Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

The Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, temporarily run by the “Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement” from 1914 until the mid-1960s, remained the main centre of Islam in Britain throughout the early 20th century.[1][2]
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The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam, (Urdu: احمدیہ انجمنِ اشاعتِ اسلام لاہور, romanized: Aḥmadiyyah Anjuman-i Ishāʿat-i Islām Lahore) is a separatist group within the Ahmadiyya movement that formed in 1914 as a result of ideological and administrative differences following the demise of Hakim Nur-ud-Din, the first Caliph after Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement are referred to by the majority group as ghayr mubāyi'īn[3] ("non-initiates"; "those outside of allegiance" to the caliph) and are also known colloquially as Lahori Ahmadis.

Adherents of the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement believe Ghulam Ahmad to be a Mujaddid (reformer) and also affirm his status as the promised Messiah and Mahdi,[4] but diverge from the main Ahmadiyya position in understanding his prophetic status to be of a Sufistic or mystical rather than theologically technical nature.[5][6] Moreover, adherents of the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement do not profess allegiance to the Ahmadiyya Caliphate and are administered, instead, by a body of people called the Anjuman (Council), headed by an Amīr (President).[7][8][9]

According to estimates from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and author Simon Ross Valentine, there are between 5,000 and 10,000 Lahori Ahmadis in Pakistan[10] and as many as 30,000 worldwide,[11] thereby representing less than 0.2% of the total Ahmadiyya population. Similar to the 'Qadiani' Ahmadis, the 'Lahori' Ahmadis hold annual conferences or conventions called jalsas where community updates, aims, topics of interest, and challenges are discussed and emphasized to help direct policy-planning goals and initiatives for the respective groups or jamaats.

  1. ^ Ansari 2004, p. 341.
  2. ^ Gilham 2014, pp. 119, 238.
  3. ^ Friedmann 2003, p. 22.
  4. ^ Valentine 2008, p. 57.
  5. ^ Friedmann 2003, pp. 147–153.
  6. ^ "Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib of Qadian never claimed prophethood (in the light of his own writings)" Archived 22 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Accusations Answered, The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement
  7. ^ Valentine 2008, pp. 56–7.
  8. ^ Lathan 2008, pp. 381–2.
  9. ^ Friedmann 2003, pp. 18–19.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference unhcr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Valentine 2008, p. 60.