Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) was an Indian religious leader who founded the Ahmadiyya movement and claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.

Ahmadiyya: An Islamic reform movement founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in British India in 1889. The movement Ahmad established organized his religious claims and gathered his followers.
Mahdi: An eschatological figure expected in Islam to restore justice before the end of time. Ahmad identified himself as the Mahdi awaited in Islamic traditions.
Hakim Nur-ud-Din: An Islamic scholar who became the first caliph of the Ahmadiyya movement after Ahmad’s death. Nur-ud-Din was Ahmad’s close supporter and the movement’s first successor.
Mainstream Islam: The broad range of Islamic beliefs and practices shared by the major Sunni and Shia traditions. Most Muslim authorities reject Ahmadi claims about prophethood and classify Ahmad’s status differently.
British India: The territories of the Indian subcontinent governed by Britain, directly or indirectly, from the eighteenth century to 1947. Ahmad’s career unfolded amid British rule and its changing religious and political landscape.
Messiah in Islam: The Islamic figure of the Messiah, usually identified with Jesus and linked to events before the end of time. Ahmad’s claim to be the Promised Messiah reinterpreted expectations about Jesus’s return.
Muhammad Ali of Lahore: An Ahmadi Muslim scholar who led the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement after its separation in 1914. His later break with the main Ahmadiyya succession reflected disagreements over Ahmad’s status.
Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement: A branch of Ahmadiyya formed in 1914 that regards Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a renewer rather than a prophet. Its interpretation of Ahmad’s religious rank differs from that of the larger Ahmadiyya community.
Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya: A multivolume Urdu work by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad defending Islam and presenting arguments for his religious mission. This early work established Ahmad’s public profile as an Islamic author and debater.
Prophethood in Islam: The Islamic doctrine that God communicates guidance through prophets, ending with Muhammad in mainstream belief. Disagreement over the meaning and finality of prophethood became central to Ahmad’s status.

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