Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

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Part of a series on Ahmadiyya Islam

Branches

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Life • Prophecies Claims • Death

Views

Jesus Christ • Prophethood Jihad • Khalifatul Masih

Khalifatul Masih of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Hakeem Noor-ud-Din Basheer-ud-Din Ahmad Mirza Nasir Ahmad Mirza Tahir Ahmad Mirza Masroor Ahmad

Emirs & Scholars of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

Muhammad Ali • Sadr-ud-Din Saeed Ahmad Khan Asghar Hameed Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din Basharat Ahmad Naseer Ahmad Faruqui

Persecution

1953 • 1974 1984 • Shab Qadar

Literature

Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya • The Philosophy and Teachings of Islam • Malfoozat • Tafseer-e-Kabeer • Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth This box: view • talk • edit

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Arabic: الجماعة الأحمدية; transliterated: al-Jamā'a al-Ahmadīya) is one of two communities arising from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908). The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder. (The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam is the second offshoot.)

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community sees itself as guided by a Khalifa (Caliph) their spiritual leader and successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He is called the Khalifatul Masih (successor of the Messiah)

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, claimed to be the Mujaddid (reformer) of the 14th Islamic century as well as the Messiah, Mahdi and The Second Coming of Christ. ^[1] These claims have proven to be controversial among mainstream Muslims. Mainstream Muslims believe that no prophet or messenger will come after Muhammad and that Jesus himself will descend from heaven at the End times to wage war against the forces of evil. ^[2]

Contents 1 Beliefs 2 Organization and size 3 History 3.1 The split in 1914 3.2 1953 Riots and Selective Martial Law 3.3 Persecution in 1974 3.4 Persecution in 1984 4 Successors of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 5 Ahmadiyya Firsts 6 Famous Ahmadis 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Beliefs

Further information: Ahmadi Common Beliefs

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believe that the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was not implied to be the last prophet by his title Seal of the Prophets but the last law-bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad did not create a new religion or bring a new law but claimed to be a the spiritual second advent of Jesus, foretold Imam Mahdi, and prophet though subordinate to Muhammad and under the banner of Islam. ^[3]

[edit] Organization and size

Figures for the total numbers of members vary greatly among different sources. The movement's own figures refer "tens of millions" or "in the millions" of members. Sources estimate over 200 million members and growing. ^[4] Non-Ahmadi sources estimate the figures of Ahmadiyya to be around 10 million. ^[5] The movement has established communities in 185 countries. ^[6] It has also established missionary schools and mosques in many countries.

Regions where members live are divided into communities or Jamaats. Each Jamaat is organized into many divisions that revolve around education, economics, humanitarianism, preaching, charity, etc. Each division has officers who are elected by the members of the community and approved by the Supreme Head of the whole community, the Caliph. This structure functions on the local, regional, national and international level. For each gender there is also setup several age group organizations as well.

The second Caliph, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, created organizations or Majlis for the coordination of the different age groups of each gender. The men are divided into three groups: Atfal, Khuddam, and Ansar. The women are divided into two groups: Nasirat and Lajna. ^[7]

The Caliph is currently Mirza Masroor Ahmad, given the title Khalifatul Masih Al-Khamis (Khamis = "fifth" in Arabic). He was elected into office following the demise of the previous Khalifa. He is often referred to as "Hazoor" a prefix of respect amongst Pakistanis and others.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community headquarters were originally based in Qadian, India; but then in 1947 it was moved to Rabwah (the Pakistani government, following the results of a vote in the Punjab Assembly, recently changed the name of town to Chenab Nagar), Punjab, Pakistan. ^[8]

During the time of President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in 1973, laws were passed stating Ahmadis to be not Muslims "for the purposes of the Constitution or law." ^[9] This was followed by waves of persecution. During the time of Islamist General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the situation deteriorated, and due to heightened human rights abuses against the community, the acting headquarters were moved to Southfields, London in 1984. According to figures given by the Movement this proved to be a time of rapid growth for the sect around the world. The movement now boasts round the clock satellite, and web television transmission for viewers around the globe in 12 languages. Also the community's current global headquarters are in London, England where they have built the largest Mosque in western Europe.

The Khalifas of Ahmadiyya are considered by the followers to be divinely appointed through the agency of electoral college.

[edit] History

[edit] The split in 1914

In 1914 a split took place in the Ahmadiyya Community resulting in the formation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. The reasons for the split were ideological differences as well as differences over the suitability of the elected Khalifa (2nd successor) Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (the son of the Founder).

[edit] 1953 Riots and Selective Martial Law

Selective Martial law was declared over Lahore in 1953 by the Pakistan Armed Forces, in response to civil unrest following anti-Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement agitations. Then-captain Rahimuddin Khan (later General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee) was part of the military deployment heading the army takeover of Lahore, culminating in the arrest of Maulana Maududi, who was considered the prinicipal agitator behind the riots.

[edit] Persecution in 1974

Over the course of the 1970s, the Jamaat-e-Islami started a widespread anti-Ahmadiyya movement in Pakistan. Their leader, Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, condemned them as heretics in his book the Qadiani Problem (Qadiani is a derogatory term for Ahmadiyya).

Confident of state support, the Jamaat contested the 1970 elections in Pakistan, only to suffer big reversals. In 1973, Maududi started his violent hate campaign against Ahmadiyyas denouncing them as heretics in his book , Qadiani problem. ^[10]

They engaged in massacres against them which resulted in 2,000 Ahmadiyya deaths in Pakistani Punjab. This anti-Ahmadiyya movement led Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to declare Ahmadis as constitutionally "non-Muslims". ^[11][10]

[edit] Persecution in 1984

In 1984, the Government of Pakistan, under General Zia-ul-Haq, passed Ordinance XX ^[12], which banned proselytizing by Ahmadis and also banned calling Ahmadis as Muslims. According to this ordinance, any Ahmadi who refers to oneself as a Muslim by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, directly or indirectly, or makes the call for prayer as other Muslims do, is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years. Because of these difficulties, Mirza Tahir Ahmad moved the headquarters to London, UK.

[edit] Successors of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

The history of the Ahmadi Khilafat has spanned nearly an entire century, and has seen 5 Caliphs lead the community. ^[13]

• Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Din: 27 May 1908 - 13 March 1914
• Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad: 14 March 1914 - 7 November 1965
• Mirza Nasir Ahmad: 8 November 1965 - 9 June 1982
• Mirza Tahir Ahmad: 10 June 1982 - 19 April 2003
• Mirza Masroor Ahmad: 22 April 2003 - present

[edit] Ahmadiyya Firsts

Following are some world firsts accomplished by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

• First Muslim place of worship in London - 1914
• First Muslim/Pakistani to receive Nobel Prize was Dr. Abdus Salam, a Pakistani.

[edit] Famous Ahmadis

• Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II: A political figure in pre-partition India. Chairman of Kashmir Committee and one of the pioneers of Kashmir Freedom struggle.^[14]

• Sir Chaudhury Muhammad Zafrulla Khan: A leader of All India Muslim League, Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan and President of United Nations General Assembly.
• Mr. M M Ahmad: Former Chief Secretary of Pakistan and a leading world economist.
• Dr. Abdus Salam: Nobel Laureate in Physics.
• Malik Ram: Scholar of the Urdu language and expert on Mirza Ghalib.
• Mahershalalhashbaz Ali: Well-known actor, a lead on the USA Network's program The 4400.
• Yusef Lateef: Syncopater and Grammy Award winner.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
• Muslim Television Ahmadiyya
• Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
• Ask Islam: Ahmadi Question & Answers
• Khatm-e-Nubuwwat
• Anti Ahmadiyyade:Ahmadiyya

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