Ahmadiyyah (part 1 of 3): Origin and History
Description: A brief look at how Ahmadiyyah
differs and contradicts the teachings of Islam. This first part
mentions its origins and how it differs from Islam and how it broke
up into two groups.
By Abdurrahman Murad (© 2008
IslamReligion.com)
The Prophet, may God praise him, said: «I asked God for three things, He gave me
two and didn't give me one. I asked God to save my nation from
being destroyed by natural calamities and He gave it to me. I asked
God to protect my nation from defeat at the hands of a foreign
enemy and He gave it to me. I asked God to save my nation from
being destroyed from within, and He did not give it to me»
[Ibn Khuzaimah & Classified as saheeh by Al-Albani].
Introduction
'Dominion over palm and pine'; that's how the British Empire was
described by the historians. By the late 17th century it had
colonized many parts of the world, including vast regions of the
Muslim world.
Colonization was not only about exploiting natural resources; but
also to indoctrinate the conquered peoples to uphold British
ideology and faith. Missionaries worked feverishly in different
areas of the British Empire to spread the message of Christianity.
Schools were set up and different tactics were employed to reach
their goals.
As the Muslims began to realize the danger of what they were
facing, they united, mobilized and launched 'freedom' assaults to
free their lands from the clutches of the ruthless Empire. Hand to
hand combat and armed confrontations were nothing new to the
British, but as the Muslim attacks grew relentless and deadlier,
they adopted a new tactic, 'divide and dominate'. Instead of
squaring off with the Muslims face to face, they incited
individuals among the Muslims to form their own groups and to split
away from Mainstream Sunni Islam. Ideological warfare was launched
against the Muslims, as were the instructions of Louis IX, the so
called "Lieutenant of God on Earth" who failed miserably in his
Crusader attempts.
One of the groups that formed during that time were the Qadiyani
group, also known as Ahmadis, which came into existence in the year
1889.
Fable Steps to
Fame
Of course, not just anyone can come up and announce himself to be a
'Prophet' of God. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed understood this and took his
mission one step at a time. Initially he claimed to be a Revivalist
of Islam. He said: "We are Muslims. We believe in the One God
without a partner and in the Testimony of Faith. We believe in the
Book of God, the Quran, in His Messenger Muhammad, may God praise
him. We believe in angels, the resurrection, Hell and Paradise. We
observe the prescribed prayers and the fast. We turn to the Qibla
for prayers and forbid ourselves what is forbidden by God and His
Prophet and permit ourselves what is permitted. We add not a thing
to the Islamic Law, nor subtract any thing from it. Islamic law is
above change."
With claims such as this and possessing powerful articulate skills,
he was able to gain considerable ground with many Muslims. In the
year 1891 he claimed to be the 'Promised Messiah' and the Mahdi.
Finally, in the year 1901 he took the plunge and announced that he
was a Prophet of God.
The 31 flavors of
Qadiyanism…
In order for Mirza to gain favor with all people, he incorporated
into his faith elements of every religion that was present in his
area; thus, his doctrine incorporated Indian, Sufi, Islamic, and
Western elements.
Mirza Ghluam Ahmed had claimed so many
things that it is difficult to chronologically arrange
them:
a. He claimed to be God and the
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. He has written, "I saw in my
dreams that I AM ALLAH/God and I believed, no doubt I am The One
Who created the Heavens." (Aaina-e-Kamaalaat).
b. He claimed to be nine
prophets. He said, "I am Adam. I am Noah. I am Abraham. I am
Ishmael. I am Moses. I am Jesus and I am Muhammad." (Roohaani Khazaaim).
c. He claimed to be the mother
of Prophet Jesus and then he claimed to be Prophet Jesus himself.
He said the 'first God' converted him into Mary. After two years,
God made him pregnant for ten months, after which God converted him
into Jesus. (Roohaani
Khazaain).
d. He claimed that he was
Muhammad, the Messenger of God. "Muhammad is the Messenger of God
and those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful
amongst themselves." [Quran 48:29], {مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ
مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ},
Transliteration: Muĥammadun Rasūlu Allāhi Wa Al-Ladhīna Ma`ahu
'Ashiddā'u `Alá Al-Kuffāri Ruĥamā'u Baynahum. He claimed
that in this divine revelation, he himself was named Muhammad and
also the Messenger. (Roohaani
Khazaain, vol. 18, page 207).
e. He claimed to be the Mahdi
and the Promised Messiah, though he did not fulfill any of the
conditions laid by Prophet Muhammad regarding the Mahdi and the
Promised Messiah.
f. In a lecture given in
Sialkot in 1904, he declared that God had informed him that Krishna
who had appeared among the Aryas thousands of years ago was indeed
a prophet of God upon whom the Holy Spirit descended from God, but
that later his teachings were corrupted and he began to be
worshipped. Here he claimed that he was the avatar whom the Hindus
were awaiting in the latter days, and that he had appeared in the
likeness of Krishna invested with the same qualities.[1]
Breakout
The Ahmadiyah group split into two individual groups. This occurred
after the death of Hakim Noor-ud-Din, the first successor of Mirza
Ghulam Ahmed. The first group is known as 'Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community' and the second, the smaller one, is known as 'Lahore
Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam'.
The differences between the two can be summarized in two points.
The first point is their belief regarding the prophethood of Mirza
Ghulam Ahmed. The Lahore Ahmadiyya group considers Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad a Prophet in the metaphorical sense of the word; whereas, the
Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community holds that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a
Prophet, holding all necessary qualities a Prophet should
have.
The second difference is how they view mainstream Sunni Muslims.
The Lahore Ahmadiyya group believes that any person who professes
the Testimony of Faith to be a Muslim, and cannot be called a
non-Muslim.[2]
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that any Muslim who has not
accepted Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim is a non-Muslim, even if the
person has not even heard the name of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in his
life.[3]
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Footnotes:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_cla...a_Ghulam_Ahmad
[2] http://aaiil.info/misconceptions/muslim/whois.htm
[3] http://www.ahmadiyya.org/qadis/takfir2.htm
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