Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

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Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (مرزا غلام احمد) (February 13, 1835; May 26, 1908), a religious figure from Qadian, India, was the founder of the Ahmadiyya religious movement in Islam. He claimed to be the “Second Coming of Christ”, the promised Messiah, the Mahdi, as well as the being the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century.^[1] However, his claims were not accepted by majority of Muslims.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Prior to His Claim 1.3 His Claim 1.4 Post Claim 1.5 Death 2 Teachings 3 Why the name Ahmadiyya was given 4 Prophecies by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 5 Criticism 5.1 Use of Harsh Language 5.2 Regarding Prophecies 5.3 Relationship with British 6 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's Legacy 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born in Qadian, Punjab in India on February 13, 1835^[2] the surviving child of twins born to an affluent family.^{[citation needed]}As a child, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad received his early education at home. He studied the Holy Quran, Arabic Grammar and Persian. In addition Ahmad also studied some works on medicine from his father. Around the age of sixteen or seventeen he also started studying Christianity, particularly with reference to the Christian missionary arguments against Islam. From 1864 to 1868, he worked in Sialkot as a clerk 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 as he would spend most of his time in the study of religious books. As time passed on he began to engage more with the Christian missionaries, particularly in defending Islam against their criticism; especially with the Christian missionaries based in the town of Batala, about eleven miles from Qadian.^[2]

[edit] Prior to His Claim

When Ahmad was forty years old his father died. At this time Ahmad claimed that God had begun communicating with him, often through direct revelation. 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.^{[citation needed]} He also focused on countering the effects of various groups such as the Arya Samaj.^{[citation needed]} During this period of his life he was well received by the Islamic clerics of the time.^{[citation needed]}

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was well regarded, before his claims of prophetic fulfillment, by some of his later critics, such as Muluna Abul Kalam Azad, for his efforts against Christian Missionaries and a Hindu movement known as Arya Samaj. ^[3]

[edit] His Claim

Main article: The claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

He was praised for his famous Book “Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya”. ^[4] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 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.

In Tazkiratush-Shahadatain he wrote about his fulfillment of various prophesies. In it, he enumerated a variety of prophesies and descriptions from both Qur'an and Hadith relating to advent of the Promised Messiah which he ascribes to himself. 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. ^[5]

He was accused of creating a new religion, ^[6] a heretical act in Islam which he repeatedly denied, claiming only an Islamic revival. ^[7]

[edit] Post Claim

In time, his claims of being the Mujaddid (reformer) of his era became more explicit.^{[citation needed]} These writings were compiled in one of his most well-known works: Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, a work consisting of a number of volumes. In later volumes, he would claim to be the Messiah of Islam.^{[citation needed]} This has proven a strong challenge for Muslims to accept, since traditional Islamic thought contends that Jesus will return in the flesh at the end of times and preach Islam.^{[citation needed]} Ahmad, by contrast, asserted that Jesus had in fact escaped crucifixion and died of old age much later in India. According to Ahmad, the promised Mahdi was a spiritual, not military leader as is believed by many Muslims. With this proclamation, he also began to step away from the idea of militant Jihad, and argued that the conditions for such Jihad are not present.

These writings began to turn the religious scholars against him, and he was often branded as a heretic. His opponents accused him of working against the British Government as his claims of being the Mahdi were made around the same time as Mahdi of Sudan. Many years after his demise, some accused Ahmad of working for the British to curb the Jihadi ideology of Muslims.

Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyya movement 1889. He claimed that the Ahmadiyya Movement stood in the same relation to Islam, as Christianity stood to Judaism at the time of Jesus. The mission of the movement according to Ahmad was the propagation of what he considered to be Islam in its pristine form.

Between 1889 and 1908, Ghulam Ahmad wrote more than 80 books, a few of which were distributed globally during his life-time. His essay entitled "Philosophy of Teachings of Islam" was very well received by many intellectuals, including such names as Leo Tolstoy of Russia.^[8][9]

[edit] Death

Main article: Controversy surrounding the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

[edit] Teachings

Main article: Ahmadiyya#Beliefs

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's teachings which differed from other Muslims of the time can be summarized as following:

• The Qur'an has no contradictions (or abrogations), ^[10] and has precedence over the Hadith or traditions; i.e., that one verse of the Qur'an does not cancel another and that no Hadith can contradict a verse of the Qur'an. Hadith that appear to contradict the Qu'ran are not accepted by Ahmadi Muslims.^[11]

• Jesus (called Yuz Asaf) was crucified and survived the 4 hours on the cross, then was revived from a swoon in the tomb. ^[12] He died in Kashmir of old age whilst seeking the "Lost Tribes of Israel". ^[13]

• That Jihad can only be used to protect against extreme religious persecution, not as a political weapon or an excuse for rulers to invade neighbouring territories. ^[14]

• That the "Messiah" and "Imam Mahdi" are the same person, and that Islam will defeat the Anti-Christ or Dajjal in a period similar to the period of time it took for nascent Christianity to rise (300 years). Mainstream Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified, but made to look as though he had been, and that he ascended to heaven from where he will return personally in the flesh to revive Islam. ^[15]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is widely acknowledged to have devoted his life to furthering the cause of his movement and countering allegations of heresy against his person and alleged controversial personal life till his death in Lahore in 1908

[edit] 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, the founder explained that the name referred to Ahmad, the alternative name of the prophet Mohammed. According to him, ‘Mohammed’, which means ‘the praised one’, refers to the glorious destiny of the prophet who adopted the name from about the time of the Hegira; but ‘Ahmad’ stands for the beauty of his sermons, and for the peace that he was destined to establish in the world through his teachings. According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, these names thus refer to two aspects of Islam, and in later times it was the latter aspect that commanded greater attention. In keeping with this, he believed, his object was 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.

[edit] Prophecies by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Main article: Prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad articulated several prophecies, including:

• Anticipation of the World War I ^[16]
• Downfall of the Russian Czar ^[17]
• The Great Earthquake of Kangra ^[18]
• Pandit Lekh Ram's Assassination ^[19]
• Prophecies about Mohammadi Begum
• Prophecies Regarding the birth of sons to his wife
• Prophecies Concerning the Plague and Qadian's immunity

There is great disparity of view as regards the fulfillment of these, or even which were proper prophesies and should be used as a test of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claims. While Ahmadi Muslims claim that all the prophecies were fulfilled as described, his critics allege that the last three were not fulfilled and use this claim to discredit Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

[edit] Criticism

Due to the nature of his claims he has been subject of criticism throughout his life.

[edit] Use of Harsh Language

His critics allege that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad used abusive language in his writings. They provide quotations from his writings and say that his use of such language is unbecoming of a man of God and hence they use this assertion to discredit his claims.

His supporters claim that a few statements he made in his numerous writings have been deliberately mistranslated and quoted out of context to present them as being abusive. They say when correctly translated and read in context, his choice of language is consistent with a man of his claimed status.

[edit] Regarding Prophecies

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

[edit] Relationship with British

His critics say 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. ^[20] They give reference to one of his letter to Queen Victoria in which he said:

“

...For the sake of the British government, 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...[21]

”

His followers reject this criticism and point out that Ghulam Ahmad was constantly engaged in controversies with the British missionaries. Western historians have recorded this effort as one of the features of Ghulam Ahmad's legacy^[22]. 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 Mirza Ghulam 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. ^[23] 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 ^[24] It is also pointed out by them that many prominent main stream Muslim leaders of the time had also openly expressed similar sentiments for the British rule for the same reasons. ^[25] 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 ^[26] 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 ^[27] In summary the followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad contend that his views towards the British Rulers at the time were similar to the views of numerous other well regarded Muslim Leaders of the same time ^[28]

[edit] 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 ^[29] and believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's use of these terms is a violation of the concept of “finality of prophethood”. ^[30] 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), ^[31] and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement who believe in an allegorical interpretation of these two terms. ^[32] 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. ^[33] In 1974, the Pakistani parliament amended the Pakistani constitution to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslims for purposes of the constitution of the Islamic Republic. ^[34] In 1984, a series of changes in the Pakistan Penal Code sections relating to blasphemy that, 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.

Relative to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, some mainstream Muslim opinion towards the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement has been more accepting^[35], with the Lahore Ahmadiyya Literature finding greater accpetance among the Muslim Intellentsia^[36][37] and some Orthodox Muslim scholars considering the members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement as Muslims.^[35]

Over time the mainstream muslim opinion in the world has shifted towards Ghulam Ahmad's standpoint on Jihad and ascension of Jesus.^[38] Many modern muslim scholars and muslim intellectuals seem to conform to the idea of peaceful Jihad as a struggle for reform through civil means. A number of notable orthodox Islamic scholars have either conceded to the fact that Jesus has died or expressed their own confusion on this matter^{[39][40][41][42][43]} .

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links