Famous Ahmadis in India

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Indian Ahmadis are the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community members, who were either Indians by birth or belong to Indian descent. The Ahmadiyya community is named after its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was born in Qadian, India in 1835. He is regarded by his followers as a prophet of Islam and the promised Messiah. Articles of Islam include belief in the unity of God, in the existence of angels, in the revelation of divine books, that Muhammad SAW is the holiest and the last prophet, in the day of judgement and in the divine decree. Ahmadis believe in all these articles except one, relating to the last prophet. They consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmed to be a prophet and it is on this account that majority of the traditional Muslims consider them non-Muslims.

1. MÄ«rza Ghulam Ahmad

MÄ«rza Ghulam Ahmad
MÄ«rza Ghulam Ahmad

He was respectfully known as Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad among his followers. He was born to Mirza Ghulam Murtaza and Chiragh Bibi, the lady with the lamp, on February 13, 1835 in Qadian, India, where he spent most of his life. He died in Lahore on May 26, 1908. He was buried in Qadian, district Gurdaspur, India. Since his early childhood, he was inclined towards religion, and, seeing him absorbed exclusively in religious study and practice, his father lovingly used to call him maseeter, literally meaning the mosque man. He worked for a short time in courts overseeing matters relating to the parents’ property and lands but did not find it something of his taste. Having grown up, he decided that Islam was deteriorating and was in need of reforms, therefore, he declared himself as the reformer and founded the Ahmadiyya community. This community claims to be comprised of more than 200 million followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, though the majority of Muslims consider it a highly exaggerated figure and opine their number to be less than ten million in the world. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed claimed to be a prophet and the promised Messiah, a claim which is highly controversial from the followers’ and majority of Muslims’ points of view.

2. Al-Hajj Mawlana Hafiz Hakim Noor-ud-Din

Al-Hajj Mawlana Hafiz Hakim Noor-ud-Din
Al-Hajj Mawlana Hafiz Hakim Noor-ud-Din

Al-Hajj Mawlana Hafiz Hakim Noor-ud-Din was born in 1841 in Bhera, British India and died on March 13, 1914 at the age of 73 years in Qadian, British India. He had been in the close company of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of Ahmadiyya movement. A single day after the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, on May 27, 1908, he was elected the first successor or Khalifa 1, the head of Ahmadiyya community. He was elected unanimously and maintained unity in the community after the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He was a famous physician and had been the Royal physician of Maharaja, Jammu and Kashmir. He was a learned scholar of Hebrew and Arabic and was a renowned writer and theologian. He had memorized the holy Quran, as it was his family tradition. It was a great attraction for the visitors of Qadian to listen to his lectures.

3. Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad

 Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad

Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad was born on January 12, 1889 in Qadian, India and died on November 7, 1965 in Rabwah, Pakistan. He was the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed from his second wife, Nusrast Jahan Begum, and was the second successor or Khalifa, who is the head of Ahmadiyya community. He was a great scholar, orator, politician and administrator. He is regarded as Musleh Maood, meaning the Promised reformer, but he is better known in the community as the Promised Son. He is also known for ten volumes of commentary on the Holy Quran. He rendered valuable services for the Ahmadiyya community as an effective missionary outside India.

4. Dr. Hafiz Saleh Muhammad Alladin

Dr. Hafiz Saleh Muhammad Alladin
Dr. Hafiz Saleh Muhammad Alladin

Dr. Hafiz Saleh Muhammad Alladin was born in Hyderabad, India in 1931 and died in Amritsar on March 2011, at the age of 80 years. He was buried in Qadian, in the Gurdaspur district of India. He earned his Ph.D from the University of Chicago, USA in 1963. Soon afterwards he joined the Osmania University of Hyderabad, India as a professor where he was later on elected as the director of the Centre of the Advanced Study in Astronomy. He had been honored with many awards including the Meghnad Saha Award 1981 from UGC New Delhi. In addition to being a famous astronomer, he was president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of India chapter.

5. Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad

Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad
Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad

Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad was born on November16, 1909 in Qadian, India. He received his early education at Madrassa Ahmadiyya, Qadian, India and memorized the Holy Quran. He received his degree of Bachelor of Arts from the Government College, Lahore. He received his Masters degree in Egyptology from Balliol College University of Oxford. One day after the death of his predecessor and father, Mirza Basheer Ud Din Mahmood Ahmad, Khalifatul Massih II, he was elected as the third successor on November 8, 1965 and became the functional head of the Ahmadiyya community.

6. Mirza Hadi Beig

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, his ancestor

Mirza Hadi Beig was born in Greater Khorasan and died in Qadian, India. He was a great ancestor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Mirza is a word derived from Mir zada, meaning the prince. He came to India from Samarkand during the reign of the Mughal King Babur. Having settled in Punjab, India, he established 70 villages, one of which he named Islampura. This village later on evolved into Qazian Majhi and then to Qadian, regarded as the holiest place for Ahmadis.

7. Mirza Tahir Ahmed

Mirza Tahir Ahmed
Mirza Tahir Ahmed

Mirza Tahir Ahmed was born on December 18, 1928 in Qadian, India and died on April 19, 2003. Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, married Syeda Maryam Begum on February 7, 1924. A companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed known as Syed Sarwar Shah said after the marriage sermon, ‘I am now advanced in years and will soon pass away, but those who live will witness the advent of Servants of the faith born in this wedlock with a Syeda as occurred before. This is my resolute conviction.” Mirza Tahir Ahmad was that servant of faith which he pointed out. He was the fourth successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmed and regarded as Khalifatul Masih IV, by his followers. He was elected as Khalifa on June 10, 1982, after the death of Mirza Nasir Ahmed. The Ahmadiyya community expanded and became richer during his time. He is credited with the launching of the Muslim television Ahmadiyya.

8. Hadhrat Maulana Abdul Malik Khan

Ahmadiyya Community
Ahmadiyya Community

Hadhrat Maulana Abdul Malik Khan was born on November 25, 1911. He came to Qadian in 1920 and completed his oriental studies to receive his Maulvi Fazal certification. He was regarded as a learned theologian. He stayed in Hyderabad, India and served the cause of the Ahmadiyya community in and out of India. As a missionary, he was sent to Ghana, Africa and he spread the message there very successfully. He is known for his oratory. He was appointed as Director, Islaho Irshad, of reforms in 1971. He died on August 6, 1983.

9. Dr. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah

Dr. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah
Dr. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah

Dr. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah was born in 1878 in Lakki Marwat, District Bannu, in British India. His father Khan Bahadur Syed Alim Shah was Assistant Settlement Officer in the civil service of the British Government. He received his education at Scotch Mission High School, Sialkot, where he was a class fellow of the would-be renowned poet philosopher, Allama Sir Mohammad Iqbal. About the event of his taking Bai’at or submission at the hands of the promised Messiah, he narrated ‘When I arrived there I had a problem in recognizing Hadhrat Sahib as he was sitting amidst other people, was the Promised Messiah. This unassuming behavior of the Promised Messiah registered a deep impression on my mind. … So I again went to Qadian and took bai’at at the hands of the Promised Messiah.’

10. Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrulla Khan

Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrulla Khan
Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrulla Khan

Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrulla Khan was born on February 6, 1893 in Daska, British India and died on September 1, 1985 in Lahore, Pakistan at the age of 92 years. He studied at Government College, Lahore and received his LLB from King’s College London, in 1914. He is known for drafting the Pakistan Resolution and serving as judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He was a respected scholar of the Ahmadiyya community. He was the secretary of the Khalifatul Masih II, the second successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Conclusion

Since their self-assumed status of Islam is not accepted by the majority of Muslims, a faction of Ahmadis, the Lahori Ahmadis, took the stance that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is not the real but a symbolic prophet. However this too is equally unacceptable to most of the Muslims. On the other hand Ahmadis do not want to be known as non-Muslims, therefore most of them do not declare themselves as Ahmadis and assume themselves as Muslims and insist upon their identity as Muslims.

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2 Responses

  1. Shah

    June 6, 2017 9:49 am

    U made a mistake;

    9. Dr. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah ; this is wrong

    His name is surely Syed Muhammed Hussain Shah, but he isnt a Ahmadi.
    He is from Allomahar Sharif and is the father of ShahibZada Pir Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah Naqsbandi. (they are all sunni)

    The picture is of Syed Muhammed Hussain Shah from Allo Mahar Sharif

    This is my family, that’s why i know this.

    Reply

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