Ahmaddiya

Ahmaddiya is a new religious movement that originated as a sect of Islam. The Ahmaddiya movement was founded by the religious reformer Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) in the village of Qadian in the Punjab region of India. The movement became known as the Ahmaddiya movement after Prophet Muhammad's alternative name. The movement started at the end of the 19th century as a reaction against what he regarded as the ignorance and narrow-mindedness of Punjabi Muslims. Having accepted the Muslim veneration of the old prophets, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad considered Krishna and Buddha as local prophets; he was acclaimed as the reformer of Islam (Mujadid) and the long-awaited Messiah and Mahdi. As the reformer of Islam in the 14th century of the Hejira era, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad preached against the jihad of the sword and the expensive hajj to Mecca (Makkah), suggesting instead the jihad of the pen and pilgrimage to Srinagar in Kashmir to visit the tomb of the local saint Yuz Asaf, believed by local people to be the true burial place of Jesus Christ. The Ahmaddiya movement started as Jamaat-e-Ahmaddiya in 1889. It received support from educated Punjabi Muslims, but due to a lack of wide public recognition, it developed into an Islamic sect. The movement also became an active Islamic missionary society.

After the death of the founder, the society was controlled by Mirza's khalif, or successor, Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Din (1841–1914). On his death, the Ahmaddiya movement split over the question of succession as well as over the personality of its founder. The Lahore-based Lahore Ahmaddiya movement considered Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the reformer of Islam and decided to follow the collective opinion of the board of senior members of the society. Other Ahmaddiyas followed a lineage of leaders, known as khalifs—direct descendants of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. This group considers Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the lesser prophet and believes in the revival of the institution of the khalifate. Both groups are active in missionary activity outside India, particularly in Europe, Africa, and America. Both groups are sometimes called Qadiani, after the headquarters of the founder of the movement, though many members of the Ahmaddiya movement consider it to be a derogatory term.

The 1947 division of India caused the division of territory of the Ahmaddiya's influence. The town of Qadian remained in India, while the city of Lahore became a provincial center of Pakistan. The fate of the communities in these two countries was different. In secularist India, the Ahmadis, or followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, are considered Muslims. In Pakistan, the Ahmadis initially received protection but soon became victims of a widespread anti-Ahmadiyya movement called [Page 22]“Khatm-e-Nabuwwat” (the “Last Prophecy” [of Prophet Muhammad]). In the 1980s, anti-Ahmadi laws technically prevented members of the Ahmaddiya community from calling themselves Muslims and praying in common mosques. Many Ahmadis were taken to prison for violation of this ban. Others emigrated to Great Britain and other countries. Other Muslim countries, including Indonesia, have enacted laws restricting the religious practices of Ahmaddiya followers. At present, the headquarters of the biggest Ahmaddiya group, known as Jamaat-e-Ahmaddiya, is situated in a London suburb called Islamabad. Branches of the movement are found in more than 180 countries.

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