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Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

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Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (February 13, 1835–May 26, 1908) was a Muslim religious figure and the founder of the Ahmadiyya religious movement in Islam.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad remains a controversial figure to this day because of his claims to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, and because of the movement he established. Some of his followers consider him to be a prophet, raising even more controversy among mainstream Muslims.

Biography

Ahmad was born in Qadian Punjab in India on 13 February 1835 (or 14 Shawwal 1250), the surviving child of twins born to a well-off family. It is reported that he was always interested in the people around him, often thinking of them instead of himself. He spent a lot of time in the mosque and with the study of the Quran and his religion, Islam. This did not lead him to fulfill his father's wishes of his son becoming a lawyer or civil servant. Still, Ahmad would be pulled into his father's preferred career path at times, but he would remain devoted to religious learning, and teaching. In his course of studying religious topics, he would often interact with many Muslims, non-Muslims, and with Christian missionaries with whom he would have great debates.


When Ahmad was forty years old his father died. At this time Ahmad claimed that God had begun communicating with him, often through visions. (The prophet of Islam, Muhammad also received his first revelation at forty years of age). Initially, Ahmad's writings from this time were intended to counter what he perceived to be anti-Islamic writings originating from various Christian missionary groups. He would also focus on countering the effects of various groups such as the Brahmo-samaj.

As time progressed, his writings would begin to exhibit his claims of being the mujaddid or reformer of his era. These writings were compiled in one of his most well-known works: Barahin Ahmadiyya, a work consisting of a number of volumes. In later volumes, he would essentially claim to be the messiah of Islam. This proved and continues to be very controversial, as traditional Islamic thought holds that Jesus is the Messiah, who himself will return in the flesh at the end of times. Ahmad countered this by claiming in his book Jesus in India that Jesus was dead, and had in fact escaped crucifixion and died in India. According to Ahmad, the promised Mahdi was a spiritual, not military leader as is believed by most Muslims. With this proclamation, he also began to step away from the traditional idea of militant Jihad, and redefined it as a “spiritual” battle rather than a physical one. In addition to these controversial claims, he would later claim that Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, was in fact a Muslim.

These writings began to turn the general Muslims ulema (religious clerics) against him, and he was often branded as a heretic. To add to this controversy some of his followers would later claim him to be a prophet, while others maintained that he was a prophet in a metaphorical sense only.

Mirza ghulam Ahmad's claim is based on his personal interpretation of various verses of the Quran, Hadith, prophecies of past Saints and astronomical signs of eclipses. The list is extensive and details are available from multiple sources listed in the links at the end of this article.

Controversy

The teachings of Ahmad and the beliefs of his followers are a great source of controversy among Muslims, especially in Pakistan where most Ahmadis live. Many Islamic leaders have pushed the Pakistani government to label Ahmadis as non-Muslims, and have succeeded in recent years. Likewise, a good number of Islamic websites on the Internet are devoted to trying to prove that Ahmadis as heretics.

Among the most controversial issues that trouble other Muslims are:

  • The issue of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's prophethood, whether allegorical or real.
  • His claim that he was the Messiah rather than a returning Jesus
  • The claim that he was the Mahdi
  • Ahmad's reluctance towards a militant interpretation of Jehad
  • His belief that the Qur'an cannot be Abrogated

Prophethood?

Muslims in general hold the belief that no new prophet can come after Muhammad. They do however believe in the return of Jesus himself at the “end of days”.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad referred to himself as a “prophet” in his writings and claimed to be the second coming of Jesus. Hence this claim is abhorrent to most Muslims. Followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are divided into two camps as far a belief in his claim to prophethood is concerned. For details see Ahmadi.


British agent?

Some accused Ahmad of working for the British who were trying to use him to remove the concept of Jihad from Indian Muslims, in order to quell any desires that they may have had for fighting against the British Rule of India. Ahmad's father had a close relationship with the British and was awarded land and wealth by them due to his support of the colonial regime during the Indian Mutiny. However, defenders of Ahmad justify this by claiming that Ahmad's father saw the British as protectors of Muslims from the Sikh regime that had previously ruled Punjab.

Qur'an cannot be Abrogated

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad objected to the belief among Muslims of his time that one verse of the Qur'an can supersede another, called Abrogation. He believed that the Qur'an was the revealed Word of God and contains no imperfections. Any apparent contradiction in the Qur'an is due to a misunderstanding and the reader's understanding. Lexical methods must be used to find the original meaning of particular words, as modern Arabic is slightly different in meaning than 1400 years ago. The Qur'an is protected by God, but common Arabic usage is not. By reconciling two apparently divergent verses, one comes to a better understanding of the Qur'an as the revealed Word of God.


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