Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (Born December 18, 1928 in
QadianQadian is a small town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur District, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India....
, died April 19, 2003 in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
) was
Khalifatul MasihKhalifatul Masih or Khalifat-ul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah or Caliph is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...
IV.
CaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger community of the two arising from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
and successor of
Mirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and founder of the Ahmadiyya movement within Islam...
. He was elected to this office on 10th June 1982, the day after the death of his predecessor,
Mirza Nasir Ahmadthumb|Mirza Nasir AhmadHafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih III, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on November 8, 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad...
. He was the son of
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood AhmadMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, was the second caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife. He was given the title of Khalifatul Masih II...
, the second Caliph and was the half-brother of
Mirza Nasir Ahmadthumb|Mirza Nasir AhmadHafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih III, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on November 8, 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad...
, the third Caliph. He graduated from Jamia Ahmadiyya (Theological Academy) at
RabwahRabwah is a city of Chiniot District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its name means "high place", and it is also known as Chenab Nagar . It is located near to the historic city of Chiniot by the River Chenab...
, followed by higher education in Lahore at the University of Punjab, and London at the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
School of Oriental and African StudiesThe School of Oriental and African Studies is a constituent college of the University of London, specialising in languages, humanities, economics, law and politics concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East...
.
Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (Born December 18, 1928 in
QadianQadian is a small town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur District, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India....
, died April 19, 2003 in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
) was
Khalifatul MasihKhalifatul Masih or Khalifat-ul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah or Caliph is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...
IV.
CaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger community of the two arising from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
and successor of
Mirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and founder of the Ahmadiyya movement within Islam...
. He was elected to this office on 10th June 1982, the day after the death of his predecessor,
Mirza Nasir Ahmadthumb|Mirza Nasir AhmadHafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih III, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on November 8, 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad...
. He was the son of
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood AhmadMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, was the second caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife. He was given the title of Khalifatul Masih II...
, the second Caliph and was the half-brother of
Mirza Nasir Ahmadthumb|Mirza Nasir AhmadHafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih III, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on November 8, 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad...
, the third Caliph. He graduated from Jamia Ahmadiyya (Theological Academy) at
RabwahRabwah is a city of Chiniot District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its name means "high place", and it is also known as Chenab Nagar . It is located near to the historic city of Chiniot by the River Chenab...
, followed by higher education in Lahore at the University of Punjab, and London at the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
School of Oriental and African StudiesThe School of Oriental and African Studies is a constituent college of the University of London, specialising in languages, humanities, economics, law and politics concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East...
. In 1974 he was also nominated the member of the Ahmadiyya delegation which appeared in the Parliament of Pakistan to defend the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Community.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad returned to
QadianQadian is a small town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur District, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India....
(the original centre of the community) in 1991 for the 100th annual gathering of the community; which was the first time an Ahmadiyya Khalifa had returned to Qadian since the
second KhalifaMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, was the second caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife. He was given the title of Khalifatul Masih II...
left in 1947.
He is perhaps best known for his 'Question & Answers' Sessions. The community experienced structural and financial growth during his time. He launched, in 1994, the first Muslim satellite television network by the name of Muslim Television Ahmadiyya.
Early life
Mirza Tahir Ahmed was born on 18 December 1928. He obtained his early schooling at Qadian and joined the Government College
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Historically the main city of the undivided Punjab, it is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage...
in 1944, a few months after the death of his mother (Maryam Begum). After graduating with distinction from the Ahmadiyya Missionary College
RabwahRabwah is a city of Chiniot District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its name means "high place", and it is also known as Chenab Nagar . It is located near to the historic city of Chiniot by the River Chenab...
, he obtained his honours degree in Arabic from the University of Punjab, Lahore.
In 1955, he visited England for the first time with his father, who advised him to remain there to improve his knowledge of the English language and acquaint him with European social habits. He studied for 2 and a half years at SOAS,
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
. He returned in December 1957 without achieving any degree. Instead, during his stay in London, he visited different parts of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and also some parts of Western Europe.
Upon his return in 1957 he married Asifa Begum, and was appointed the vice president of the newly founded Waqf-e-Jadid foundation. The main task of the Waqf-e-Jadid was to educate the community members living in rural areas of Pakistan. It was as part of his work in Waqf-e-Jadid that he also started treating poor people with
homeopathyHomeopathy is a form of alternative medicine, first proposed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796, that treats patients with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented...
.
During the Pakistani parliamentary investigations regarding the status of the Ahmadiyya community, a delegation comprising of 5 members was sent to plead its case. Among the panel Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the youngest member. The Ahmadiyya Community was declared Non-Muslim by the Pakistani National Assembly. This has remained their constitutional and legal position in Pakistan to this day.
Caliphate
The Jamaat's electoral college elected Mirza Tahir Ahmed as the fourth successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and head of the community on June 10, 1982.
After taking office, Mirza Tahir Ahmad worked to restore the Community with a new passion. The Anti-Ahmadiyya ordinance, passed by General Zia ul Haq's government on 26 April 1984, compelled him to leave
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
immediately, details of this journey can be found in the book
A man of God by Ian Adamson. He decided to come to England where he established his base during his years of
exileExile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return...
.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad died from heart failure in 2003. He was buried at community property "Islamabad" in Tilford, Surrey. After his death,
Mirza Masroor Ahmadthumb|Mirza Masroor AhmadMirza Masroor Ahmad is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His title is Khalifatul Masih V, being the fifth successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community.-Early life:Ahmad was born in Rabwah, Pakistan, which was the...
was elected as the fifth Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Return to India
In 1991 Mirza Tahir Ahmad returned to India to attend the hundredth Annual Gathering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, India. This was the first time that a Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community had visited India since partition in 1947 and exile to London.
Muslim Television Ahmadiyya
One of the achievements of his life was the initiation of the Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA). This satellite based channel was started in 1993 with a weekly one hour program, broadcasting the Friday sermon of the head of the community. The main purpose of the channel at that time was to establish direct contact with the main body of Ahmadies especially in Pakistan. In 1994, the station was established and also in 1996 the area of broadcasting with the start of round the clock broadcasting. It now includes full 24-hour services all over the world and consists of three channels. Important events of the community are televised in most major languages of the world. Mirza Tahir Ahmad had to give long hours of his already constrained time to start the transmissions.
International Bai'at
Another added feature to the community activities was the international initiation ceremony, which was started by Mirza Tahir Ahmad in 1993 during the Jalsa Salana of the community in Surrey along with a scheme of propagation. The
International Baiat- Bay'ah :Ba'iat or Bay'ah is an islamic practice which is literally translated with the meaning to sell. In a religious context it means oath of allegiance. With this oath the convert to a certain community declares himself/herself a part of that community...
ceremony was broadcast live across the world and the new converts join the community by pledging their allegiance to the Khalifa. He equated it with the
PentecostPentecost is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian liturgical year. The feast is also called Whitsun, Whitsunday, Whit Sunday, and Whitsuntide, especially in the United Kingdom. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks after Easter Sunday, hence its name...
and said that if anything, the original Pentecost must have been a vision prophesying the
Bay'ahBay'ah , literally means to sell, in Islamic terminology it is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the prophet Muhammad...
. He stated that there is no evidence of it being an historical occurrence but that 'Nobody can deny its factual occurrence in the Bay'ah where millions of people are initiated at the hand of one man simultaneously in every continent in diverse languages through the power of the Holy Ghost. . This international oath of allegiance takes place every year at the annual gatherings of Ahmadis - The Caliph of the community accepts the oath of allegiance.
Homeopathy
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was a world-renowned homeopath. He took interest in the books collected by his father Mirza Basheeruddin Mahmood Ahmad. After trying a couple of remedies for his own migraine and his wife's long-standing ailment, he was fascinated by the efficacy of homeopathic remedies. Before his Caliphate, he was already treating thousands of visitors at the annual conventions. After his election, his expertise was called upon by Ahmadis all over the globe through letters, as well as by leading doctors in London. He embarked upon a program of training others through classes televised on MTA International. These lectures were later compiled in a book (below).
"Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth"
Mirza Tahir Ahmad wrote among many others, a book named “
Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & TruthRevelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth is a book written by Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from 1982 to 2003. It was published in 1998, originally written in English, and subsequently translated into the Urdu and Arabic languages. The book explores...
” which was a further development on a talk he gave in Zurich, Switzerland in 1987. The book is partially a response to
Richard DawkinsClinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL is a British ethologist, zoologist, Neo-Darwinian evolutionary biologist and theorist and a popular science author....
.
Books
- Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth – Examines the relationships between science, philosophy and religion.
- Sawaney Fazl - E - Omer - Official Biography of Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, was the second caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife. He was given the title of Khalifatul Masih II...
, the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger community of the two arising from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
.
- An Elementary Study of Islam
- Gulf Crisis and The New World Order
- Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction
- Murder in the Name of Allah
- Zahaqal Baatil (
- Reality of punishment of apostasy in Islam (Urdu)
- Khatame-Nabbuwat (Urdu pdf)
- Homeopathy
- Some Distinctive Features of Islam
- Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues
- Kalam-e-Tahir (Poetry Book)
Majlis-e-Irfan (Question-Answer-Session)
Family, Marriage and Children
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the Grandson of
Mirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and founder of the Ahmadiyya movement within Islam...
and the son of
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood AhmadMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, was the second caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife. He was given the title of Khalifatul Masih II...
, the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Community, from his wife Syeda Maryam Begum. His mother Syeda Maryam Begum was daughter of Syed Abdul Sattar Shah, a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad married Asifa Begum in 1957. Asifa Begum died from cancer of the pancreas on April 3, 1992. His marriage bestowed him 5 daughters, one of whom died in infancy. His daughters are Shaukat Jehan, Faiza, Yasmin Rehman Mona, Atiatul Mujib Tooba and one daughter who died in infancy. He had no sons but later he took the upbringing and educational training of a boy, Bashir.