Mirza Tahir Ahmad (* 18 December 1928 in Qadian, † 19 April 2003 in London) was Khalifatul Masih IV., Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected to this post in 1982, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Nasir Ahmad. He was son of Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, the second Caliph and brother of Mirza Nasir Ahmad, the third Caliph. He graduated from Jamia Ahmadiyya (Theological Academy) at Rabwah, followed by higher studies in London, UK. In 1973 he was also nominated the member of the ahmadiyya delegation which appeared in the Parliament of Pakistan to defend the beliefs of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Parliament subsequently decided to declare all Ahmadi's as non-Muslims. Mirza Tahir Ahmad is credited with making proselytizing mandatory for every Ahmadi Muslim resulting in progressively increasing number of converts at the yearly occasion of International Ba'ait. The community experienced structural and financial growth during his time.
Biography
The founder of the Jamaat Ahmadiyya Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani's son, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (The Khalifat-ul Masih II) married Syeda Maryam Begum on 7 February, 1924. She was the daughter of Dr. Abdul Sattar Shah, scion of an eminent Syed family. In his Nikah sermon, Syed Sarwar Shah Sahib, a venerable companion of the founder of the Jamaat said, "I am now advanced in years and would soon pass away, But those who live would 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 Ahmed was born on 18 December, 1928.
Early life
He obtained his early schooling at Qadian and joined the Government College Lahore in 1944, a few months after the death of his mother (Maryam Begum). After graduating with distinction from the Ahmadiyya Missionary College Rabwah (now known as Chenab Nagar), 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 European social habits. He studied for two and a half years at SOAS, University of London. He returned by the end of 1957 without achieving any degree. During his stay in London, he visited different parts of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and also some parts of Western Europe.
At 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. Due to his work in this foundation, Mirza Tahir Ahmad acquired vast experience with Ahmadies from various fields of life. During his work in Waqf-e-Jadid he also started treating poor people with homeopathic drugs and acquired lot of experience in this field.
During the parliamentry investigations regarding the status of the community a delegation comprising of five members was sent under the leadershp of the 3rd Caliph Mirza Nasir Ahmad. This delegation included the Caliph, Abu-al-Atta Jalandhari (actual name Allah Ditta), a well known Ahmadi scholar, Dost Mohammad Shahid, official historian of the community, Mohammad Ahmad Mazhar, a well known lawyer, and Mirza Tahir Ahmad. After a days of discussions, which were led by the Attorney Gen. of Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya Community was declared Non-Muslim by the Pakistani National Assembly. This has remained their legal position according to the law of Pakistan to this day.
Family
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the son of Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Community, from his wife Syeda Maryam Begum who was daughter of Syed Abdul Sattar Shah. He had no brothers from his mother but three sisters, including Amatul Hakeem and Amatul Jameel. His father married seven times and thus 'Mirza Tahir Ahmad' had twelve brothers and eleven sisters from different mothers. His eldest brother Mirza Nasir Ahmad was the third caliph of the community.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was happily married to Asifa Begum upto her death on April 3rd, 1992. Despite proposals from some community members Mirza Tahir Ahmad did not marry again after her death. His marriage bestowed him five daughters, one of whom died at early age. The other four are Shaukat Jahan Begum (wife of Mirza Safiullah), Faiza Begum (second ex-wife of Mirza Luqman Ahmad), Hiba tul Rahman Mona (wife of ???), Tuba Begum (ex-wife of ???, now married to ???). All of them have children.
Fourth Head of the Ahmadiyya Community
The Jamaat's electoral college selected Mirza Tahir Ahmed as the new head of the community. A dispute occurred at the time of this election in 1982. Mirza Rafi Ahmad, half-brother of Mirza Tahir Ahmed, tried to speak at the elections. He was subsequently sent out of the Mubarak Mosque, where the election was taking place. Mirza Rafi Ahmad then tried to get the attention of the ahmadies gathered outside the mosque by climbing on to a bus. However the ahmadies rejected this call and accepted the election of Mirza Tahir Ahmed as announced by the electoral college. Mirza Rafi Ahmad pleged his allegiance to Tahir Ahmad a few years later.
After taking office, Mirza Tahir Ahmed worked to restore Jamaat with a new passion. The Anti-Ahmadiyya ordinance, passed by General Zia ul Haq's government on 26 April 1984, compelled him to leave Pakistan 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 exile.
Within a few years, he trained and organized thousands of men, women and children as voluntary workers to help him discharge his global responsibilities. One of his main achievements is the creation of MTA (Muslim Television Ahmadiyya). Through MTA numerous training programs are televised twenty-four hours a day, a service which reaches all the continents in most major lanaguages of the world. According to the community's estimate, after taking office, the numbers of members proliferated with the rapid rise and the spread of Jamaat Ahmadiyya in over 150 countries.
Mirza Tahir Ahmed died in 2003, due to heart failure. He was burried at Islamabad, Surrey. After his death, Mirza Masroor Ahmad was elected as the fifth Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Character
Mirza Tahir Ahmad had a very exceptional nature. He was a great orator, excellent in public relations, extremly emotional with regards to simple people, resolute, brave, uncompromising on religious and community issues, humorous, and hard working. The early death of his mother had a lasting impact on his feelings. His vast experience with common Ahmadis of lower and middle classes had made him very sensitive to their needs. The work with the poor as a self-made homeopathic practitioner further enhanced this quality.
His hard work was a key to the success of Waqf-e-Jadid, whose vice-president he remained until his election as head of the community in 1982. It was his hard work alone, which lead to the establishment of the new headquarters of the community at London, UK. The globalization of the community organization was also his achievement.
He had acquired knowledge in religious as well as scientific fields. Together with the good command of english and urdu languages and excellent oratory skills he would not stumble upon any question asked to him. Due to his experience in debates with the opponents of the community all over Pakistan, his relations with politicians of all parties, and his personal status in the community he was included in the delegation of the community to the Pakistani parliament in 1974. His scientific knowledge was acquired in self-education and can be considered a big achievement, in spite of the limitations resulting from such a mode of education. He was a good politician and did not shy to display his knowledge or his command of the english language. He was forgiving, warm hearted, loving and tolerant.
International Bai'at
One of the main features during his time is the number of new converts to Ahmadiyya community. In 1993 Mirza Tahir Ahmad started a program of conversions to the Ahmadiyya jamaat which was called 'International Bai'at'. The members of the community were asked to double their efforts to bring double the number of new converts to this initiation ceremony each year. The number of new converts are announced by the head of the community (Khalifa) each year at the occasion of Jalsa Salana in the UK at the end of July. This practice continues to this date. According to the official figures presented by the community the number of converts from 1993 to 2007 was over 166.8 million. This number is highly contested by the opponents of the community. As the official statistics of no country in the world substantiate this claim, the issue remains hotly discussed. During the illness and subsequent death of Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the numbers dwindled very fast. It is to be noted that the year by year number of converts, that were present on the official home page of the community, have been taken off and the total figure has been replaced by "millions" in official statements.
Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
Mirza Tahir Ahmad wrote a book named Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth which was a further development on a talk he gave in Zurich, Switzerland. There, in 1987 Professor Dr. Karl Henking, Professor of Ethnology, University of Zurich invited the Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to deliver a lecture on Islam. On Thursday, the 14 June 1987 at 8.15 p.m., the proposed lecture was delivered under the title Rationality, Revelation, Knowledge, Eternal Truth. The students, evidently intrigued by the title, thronged Oule (the great auditorium) which became filled to capacity so that additional arrangements had to be made in another hall with provisions for relaying the proceedings through television screens and loudspeakers. The lecture was developed further in its subject matter and material over the period of almost 10 years and finally publised in the form of a book, entitled, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth.
Writings, Speeches and Question-Answer-Sessions
Books
- Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth – Comprehensive book by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh that examines the relationships between science, philosophy and religion. (English [1] | Arabic [2])
- An Elementary Study of Islam [3] (Book)
- Gulf Crisis and New World Order (English [4]| Arabic) [5]
- Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction [6](Book)
- MURDER in the NAME of ALLAH [7](Book)
- Zahaqal Baatil (Urdu [8]|Arabic [9] |English [10])
- Reality of punishment of apostasy in Islam (Urdu) [11]
- Khatame-Nabbuwat (Urdu pdf) [12]
- Homeopathy [13](Book)
- Some Distinctive Features of Islam [14](Book)
- Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues (English [15] |Urdu [16]) (Book)
- Kalam-e-Tahir (Poetry Book)
Majlis-e-Irfan (Question-Answer-Session)
- Unity of God [17]
- Hazrat Imam Mahdi (as) [18]
- Future of Western Society (Majlis Irfan) [19]
- Natural Disasters (Majlis Irfan) [20]
- Prophet's Guide Mankind to God (Majlis Irfan)
- Investment, Interest and Islam (Majlis Irfan)
- Gulf War: Quotations from Sermons [21]
- Natural Disaster or Divine Punishment [Part I [22]|Part II [23]|Part III [24]|Part IV [25]|Part V [26]]
- Life After Death (Majlis Irfan) [27]
- Faith and Reality (Majlis Irfan) [28]
- Lord Krishna and Jesus Christ (Majlis Irfan) [29]
- The Journey Within (Majlis Irfan) [30]
- Attainment of Inner Peace (Majlis Irfan) [31]
- Inspiration, Revelation, and Belief (Majlis Irfan) [32]
- The Philosophy of Revival of Religion
- Universal and Moral Values, Politics and World Peace [33]
- Finality of Prophethood (English pdf) [34]
- With Love to the Muslims of the World - The Ahmadiyya Perspective
- THE PHILOSOPHY OF REVIVAL OF RELIGION [35]