Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya (sometimes referred to as Qadiani) is a religious movement founded towards the end of the 19^th century in Punjab, British India. Central to the Ahmadiyya is the belief in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder, as the Promised Messiah and Mahdi (the apocalyptic leader who Islamic scriptures say will bring peace and the final, global dominion of Islam).

The Current leader, or Imam and caliph, of the Ahmadiyya community is Mirza Masroor Ahmad.^[1]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Ghulam Ahmad was a religious figure who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as predicted in the traditions of various world religions and bring about the final triumph of Islam as per Islamic prophecy. He claimed that he was the Mujaddid (divine reformer) of the 14^th Islamic century.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad died of diarrhea in Lahore on the 26^th of May, 1908.^[2] There are numerous unflattering accounts which claim he died in a public toilet.

Persecution, censorship, and excommunication (takfeer)

Orthodox followers of Islam do not consider the Ahmadis to be Muslims,^[3] due to their beliefs, as with the beliefs of the Baha'is and Qur'anists, differing vastly from those of mainstream Islam.^[4] This has lead to the widespread persecution and killing of Ahmadis around the world.^[5][6][3][7]

At the 1974 annual World Muslim League conference held in Mecca and attended by 140 delegations of Muslim countries and organizations from all over the world, it was unanimously agreed that the Ahmadiyya are "a subversive movement against Islam and the Muslim world, which falsely and deceitfully claims to be an Islamic sect; who under the guise of Islam and for the sake of mundane interests contrives and plans to damage the very foundations of Islam."^[4] This act of excommunicating a person or group who alleges to be Muslim is called takfeer.

The sale, publication and distribution of Ahmadiyya literiture has also been banned in Bangladesh,^[7] the Muslim Council of Britain have stated that members of the Ahmadiyya faith are "outside the fold of Islam", they have been banned from practicing their religion publicly in Indonesia's East Java, West Java, and South Sulawesi provinces,^[8] and Pakistan has officially declared them to be non-Muslims.^[9]

Likewise, according to Ahmadi beliefs, only those who accept Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's prophethood are considered Muslims.^[10] On this view, neither Sunnis nor Shi‘ites are considered Muslim.

Following and proselytization

Whilst Ahmadiyya media often claims that the sect has 200 million adherents worldwide, studies show that Ahmadiyya faith likely has only around 10 million adherents.^[11]

Ahmadiyyas lead many dedicated missionary efforts in nations in South Asia, West Africa, East Africa, and Indonesia, and are similarly well organized in Western contexts.

External Links

• The Ahmadiyya Sect of Islam - Answering Islam
• The Ahmadiyya Cult - A Muslim site critical of Ahmadiyya
• Qadianism Exposed - A Muslim site critical of Ahmadiyya

References