Ahmadi

:For the town in Kuwait, see Ahmadi, Kuwait.

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Ahmadi Muslims ( Ahmadiyya), are followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. They comprise two subsects, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islaman). The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has established offices in 178 countries and claims a population of over 200 million http://www.alislam.org/introduction/index.html, although other statistics claim much lower. There is no reliable count of the population of members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. Ahmadi Muslims' beliefs are considered heretical and outside of Islam by many mainstream Muslims.

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At the end of the nineteenth century Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Reformer of the age Mujaddid, Promised Messiah, Mahdi and Prophet of the age. (Note that the two subsects of the Ahmadiyya interpret this last claim differently). Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to have fulfilled the prophecy of the return of Jesus. He and his followers claimed that his advent was foretold by Muhammad the prophet of Islam, and also by many other religious scriptures of the world. In 1889 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad laid down the foundation of his community, which was later on given the name of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. Since its inception, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat's objective has been the revival of Islam. Soon after the death of the founder the movement split into two sects: the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

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Most Sunni and Shiite Islam scholars refer to the Ahmaddiya as heretics - mainstream Muslims often refer to Ahmadis using the term Qadiani, a term literally referring to someone belonging to the Qadian region in India, this term however has acquired derogatory connotations over the years. Mainstream Muslims contend that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim of prophethood and messiahhood violates the basic tenets of Islam (namely that Muhammad is the last prophet, and that it is Jesus Christ who returns at the end times in person, and no other). Both Ahmadi Muslims sects support their belief by using an allegorical interpretation of the references in Islamic literature related to the “return of Jesus”. However there is a difference between the two sects as far as finality of prophet hood is concerned, as listed below:

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Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (February 13, 1835–May 26, 1908) the founder of the Ahmadiyya religious movement, a sect considered by most Muslims to have broken away from Islam....

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (sometimes called the 'Qadiani' community, after the locality of Qadian, India) is based on the Ahmadiyya movement founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889. The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder. (The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, ...

Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement: The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam (not to be confused with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association), formed as a result of an ideological differences between the Ahmadiyya Community after the demise Maulawi Nur 'ud-Din in 1914, the first Khalifa of its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ah...