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The Ahmadiyya Caliphate is a non-political caliphate established on May 27, 1908, following the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who claimed to be a Prophet, a Messenger, the promised Messiah and Mahdi, the expected redeemer awaited by Muslims.[1] It is believed by Ahmadis to be the re-establishment of the Rashidun Caliphate that commenced following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The caliphs are entitled Khalīfatul Masīh (Arabic: خليفة المسيح; English: Caliph of the Messiah),[2] sometimes simply referred to as Khalifa (or Caliph). The caliph is the elected spiritual and organizational leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Ghulam Ahmad. He is believed by the Community to be divinely ordained and is also referred to by its members as Amir al-Mu'minin (Leader of the Faithful) and Imam Jama'at (Imam of the Community). The 5th and current Caliph of the Messiah of the Ahmadiyya Community is Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
After the death of Ghulam Ahmad, his successors directed the Ahmadiyya Community from Qadian, India which remained the headquarters of the community until 1947 with the creation of Pakistan. From this time on the headquarters remained in Rabwah, a town built on land bought in Pakistan by the community in 1948. In 1984, Ordinance XX was promulgated by the government of Pakistan which prohibited Ahmadi Muslims from any public expression of the Islamic faith, rendering the caliph unable to perform his duties as the leader of the community. Due to these circumstances, the 4th caliph left Pakistan and migrated to London, England, provisionally moving the headquarters to the Fazl Mosque.[3]
Since the Ahmadiyya is widely viewed as a heterodox movement by the mainstream of Sunni and Shia Islam, most Muslims outside the movement do not recognise Ahmadi claims to a caliphate.
- ^ J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Abc-Clio. p. 57. ISBN 9781598842043.
- ^ Mathieu Guidère (2012). Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism. Scarecrow Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780810879652. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ "Khilafat".