Mirza Ghulam Aḥmad (February 13, 1835 – May 26, 1908) was a religious figure from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and the founder of the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

. He claimed to be the

Mujaddid A ''mujaddid'' () is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" () to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revitalize Islam, clean ...

(divine reformer) of the 14th Islamic century, the promised

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

Second Coming of Christ The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven (which is said to have occurred about two thousand years ago). The ...

"), and the

Mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...

awaited by the Muslims in the end days. He declared that

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

( Isa) had in fact survived the crucifixion and later died a natural death, after having migrated towards

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

and that he had appeared in the likeness of Jesus. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is known to have produced a vast amount of literature. He wrote more than ninety books, many of which extend to hundreds of pages. His written works often contain both

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

in three different languages,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, though primarily Urdu. His writings contain the exposition and explanation of Islamic teachings, often reinterpreted. A wide range of subjects are also dealt with such as

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

and the intricate issues of

Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

. His writings always used the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

to elaborate and give meanings to various ideas. Many of his books bear a

polemical Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

and

apologetic Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their fai ...

tone in favour of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Several of his books were distributed internationally during his lifetime. His essay entitled ''

The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam ''The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam'' is an essay on Ahmadiyya Islam by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya religious movement. The original was written in Urdu with the title ''Islami Usool ki Philosophy'', in order to be read at ...

'' (originally presented at a conference of religions held in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in December 1896 and later published as a book) was well received by various intellectuals including

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

of Russia. His works were collected under the leadership of

Mirza Nasir Ahmad Mirza Nasir Ahmad (; 16 November 1909 – 9 June 1982) was the third Caliph () of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from Pakistan. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 8 November 1965, the day after the death of his pred ...

, the third

khalifa ''Khalifa'' or ''Khalifah'' (; commonly "caliph" in English) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups ...

of Ghulam Ahmad. Most of his writings were compiled in the twenty-three volume corpus known as ''Rūhānī Khazā᾽in'' (Spiritual Treasures) which includes his books, pamphlets, and various articles. His announcements and advertisements were collected in the ''Majmu'a Ishtihārāt'' (Collection of Announcements) with only a small number of his books being translated into English. His letters have been compiled into 4 volumes known as '' Maktūbāt-e-Ahmad'' (Letters of Ahmad) and his complete discourses or sayings have been compiled in 10 volumes known as the '' Malfūzāt'' (Spoken Words). All works were initially diligently hand composed by calligraphers (کاتب). ''Nazarat Ishaat'' Pakistan based in Rabwah, and ''Nazarat Nashro Ishaat'', Qadian, India have been the key organizations responsible for preserving, composing and publishing the works in hand composed and computerized versions. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed died in Lahore on 26th May, 1908.

List of books

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Mirza Ghulam Works by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Bibliographies by writer Bibliographies of Indian writers Religious bibliographies