Founder

Their founder is the same as that of their former organisation, the Qadianiyyah. However, their interpretation of his significance and just how far reaching his claims of prophethood were are causes of deep contention between them and their mother group in Qadian.

Key beliefs

1. The Ahmadiyyah deny the Virgin Birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth as well as the Annunciation of his virtuous mother, Mary.

2. The Sunna is not an accurate repository of knowledge to return to but must always be seen through the interpretation and eyes of ‘the Mujaddid (Renewer)’, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

3. Adherence to any of the four orthodox schools is neither mentioned, suggested or encouraged.

4. Both the Second Advent of Christ and the arrival of the Mahdi are interpreted to mean the actual reference and prophecy of ‘the Mujaddid.’ Therefore, for this reason, they deny the historicity of the Mahdi as well as the real event of the Second Advent of Christ.

5. It is the longstanding belief of the Ahmadiyyah that Christ was crucified on the cross, that he fainted and was taken down (As a warning, it should be known that this is the belief of the famous polemist Ahmad Deedat), then escaped to Saringar in India and was laid to rest there.

6. The actual person of the False Messiah as well as his coming is denied.

Extent

There are no precise statistics detailing the level of membership of the Ahmadiyyah Movement, but estimates have not put them above 10,000,000 worldwide in number.