Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1839- May 26, 1908) was an Indian religious figure, who is the founder of the Ahmadi religious movement.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad remains a controversial figure to this day. This stems from his teachings, and the Islamic sect that is named after him.
Ahmad was born in Qadian, Punjab in India around 1839 to a well-off family. This allowed him to study Arabic and Persian, but did not lead him to fulfill his fathers wishes of his son becoming a lawyer or civil servant. Rather, Ahmad devoted himself to religious study. 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, and non-Muslims, even with Christian missionaries.
On his fourtieth birthday, Ahmad's father died. From here on out, Ahmad claimed that his life had changed, and that God had begun communicating with him, often through dreams (Ironically, Muhammad received his first revelation at the same 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 affects of various groups such as the Bramo-samaj, that he perceived to be Hindu dominated.
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 consiting of a number of volumes that were published as time went on. 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, and will return at the end of times. Ahmad countered this by claiming that Jesus was dead, and the promised Mahdi was a spiritual, not military leader as is believed by most Muslims. With this proclimation, he also began to step away from the idea of Jihad, and focused on spiritual change rather than physical change. 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 ulema against him, and he was often branded as a heretic. Some of his followers would later claim him to be a prophet. Such a claim is especially contradictory to Islamic teachings, as Muhammad is termed the Last Prophet. However, those who believe Ahmad to be a prophet hold that Muhammad was the last prophet to establish a religion, and Ahmad was just a renewer. Something that he often called himself in his own writings.
Ahmad died in Lahore in 1908 due to cholera. His body was carried to, and buried at Qadian, where he was born.
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 suceeded in recent years. Likewise, a good number of Islamic websites on the Internet are devoted to proving the Ahmadis as heretics.
Among the most troubling claims to Muslims are:
- Any belief of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet
- Believing that Ahmad was a messiah rather than Jesus
- Believing that Ahmad was the Mahdi
- Ahmad's reluctance towards Jihad
The last point has led some to claim that Ahmad was 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.
Among Ahmadi groups, many claim that Ahmad did not claim to be a prophet, but do affirm that he was a reformer, and a messiah. Some groups do claim that Ahmad was a prophet, but differentiate him from Muhammad since Ahmad was seen to be reforming a religion, not creating a new one. However, this is troublesome to Muslims as Muhammad is seen as not only the last prophet, but not as founding a new religion, but restoring the religion of Abraham.
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Referenced By
1908 | 26 May | 26th May | Ahmaddiya | Ahmadi | Ahmadiyya | Ahmadiyyat | List of people by name: Ah | May 26 | May 26th | Prophet | Prophets | Qadiani | Qadianis
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