.

Post Claim

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with some of his companions at Qadian

In time, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claims of being the Mujaddid (reformer) of his era became more explicit. In one of his most well-known and praised works: Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, a work consisting of a number of volumes, he claimed to be the Messiah of Islam which has proven a strong challenge for Muslims to accept, since traditional Islamic thought and volumes of authentic ahadith (collection of hadith) contend that Jesus will return in the flesh at the end of times, establish Islam over the entire world and slay the Dajjal, the Arabic reference to and name for the Antichrist. Ahmad, by contrast, asserted that Jesus had in fact survived crucifixion and died of old age much later in Kashmir where he had migrated. According to Ahmad the promised Mahdi was a symbolic reference to a spiritual leader and not a military leader in the person of Jesus Christ as is believed by many Muslims. With this proclamation he also rejected the idea of armed Jihad, and argued that the conditions for such Jihad are not present in this age which requires defending Islam by the pen and tongue but not with the sword.

The taking of the Covenant

See also: Bay'ah (Ahmadiyya)

In December, 1888 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announced that God had ordained him that whosoever seeks true faith and piety should enter into a Bay'ah with him, and pledge their allegiance to him. In January 1889 he published a pamphlet in which he laid out ten conditions or issues to which the initiate would abide by for the rest of his life. On 23 March 1889 he founded the Ahmadiyya community. Forty people pledged their allegiance to him on this day, when they put their hands with his hand and repeated after him the words:

This day at the hand of Ahmad I repent from all those sins and bad habits in which I had indulged. And intend with a true heart and firm resolve to refrain from all sin till the end of my days with as much strength as I have and will give precedence to faith over all worldly comforts and carnal delights and will try my utmost to abide by the 10 conditions of Baait [initiation] and I seek forgiveness of all my past sins from God Almighty 'I beg pardon from Allah my Lord, I beg pardon from Allah my Lord, I beg pardon from Allah my Lord for all my sins and turn to Him. O my Lord, I wronged my soul and I confess all my sins; pray, forgive me my sins for there is none else except Thee to forgive.

This practice continued for the rest of his life as people travelled from from far and wide to pledge their allegiance and join his community, and was continued by his successor (Caliphs). This became the formal method of joining the Ahmadiyya movement, although physical contact was not always necessary as people are known to have expressed their allegiance during the lifetime of Ghulam Ahmad through writing from places as far as Iran, Arabia, Germany and England

Reaction of religious scholars

In time, the religious scholars turned against him, and he was often branded as a heretic. His opponents accused him of working for the British Government due to the termination of armed Jihad, since his claims of being the Mahdi were made around the same time as the Mahdi of Sudan (Muhammad Ahmad). Many years after his death he was again accused of working for the British to curb the Jihadi ideology of Muslims.

Following his claim to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, one of his adversaries prepared a Fatwa (decree) of disbelief against Ahmad, declaring him a Kafir (disbeliever), a deceiver, a liar, and him and his followers to be permissible of being killed. This decree was taken all around India and was signed by some two hundred religious scholars.

Journey to Delhi

Delhi was then considered a centre of religious learning and home to many prominent religious leaders. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad traveled to Delhi in 1891 with the intention of distinguishing what he believed to be the truth from falsehood, and attempting to make it openly manifest for people through these influential divines, and for the 'completion of proof'. He published an advertisement in which he invited the scholars to accept his claim and to engage in a public debate with him regarding the life and death of Isa (Jesus), particularly Maulana Nazeer Hussein who was hailed as the greatest shaikh and a leading religious scholar. He also proposed three conditions that were essential for such a debate. Namely, that there should be a police presence to maintain peace, the debate should be in written form and that the debate should be on the subject of the death of Jesus.

Eventually it was settled and Ahmad traveled to the Jama Masjid Delhi (main mosque) of Delhi accompanied by twelve of his followers, where some 5,000 people were gathered. Before the debate started there was a discussion on the conditions, which led to the conclusion that the debate should not be upon the death of Jesus, but upon the claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He explained that his claim could only be discussed after the death of Jesus was proven, for Jesus was considered by many to be living and the one who will descend to earth himself. Only when this belief was refuted could his claim to be the Messiah be discussed.

Upon this there was a clamor among the crowds, and Ahmad was informed that the other party alleged that he was at odds with Islamic beliefs and was a disbeliever, therefore it was not proper to debate with him unless he clarified his beliefs. Ahmad wrote his beliefs on a piece of paper and had it read aloud, but due to the clamor among the people it could not be heard. Seeing that the crowd was drifting out of control and that violence was imminent, the police superintendent gave orders to dismiss the public and move them on and the debate did not take place. However, a few days later a debate did take place between Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Maulwi Muhammad Bashir of Bhopal.

Ahmad is known to have traveled extensively across India during this period of his life and having held various debates with influential religious leaders.

Invitation to opponents

Following the decrees of religious scholars and the events thereafter, it is said that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's opponents began persuading people to stay away from the self-proclaimed Messiah by criticizing his claims and why they were false according to the Qur'an and Ahadith. People were also instructed not to follow him, regardless of what he procures, so long as his teachings go against the Qur'an or Hadith.

He published a book called The Heavenly Decree in which he invited all his opponents, religious scholars, Sufis, Pir's, hereditary divines and those who had declared him a disbeliever to a 'spiritual contest', in which the question of whether someone was a Muslim and a true believer or not would be settled by God himself based on the four criteria of a true believer as laid out in the Qur'an. Namely, that a perfect believer will frequently receive glad tidings from God, will be given awareness about hidden matters and events of the future from God, most of his prayers will be fulfilled and that he will excel others in receiving comprehension of the finer points, subtleties and deeper meanings of the Qur'an which will be new in its nature and not observed by a previous scholar or commentator.

According to Ahmad the perfect believer will be dominant and outstanding compared to others in exhibiting these four signs or characteristics. In this book he also laid down the modus operandi for such a contest and it was according to him a perfect way of discerning a true believer from one who is not.

The sun & moon eclipse

In 1894, about 3 years after Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim to be the Mahdi and Messiah, both the moon and sun were eclipsed in the same month during Ramadan. He declared that this was a sign of his truth, and was in fulfillment of a tradition or prophecy attributed to the 7th century Imam Muhammad al-Baqir also known as Muhammad bin Ali.

This occurrence has faced some criticism, with critics of Ahmad asserting that this was a weak tradition with unreliable narrators, one which cannot be traced back to Muhammad himself, and that such eclipses have taken place before. Ahmadis however argue that such eclipses have never taken place as a sign for the truth of any person, and that this sign being mentioned in other religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Qur'an, and the fact that it actually took place while there was a claimant further enhances the reliability of the tradition.

Accusation & Trial

After his claim, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was involved in 7 different lawsuits against his person, but was never convicted of any criminal or civil offence. One such case was following the events of the debate with Abdullah Atham and the prophecy concerning him, when his opponents, Hindus, Christians and Muslims seeking to silence him, are said to have conspired against him.

He was accused of the attempted murder of Dr. Henry Martin Clark of the Church Missionary Society, who had first proposed the above mentioned debate between Ahmad and Atham. The prosecution included Ahmad's most bitter opponents, Dr. Henry Martin Clark, Muhammad Hussian, and Pundit Ram Bhaj Dutt of the Arya Samaj. The case was tried by Captain M.W. Douglas. Dr. Clark filed a complaint in the court of the District Magistrate that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had conspired to kill him and bribed a vagabond youth to give evidence. The youth had earlier visited Qadian and now resided in Dr. Clark's mission. He claimed that Ahmad had sent him to kill Dr. Clark, but his claims were not consistent while giving evidence, adding to the story each time he was questioned. He later admitted that he was coaxed into this by Dr. Clark. Ahmad was found innocent and acquitted.

The following year Ahmad again traveled to Gurdaspur to answer a charge of breach of peace, the cause of which, as alleged by the police, was the threat by the publication of certain of his prophecies.

Knowledge of Arabic

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was criticized for his inadequate knowledge of the Arabic language. Subsequently he claimed to have been taught Arabic directly by God and that he received the knowledge of 40,000 Arabic roots from God in a single night. He wrote some 20 books in Arabic, and Urdu combined with Arabic, as well as poetry upon what he considered was divine direction. He wrote:

All my Arabic books are type of revelation since I wrote them with special support from God. Sometimes I do not understand the meaning of some words and sentences unless I use a dictionary - Seerat-ul-Mahdi, Narration No. 104

Ahmad challenged his critics and contemporary religious scholars to produce the like of his Arabic works with as much help as they wanted individually or collectively. After having been alleged to have hired some experts of the Arabic language to write those books, he gave them leave to call to their aid the learned men and divines of Arabia, Egypt and Syria whose mother-tongue was Arabic thereby extending his challenge to all Arabs and non-Arabs alike. According to Ahmadi sources no one took up this challenge and those who did, only sought to find fault with the works of Ghulam Ahmad and failed to produce any book. He also declared Arabic to be the mother of all languages (Ummul-Lisana) and the original tongue of mankind. This subject he dealt with in detail in his book Minunur-Rahman.

Ghulam Ahmad has however been accused of plagiarising, and altering the words of Arab linguists to appear as his own. He claimed that the Arabic of his Hujjatullah (The Convincing Proof from God) was superior to the Arabic of any other book ever written by man. In this text however, several sentences and occasionally paragraphs are taken directly without alteration, from Maqamat al-Hariri, the best known poetry collection of the Arabic scholar and poet Al-Hariri of Basra.. For this reason, his claim to divine instruction in Arabic is not accepted in Islamic Orthodoxy. Ahmadis point out that only after his use of Arabic was labelled inadequate, ungrammatical and 'unchaste' by his opponents did Ghulam Ahmad deliberately amalgamated his own writing with that of Al-Hariri's in order to expose his opponent, whom he called upon to distinguish between his writings and that of Al-Hariri’s; as stated by him in the beginning of his book Hujjatullah Therefore according to Ahmadis the allegation of plaigiarism does not hold true. Ghulam Ahmad stated:

Thus the method which will free the people from his deception is that we present to him paragraphs from our writing and some other paragraphs from the writings of a great Arab writer while concealing the names of the authors, and then call upon him to 'tell us which paragraph out of this is ours and which is theirs, if you are truthful'. Then if he recognises my sayings and theirs and distinguishes between them as one distinguishes between the shell and the kernel, then we shall give him fifty rupees as a reward.- Hujjatulla, pg. 4-5

The Revealed Sermon

In 1900, on the occasion of the festival of Eid ul-Adha, he is said to have delivered an hour-long sermon extempore in Arabic expounding the meaning and philosophy of sacrifice. This is considered from among the important events of the history of Ahmadiyya, was immediately written down by his companions and came to be known as the Khutba Ilhamiyya, the revealed or inspired sermon. It is said that during this sermon there was a change in his voice, he appeared as if in a trance, in the grip of an unseen hand, and as if a voice from the unknown had made him its mouthpiece. After the sermon ended Ahmad fell into prostration followed by the rest of the congregation as a sign of gratitude towards God.

Ahmad wrote later:

It was like a hidden fountain gushing forth and I did not know whether it was I who was speaking or an angel was speaking through my tongue. The sentences were just being uttered and every sentence was a sign of God for me.

— Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Haqeeqatul-Wahi

Plague & earthquake

Main article: Prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

In 1898 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to have seen in a vision the imminent plague and warned people against it. This plague was at its peak between 1902-1903 and ravaged the Punjab, with an average of forty thousand people dying every week and killing 10 million people in its wake. He forbade his followers to use any preventive vaccine and assured his true followers that they would be saved. His following is known to have grown rapidly during this period.

1905 saw a terrible earthquake, which Ahmad had claimed to have foreseen earlier, killing about 40,000 people.

The Lahore controversy with Pir Meher Ali Shah

Pir Meher Ali Shah of Golra Sharif is recognised by some as the person at the forefront in striving to bring Ghulam Ahmad and his movement down. He penned the book on the ‘apostasy’ of Ghulam Ahmad titled “Sayf-e-Chishtia”. Meher Ali was one of the spiritual leaders whom Ghulam Ahmad had challenged collectively to a ‘prayer duel’ to distinguish as to who enjoyed divine support. 0n July, 20 1900, Ghulam Ahmad issued a poster in which he proposed to gather at Lahore and hold a written contest in Arabic; consisting of writing a commentary on 40 verses (selected by ballot) of the Qur'an, after invoking divine assistance.

According to the poster the commentaries were to be written within seven hours in the presence of witnesses, without the assistance of a book or any person, (the challenge was given to Meher Ali Shah in particular and as many other scholars as possible, on the condition that they would sit at some distance from each other and from the two main contestants so that they could not provide any written or oral assistance to one another or to see what others were writing). An hour was to be given for preparation. The commentaries were to span at least 20 pages, purely in Arabic, an attempt to distinguish as to who could present the subtleties and inner meanings of the Qur'an in fluent ‘unmatched’ Arabic. After their completion and signatures by the contestants, they were to be read out to three learned persons for adjudication, nominated and seen to by Meher Ali Shah. After listening to the two commentaries, the judges would pronounce on solemn triple oath as to which one was considered by them to be superior and written ‘with Divine endorsement’.

Pir Meher Ali Shah accepted the challenge to such a contest provided that first an oral debate take place between him and Ghulam Ahmad on the issue of his claims. Ghulam Ahmad however refused to be engaged in any oral debate for he had categorically vowed in Anjam-e-Atham, an earlier book not to engage himself in debates in the future for they seemed to have little effect, in his view in reforming the religious clergy; (the reason why he had challenged Meher Ali Shah to such a decisive contest in the first place and not to a debate). Rather he would invoke God for divine intervention by holding such contests or ‘prayer duels’ which he called ‘Ejazi-Muqabala’ or Miraculous contest between him and his opponents; primarily Christian missionaries and Muslim Scholars and divines.

This remains a contended episode between followers of Ghulam Ahmad and those of Pir Meher Ali Shah. According to the followers of Meher Ali Shah, he travelled to Lahore as per Ghulam Ahmad’s proposal where a large gathering of scholars and laymen had collected, and according to followers of Ghulam Ahmad, did so without notice. Ghulam Ahmad however did not show up. Ahmadis argue that the condition of oral debate proposed by Meher Ali Shah was an indirect refusal of Ghulam Ahmad’s challenge and a deliberate attempt to trap him, for if he had accepted he would have broken his promise with God by engaging in debates, but if he declined it would be assumed that Meher Ali Shah was victorious and Ghulam Ahmad had withdrew. Followers of Meher Ali Shah contend that he accepted the challenge even without the condition of oral debate, but Ghulam Ahmad failed to turn up.

In yet another attempt to break Mehr Ali Shah’s notion of his own scholarly prowess, even in the area of oral debate, Ghulam Ahmad issued another poster in which he advertised a booklet as a 'gift' for the pir, that If and when the Pir replied to the contents of, the people would automatically come to know about their respective arguments and their answers. Subsequently, he published an advertisement proposing another method of settling the dispute, that he would write a commentary in chaste Arabic on the opening chapter of the Quran in support of his claims. Similarly Mehr Ali Shah would do the same in refutation of Ghulam Ahmad’s claims. The two commentaries should be printed and published in book form within 70 days, so that everyone can compare them and form his judgment about their respective merits. A price of Rs.500 would be paid to Mehr Ali Shah if his commentary was adjudged by three scholars to be superior to that of Ghulam Ahmad. The party failing to write and publish the proposed commentary within the stated period would be regarded as a liar, and no further proof for that purpose would be needed. Accordingly, Ghulam Ahmad publish his planned commentary, under the title Ijaz-ul-Masih, (Miracle of the Massiah) within the time stipulated by himself, but no such thing was done by Mehr Ali Shah. Instead he wrote his popular book ‘Saif-e-Chishtiyya’.

Challenge to Dr. Dowie

File:Dowie2.jpg

Alexander Dowie in his robes as 'Elijah the restorer'

In 1899 a Scottish born American clergyman by the name of John Alexander Dowie had laid claim to be the forerunner of the second coming of Christ just as John the Baptist according to Christian tradition in his capacity of Elijah had been the forerunner of Jesus. Dowie had been offensive towards Islam and its founder. When Ghulam Ahmad came to know of him he subsequently exchanged a series of letters with him between 1903-1907. Ghulam Ahmad challenged him to a prayer duel, where both would call upon God to expose the other as a false prophet. A well publicized and documented episode reminiscent of the Biblical Prophet Elijah's challenge to Baal. Ghulam Ahmad stated:

The best way to determine whether Dowie's God is true or ours, is that Mr. Dowie should stop making prophecies about the destruction of all Muslims. Instead he should keep me alone in his mind and pray that if one of us is fabricating a lie, he should die before the other.

— Ghulam Ahmad,

Dowie evaded this challenge, calling Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the “silly Mohammedan Messiah”. He was further provoked when Ahmad prophesied thus:

Though he may try hard as he can to fly from death which awaits him, yet his flight from such a contest will be nothing less than death to him; and calamity will certainly overtake his Zion, for he must bear the consequences either of the acceptance of the challenge or its refusal. He will depart this life with great sorrow and torment during my lifetime.

— Ghulam Ahmad, The Renaissance of Islam

As reported in the American newspapers of the time, Dowie's life deteriorated steadily. One scandal followed another. He was accused of alcoholism. His family and friends abandoned him, and he eventually died suffering from Paralysis in the City of Zion in the March of 1907.

Encounter with the Agapemonites

In September 1902 a man by the name of Rev. John Hugh Smyth-Pigott proclaimed himself the Messiah, and also claimed to be God, while preaching in the Church of the Ark of the Covenant in Clapton, London. This church was originally built by the Agapemonites, a religious movement founded by the Anglican priest Henry James Prince.

When the news of his claim reached India, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, a disciple of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was informed of it and wrote to Pigott informing him of the claim of Ahmad and requesting more information about his own claim. Pigott did not reply directly but a letter was received from his secretary along with two advertisements one carrying the title “The Ark of Noah”. When these advertisements and letter was read out in the presence of Ahmad he replied:

Logic is respected and lasts but irrational thought loses its innovativeness in the space of a few lines. Now our Noah’s Ark will overpower the false one. The Europeans used to say that false Messiahs are about to come, so first these false prophets and Messiahs stepped out in London. After this the voice of the true Messiah will reach London. It is also recorded in the Ahadith that the Anti-Christ will claim Godhead and Prophethood for himself, so this Nation has also fulfilled this manifestly. Dowie is claiming to be a Prophet in America and Pigott is claiming to be God in London and calls himself God.

— Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Malfoozat; Vol.4, 11 November 1902

After having prayed about Pigott, Ahmad claimed to have seen in a dream “some books on which was written three times: Holy, Holy, Holy” followed by a revelation:

Allah is severe in retribution. They are not acting righteously.

— Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Tazkirah, pg. 531

Ahmad issued an advertisement forewarning Pigott of the “Punishment that awaits him” if he did not repent of his irreverent claim. Which is said to have been widely publicized in English Newspapers, it is said that thenceforth Pigott became silent and did not repeat his claim. He left London and retreated to a small village in Somerset, changed his name, seeking a life of anonymity and was defrocked by the Anglican Church following the birth of three sons from one of his many spiritual brides. He eventually died in March 1927.

A charge of defamation and trial

Another case brought against Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, which is believed to be yet another attempt to disgrace him, was that of defamation by one Karam Din. He had written to Ahmad in 1902 pretending to be a sympathizer. When Ahmad included these letters in one of his books and published it, Karam Din shifted to outright denial, rejecting that those letters were ever written by him. When Ahmad denounced him as mean-spirited and a liar, he launched a libel action against him. It was a case that lingered on for almost two years.

The accounts of this case relate that Ahmad traveled to Jhelum in connection with the case. But due to the exceeding crowds of thousands that had gathered to receive him both supporters and those who opposed him, the authorities adjourned the case to avert danger of violence, and later transferred it to Gurdaspur. It is said that nearly one thousand people pledged their allegiance to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on this day.

The Magistrate who happened to be a Hindu, is believed to have been pressurised by the members of the Arya Samaj in that this was an opportune time to have Ahmad arrested and imprisoned. However a Muslim clerk who had contact with the Arya Samaj revealed their intentions to a disciple of Ahmad. His disciple Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din who was also his lawyer in this case tried to have the case transferred to another town but was not successful. During this time Ahmad took up temporary residence in Gurdaspur.

While in Gurdaspur he was informed by one of his companions of how his opponents had sought to have him arrested upon which he laid out his hands and said “what can I do? I have submitted to God that I am ready to wear bindings of steel on my wrists and feet for the sake of your religion, but He says: “No, I shall protect you from abasement and shall acquit you with Honour.” Due to Ghulam Ahmad's exessive illness at this time, a doctor was called in who advised rest and issued a certificate stating that he was unable to attend court for the next month and upon demand, verified the certificate before the magistrate. Before the day he was to appear in court the magistrate was demoted and transferred to another town. He was replaced by another magistrate who chose a certain date to announce his verdict, then changed it to a Saturday, which it was discovered was with the intention of announcing a heavy fine before the court closed so that Ahmad, not being able to pay the sum would be arrested and as the next day was a holiday he would have to spend the rest of the weekend in prison.

When the day of his hearing arrived the police was ordered not to permit anyone to enter the court except Ahmad. His companion Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din saw him entering the court on his own, he sought to enter but was stopped by guards. He insisted that he was the lawyer of the accused and forcing them out of the way, entered just as the magistrate was imposing a fine of 700 rupees, an extraordinary sum at the time. Immediately he took the amount out from his pocket and placed it before the magistrate thus compelling him to acquit Ahmad. He walked out freely to the bewilderment of the crowds gathered outside the court, who were expecting him to walk out handcuffed and escorted by police. Finally his lawyers took the case to the court of appeal, which overturned the magistrate’s decision, returned the fine and there was no libel. The Judge justified the criticism of Karam din and expressed his amazement as to why such a minor case had dragged on for so long.

A great part of this period of his life is also known to have been spent in the spiritual training and upbringing of his disciples.

The White Minaret

According to Islamic tradition Jesus, upon his second advent would descend on or near a White Minaret disputably to the east of Damascus or in the eastern side of Damascus. Ghulam Ahmad argued that this Hadith does not explain whether the minaret will be within the eastern side of Damascus or to the eastern side of the city. According to him this prophecy was fulfilled with his advent in Qadian a town situated to the east of Damascus and the significance of the minaret symbolic. The minaret according to him symbolised the spread of the light of Islam, his message reaching far and wide and the supremacy of Islam which was to tower up as it were like a minaret in the time of the promised one. It is also believed to be pointing to an age of enlightnment and one where there are all kinds of facilities for communication and transport. Ghulam Ahmad claimed that God had revealed to him:

Step forth that your time has Arrived and the feet of the people of Muhammad have been firmly planted on a high tower. Holy Muhammad, the chosen one, Chief of the Prophets.

— Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Tadhkirah, pg. 444

In 1903 Ahmad laid the foundation of a Minaret to commemorate the prophecy. This according to him will represent the physical as well as spiritual aspects of Islam with a light and a clock fixed on its top symbolising the light of Islam spreading far and wide and so man will recognize his time, and a Muezzin to give the call to prayer five times a day symbolising an invitation to Islam. The construction of this minaret was completed in 1916.

Last journey

Towards the end of 1907 and early 1908 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to have received numerous revelations informing him of his imminent death. In April 1908 he traveled to Lahore with his family and companions. Here he gave many lectures. it is said that a banquet was arranged for dignitaries and upon request he spoke for some 2 hours explaining his claims, teachings and refuting objections raised against his person, here he preached reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims. He completed writing his last work entitled “Message of Peace” a day before his death.

Death

Main article: Controversy surrounding the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

While he was in Lahore at the home of Dr. Syed Muhammad Hussain (who was also his physician), Mirza Ghulam Ahmad fell ill. His last words were “Allah O merey pyarey Allah” [God O my loving God]. He passed away in Lahore on 26 May 1908.

Marriages and Children

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with his son, Mirza Sharif Ahmad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad married twice. His first wife was his paternal cousin Hurmat Bibi. Later they separated and lived separately for a long time. At the time of his second marriage, Hurmat Bibi gave him the permission to live with the second wife and decided against a divorce.

Children

From his first wife Hurmat Bibi two sons:

1. Khan Bahadur Mirza Sultan Ahmad (1853-1931)
2. Mirza Fazal Ahmad (1855-1904)

From his second wife Nusrat Jehan Begum 10 children:

Five children who died early:

1. Ismat (1886-1891)
2. Bashir I (1887-1888)
3. Shaukat (1891-1892)
4. Mirza Mubarik Ahmad (1899-1907)
5. Amtul Naseer (1903-1903)

And 5 children who lived longer:

1. Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (1889-1965)
2. Mirza Bashir Ahmad (1893-1963)
3. Mirza Sharif Ahmad (1895-1961)
4. (Nawab) Mubarika Begum (1897-1977)
5. (Nawab) Amtul Hafeez Begum (1904-1987)

Why the name Ahmadiyya was given

The Ahmadiyya movement was founded in 1889, but the name Ahmadiyya was not adopted until about a decade later. In a manifesto dated November 4, 1900, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad explained that the name referred not to himself but to Ahmad, the alternative name of the prophet Mohammed. According to him, ‘Mohammed’, which means ‘the most praised one’, refers to the glorious destiny, majesty and power of the prophet who adopted the name from about the time of the Hegira; but ‘Ahmad’ which means 'highly praised' and also 'comforter' stands for the beauty of his sermons, symbolizes the qualities of tenderness, gentleness, love and mercy displayed by Muhammad and for the peace that he was destined to establish in the world through his teachings. According to Ahmad, these names thus refer to two aspects of Islam and in later times it was the latter aspect that commanded greater attention.

Accordingly, this was the reason in Ahmad's view why the Old Testament prophesied a Messenger 'like unto Moses' named Mohammad, while according to the Qur'an Jesus foretold of a messenger named Ahmad.^{[Quran 61:7]} which states:

And call to mind when Jesus, son of Mary, said, 'O children of Israel, surely, I am Allah's Messenger unto you, fulfilling that which is before me of the prophecies of the Torah, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me, his name being Ahmad. And when he came to them with clear proofs, they said, this is manifest sorcery.

In keeping with this, he believed, his object was to defend and propagate Islam globaly through peaceful means, to revive the forgotten Islamic values of peace, forgiveness and sympathy for all mankind and to establish peace in the world through the spiritual teachings of Islam. He believed that his message had special relevance for the Western world which according to him had descended into materialism.

Affinity with Jesus of Nazareth

Numerous similarities between Jesus of Nazareth and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are drawn in Ahmadi writings, some of which relate to their person while others relate to the circumstances of their appearance, the disposition of the people of their age, and the nature of their mission. The aforementioned writings of Ahmadi, and thus lacking authority as provided by scholarly consensus, sources include the following:

• At the birth of both there was the appearance of a Comet. In the case of Jesus, a supernova occurred near the time of his birth and a “darkening of the sun” at the time of crucifixion. In the case of Ahmad, there occurred the “falling of stars” (which his followers claim occurred as fulfillment of the sign mentioned for the second coming in Matthew 24:29). Ahmad's followers point out enormous meteor showers that occurred just before his birth in 1833, the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835 (the year Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born) and the meteor showers that occurred just before his claim in 1885.

• Both appeared under a foreign, occupying government, Jesus within the eastern part of the Roman Empire and Ahmad within the eastern part of the British Empire.
• Ahmad appeared around the same time after Muhammad as Jesus appeared after Moses. A significant point as Muhammad is equated with Moses in Islamic Hagiography.

• One of the reasons of Jesus's rejection was that the Jews were expecting the physical return of Elijah himself with the coming of the Messiah. Jesus answered this idea of a literal, physical return by identifying John the Baptist as fulfilling the second coming of Elijah. Similarly to the Jews of Jesus' time, one of the main reasons of Ahmad's rejection was that Muslims were/are awaiting the physical descent of Jesus himself as is foretold by and described in numerous Muslim Hadith sources which are very specific in nature and exact in circumstance. Ahmad presented the same example as did Jesus by stating that the ‘second coming’ would be of a spiritual and metaphorical nature and comparison, not a literal fulfillment, thus directly contradicting the mainstream understanding of the most trusted of the Muslim hadith.

• The Jewish people believed their prophesied messiah will establish a physical Kingdom and will deliver Israel from Roman rule. The Muslims believe their Mahdi to be a physical ruler, descended from Muhammad himself and bearing many of his features, characteristics as well as qualities, who together with a physical Jesus, descended from heaven, will deliver the Muslims from the disbelievers. Here, again, Ahmad's claims go against the mainstream understanding of many of the authentic Hadith quoted from Prophet Muhammad.

• Jesus appeared to be contrary to the physical expectations of the prophesied Messiah within Judaism and preached a message of humility, love, forgiveness and charity according to Christian tradition. Ahmad also appeared to be contrary to the physical expectations of the prophesied Messiah and Mahdi within Islam. It should be noted here that Muslims do not believe Mahdi, whose name according to Hadith considered authentic will be Muhammad bin Abdullah, to be the same person as Jesus the Prophet. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad did not advocate armed Jihad. In fact he entirely abolished it and called for an end to resistance against British rule, and preached the message of humility, forgiveness, charity, and prayer according to Ahmadiyya tradition.

• Both were conspired against by their adversaries.
• Disciples of both had left them at some point because of a failure to either understand or accept their teachings.
• Both were accused of blasphemy by the prominent and established religious authorities of the time.
• Both had to face trials within the courts, though their trials do differ considerably.
• Both were alleged to have died an ‘accursed death’.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's Legacy

One of the main source of dispute during his lifetime and continuing since then, is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's use of the terms “Nabi” (prophet) and “Rasool” (messenger) when referring to himself. Muslims consider the prophet Muhammad to be the last of the prophets and believe that Ahmad's use of these terms is a violation of not only the rudimentary concept of the “finality of prophethood”, but the Qur'an itself. His followers fall into two camps in this regards, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who believe in a literal interpretation of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's prophethood (with some qualifications), and is currently headed by Ahmad's fifth Caliph or successor carrying the title of Khalifatul Masih an institution believed to have been established soon after Ahmad's death. While the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement who believe in an allegorical interpretation of these two terms is administered by a body of people called the Anjuman Ishat-e-Islam (Movement for the propagation of Islam) headed by an Emir. This among other reasons caused a split in the movement soon after Ahmad's death.

Followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are considered non-Muslims in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and have faced relentless persecution of various types over the years. In 1974, the Pakistani parliament amended the Pakistani constitution to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslims for purposes of the constitution of the Islamic Republic. In 1984, a series of changes in the Pakistan Penal Code sections relating to blasphemy were made, which, in essence, made it illegal for Ahmadis to preach their creed, leading to arrests and prosecutions. However, no one has been executed yet, even though it is allowed under the law.

In 2007 The Ahmadiyya were banned from practising their faith openly in the state of Belarus, and given a similar status to other banned religious groups in the country.

Relative to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, some mainstream Muslim opinion towards the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement has been more accepting, with the Lahore Ahmadiyya Literature finding greater acceptance among the Muslim Intelligentsia and some Orthodox Muslim scholars considering the members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement as Muslims.

A number of modern Muslim scholars and Muslim intellectuals seem to conform to the idea of peaceful Jihad as a struggle for reform through civil means, in accordance with Mirza Ghulam Ahmed's standpoint on the issue, while abandoning the tradition of Muhammad to follow peaceful struggle with armed resistance. Furthermore, some Islamic scholars have opined that Jesus has died (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's assertion) or expressed their own confusion on this matter, though the majority orthodox position of most Muslims with regard to this issue has not changed.

Criticism

Due to the nature of his claims and teachings, he had been a subject of criticism throughout his life and has been ever since his death.

Regarding Prophecies

Criticism on prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed can be seen in the article Prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Relationship with British

It is widely believed among orthodox Muslims that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was aided in his mission by the British government, whose stated policy of "divide and rule" was expressed in their approval of Ahmad's introducing a dissident faction within Islam. Ghulam Ahmad is criticised by the orthodox Muslims for his support for the British Government in India and maintain that he and his associates went on publishing in favor of British control and even tried to convince Muslims in other Muslim countries that a British government would be in their favor. It is alleged that he had collaborated with the British against Muslims. They give reference to one of his books in which he said:

[…] The service that has been rendered on my part, in favour of the English government is that I have published fifty thousand books, magazines and posters and distributed them in this and other Islamic countries […] It is as the result of my endeavors that thousands of people have given up thoughts of Jihad which had been propounded by ill-witted mullahs and embedded in the minds of the people. I can rightly feel proud of this that no other Muslim in British India can equal me in this respect […]

— 

His followers reject this criticism and point out that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was constantly engaged in controversies with the British missionaries. Western historians have recorded this effort as one of the features of Ahmad's legacy. Francis Robinson states;

At their most extreme religious strategies for dealing with the Christian presence might involve attacking Christian revelation at its heart, as did the Punjabi Muslim, Ghulam Ahmad (d. 1908), who founded the Ahmadiyya missionary sect.

His followers also say that Ahmad openly supported the British government in India, and therefore his critic's consideration of this being tantamount to “conspiring” with the British is baseless. They further argue that his open support for the British was on account of the religious freedom the British extended to the Muslims as opposed to the preceding Sikh rule in Punjab wherein Muslims were persecuted and their religious freedom curtailed.; and that one of the reasons for his expression of loyalty towards the British was due to him being repeatedly presented as a threat and danger to the government with rebellious intent by his opponents such as Maulvi Muhammad Hussein who warned the government in the following words:

His deception is proved by the fact that in his heart he considers it lawful to put an end to the authority of a non-Muslim government and to plunder its belongings … Therefore, it would not be proper on the part of the Government to rely on him and it would be necessary to be aware of him, otherwise such harm might be suffered at the hands of this Mahdi of Qadian as was experienced at the hands of the Sudanese Mahdi.

— Ishaatus Sunnah, Vol VI, 1893

It is also pointed out by them that some prominent main stream Muslim leaders of the time had also openly expressed similar sentiments for the British rule for the same reasons. Such leaders included Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, Deputy Nazir Ahmad, Leaders of the Deobandi school and members of Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam. Furthermore the famous founders of the Muslim League had also expressed similar sentiments of Loyalty to the British Government at around the same time as Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. In summary the followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad contend that his views towards the British Rulers at the time were the same as those of numerous other well regarded Muslim Leaders of the same time.

Termination of Jihad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's critics allege that he had terminated Jihad, which is an important Islamic requirement, to appease the British. His followers, however, argue that he never terminated Jihad, in the broader sense of the word, but only forbade physical fighting for the sake of religion or against a government which gives freedom of religion. An official British government report of 1901 states:

It is also interesting to notice that there is at the present time in Northern India a religious teacher of the name of Ghulam Ahmed who claims to be the Mahdi or Messiah expected by Muhammadans and Christians alike, and has obtained a considerable number of followers in the United Provinces, the Punjab and Sind. He »repudiates the doctrine of Jihád with the sword«, and regards as absolutely unlawful wars undertaken for the propagation of religion.

— Report on the Census of India, 1901, page 373

Ahmad wrote:

Behold! I have come to you people with a directive that henceforth jihad with the sword has come to an end but jihad for the purification of your souls still remains. This injunction is not from me but rather it is the will of God.

— British Government and Jihad pg.15

According to Ahmad this age did not require defending Islam by the sword but that the Jihad of this age was to be carried out by preaching and defending Islam by speech and by the pen. In another place he writes:

The Jihad of this age is to strive in upholding the word of Islam, to refute the objections of the opponents, to propagate the excellences of the Islamic faith, and to proclaim the truth of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, throughout the world. This is Jihad till God Almighty brings about other conditions in the world.

— 

See also

• Seal of the prophets
• List of founders of religious traditions
• Yuz Asaf
• Mohammadi Begum
• Khalifatul Masih

Literature

• Jesus in India, Ahmadiyya Muslim Foreign Mission Department, 1978, ISBN 978-1-8537-2723-8; Original Masih Hindustan Mein, Oriental & Religious Publications Ltd., Rabwah (Online)
• The Essence of Islam, Islam International Publications, Ltd.; 2nd edition (2004), ISBN 1-8537-2765-2
• Teachings of Islam, Kessinger Publishing (August 2003), ISBN 978-0-76617614-0
• The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, The London Mosque Publishing, 1979
• Iain Adamson: Ahmad, The Guided One, Islam International Publications, 2000

External links

Ahmadiyya links

• Official Website of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
  • Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani - Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at - The Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi
  • A Life Sketch of the Promised Messiah
  • The Promised Messiah's Beliefs
• Qadiani - What is Qadiani?
• Ahmadiyya - Invitation Towards Allah
  • www.real-islam.org - Ahmadiyya Audio/Video Library
  • www.real-islam.org - Replies to false allegations against Islam and Ahmadiyya

Books:

• Life of Ahmad, biography of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
• Hadhrat Ahmad
• Alislam.org - Islamic Books Library @ Alislam.org
• Introduction to the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Articles critical of Ahmadiyya:

• Replies by Ayatollah Ali Al-Hakim from a Shi'ah Muslims' point of view
• What makes one a “Muslim”? (Urdu with English sub-titles)