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The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces expanding over vast territories and building imperial structures over time.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Most of the significant expansion occurred during the reign of the rāshidūn (“rightly-guided”) caliphs from 632 to 661 CE, which were the first four successors of Muhammad.^[4] These early caliphates, coupled with Muslim economics and trading, the Islamic Golden Age, and the age of the Islamic gunpowder empires, resulted in Islam‘s spread outwards from Mecca towards the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and the creation of the Muslim world. The Islamic conquests, which culminated in the Arab empire being established across three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), enriched the Muslim world, achieving the economic preconditions for the emergence of this institution owing to the emphasis attached to Islamic teachings.^[5] Trade played an important role in the spread of Islam in some parts of the world, such as Indonesia.^[6]^[7] During the early centuries of Islamic rule, conversions in the Middle East were mainly individual or small-scale. While mass conversions were favored for spreading Islam beyond Muslim lands, policies within Muslim territories typically aimed for individual conversions to weaken non-Muslim communities. However, there were exceptions, like the forced mass conversion of the Samaritans.^[8]

Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Umayyads, Abbasids, Mamluks, Seljukids, and the Ayyubids were among some of the largest and most powerful in the world. The Ajuran and Adal Sultanates, and the wealthy Mali Empire, in North Africa, the Delhi, Deccan, and Bengal Sultanates, and Mughal and Durrani Empires, and Kingdom of Mysore and Nizam of Hyderabad in the Indian subcontinent, the Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Samanids in Persia, Timurids, and the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia significantly changed the course of history. The people of the Islamic world created numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians, physicians, and philosophers, all contributing to the Islamic Golden Age. The Timurid Renaissance and the Islamic expansion in South and East Asia fostered cosmopolitan and eclectic Muslim cultures in the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.^[9] The Ottoman Empire, which controlled much of the Middle East and North Africa in the early modern period, also did not officially endorse mass conversions, but evidence suggests they occurred, particularly in the Balkans, often to evade the jizya tax. Similarly, Christian sources mention requests for mass conversions to Islam, such as in Cyprus, where Ottoman authorities refused, fearing economic repercussions.^[8]

As of 2016, there were 1.7 billion Muslims,^[10]^[11] with one out of four people in the world being Muslim,^[12] making Islam the second-largest religion.^[13] Out of children born from 2010 to 2015, 31% were born to Muslims^[14] and currently Islam is the world’s fastest-growing major religion .^[15]^[16]^[17]

Terminology

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Alongside the terminology of the “spread of Islam”, scholarship of the subject has also given rise to the terms “Islamization”,^[a] “Islamicization”,^[18] and “Islamification” (Arabic: أسلمة, romanized: aslamah). These terms are used concurrently with the terminology of the “spread of Islam” to refer to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurred over the course of many centuries since the spread of Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula through the early Muslim conquests, with notable shifts occurring in the Levant, Iran, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa,^[19] Central Asia, South Asia (in Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (in Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia), Southeastern Europe (in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, among others), Eastern Europe (in the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Volga), and Southern Europe (in Spain, Portugal, and Sicily prior to re-Christianizations).^[20] In contemporary usage, “Islamization” and its variants too can also be used with implied negative connotations to refer to the perceived imposition of an Islamist social and political system on a society with an indigenously different social and political background.

The English synonym of “Muslimization”, in use since before 1940 (e.g., Waverly Illustrated Dictionary), conveys a similar meaning as “Islamization”. ‘Muslimization’ has more recently also been used as a term coined to describe the overtly Muslim practices of new converts to the religion who wish to reinforce their newly acquired religious identity.^[21]

History

Main articles: Early Muslim conquests and History of Islam

Further information: Arab–Byzantine wars, Ilkhanate, and Islamization of Iran

Muslim Arab expansion in the first centuries after Muhammad’s death soon established dynasties in North Africa, West Africa, to the Middle East, and south to Somalia by the Companions of the Prophet, most notably the Rashidun Caliphate and military advents of Khalid Bin Walid, Amr ibn al-As, and Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas. The historic process of Islamization was complex and involved merging Islamic practices with local customs. This process took place over several centuries. Some scholars reject the stereotype that this process was initially “spread by the sword” or forced conversions.^[22]

Rashidun Caliphs and Umayyads (610–750 CE)

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Main articles: Rashidun Caliphate and Umayyad Caliphate

Within the century of the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian Peninsula and the subsequent rapid expansion during the early Muslim conquests, one of the most significant empires in world history was formed.^[23] For the subjects of the empire, formerly of the Byzantine and the Sasanian Empires, not much changed in practice. The objective of the conquests was mostly of a practical nature, as fertile land and water were scarce in the Arabian Peninsula. A real Islamization therefore came about only during the subsequent centuries.^[24]

Ira M. Lapidus distinguishes between two separate strands of converts of the time: animists and polytheists of tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent and the native Christians and Jews existing before the Muslims arrived.^[25]

The empire spread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Aral Sea, from the Atlas Mountains to the Hindu Kush. It was bounded mostly by “a combination of natural barriers and well-organized states”.^[26]

For the polytheistic and pagan societies, apart from the religious and spiritual reasons that individuals may have had, conversion to Islam “represented the response of a tribal, pastoral population to the need for a larger framework for political and economic integration, a more stable state, and a more imaginative and encompassing moral vision to cope with the problems of a tumultuous society.”^[25] In contrast, for tribal, nomadic, monotheistic societies, “Islam was substituted for a Byzantine or Sassanian political identity and for a Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian religious affiliation.”^[25] Conversion initially was neither required nor necessarily wished for: “(The Arab conquerors) did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples. At the outset, they were hostile to conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of the Arabs.”^[25]

Only in subsequent centuries, with the development of the religious doctrine of Islam and with that the understanding of the Muslim ummah, would mass conversion take place. The new understanding by the religious and political leadership in many cases led to a weakening or breakdown of the social and religious structures of parallel religious communities such as Christians and Jews.^[25]

The caliphs of the Arab dynasty established the empire’s first school, which taught the Arabic language and Islamic studies. The caliphs furthermore began the ambitious project of building mosques across the empire, many of which remain today, such as the Umayyad Mosque, in Damascus. At the end of the Umayyad period, less than 10% of the people in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Spain were Muslim. Only the Arabian Peninsula had a higher proportion of Muslims among the population.^[27]

Abbasids (750–1258)

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Main article: Abbasid Caliphate

The Abbasids replaced the expanding empire and “tribal politics” of “the tight-knit Arabian elite^[26] with cosmopolitan culture and disciplines of Islamic science,^[26] philosophy, theology, law and mysticism became more widespread, and the gradual conversions of the empire’s populations occurred. Significant conversions also occurred beyond the extent of the empire such as that of the Turkic tribes in Central Asia and peoples living in regions south of the Sahara and north of the Sahel in Africa through contact with Muslim traders active in the area and Sufi orders. In Africa, Islam spread along three routes, across the Sahara and Sahel via trading towns such as Timbuktu, up the Nile Valley through the Sudan up to Uganda and across the Red Sea and down East Africa through settlements such as Mombasa and Zanzibar. The initial conversions were of a flexible nature.

The reasons that by the end of the 10th century, a large part of the population had converted to Islam are diverse. According to the British-Lebanese historian Albert Hourani, one of the reasons may be that

“Islam had become more clearly defined, and the line between Muslims and non-Muslims more sharply drawn. Muslims now lived within an elaborated system of ritual, doctrine and law clearly different from those of non-Muslims. (…) The status of Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians was more precisely defined, and in some ways it was inferior. They were regarded as the ‘People of the Book’, those who possessed a revealed scripture, or ‘People of the Covenant’, with whom compacts of protection had been made. In general, they were not forced to convert, but they suffered from restrictions. They paid a special tax; they were not supposed to wear certain colors; they could not marry Muslim women;.”^[27]

Most of those laws were elaborations of basic laws concerning non-Muslims (dhimmis) in the Quran, which does not give much detail about the right conduct with non-Muslims, but it in principle recognises the religion of “People of the Book” (Jews, Christians and sometimes others as well) and securing a separate tax from them that replaces the zakat, which is imposed upon Muslim subjects.

Ira Lapidus points towards “interwoven terms of political and economic benefits and of a sophisticated culture and religion” as appealing to the masses.^[28] He noted:

“The question of why people convert to Islam has always generated the intense feeling. Earlier generations of European scholars believed that conversions to Islam were made at the point of the sword, and that conquered peoples were given the choice of conversion or death. It is now apparent that conversion by force, while not unknown in Muslim countries, was, in fact, rare. Muslim conquerors ordinarily wished to dominate rather than convert, and most conversions to Islam were voluntary. (…) In most cases, worldly and spiritual motives for conversion blended together. Moreover, conversion to Islam did not necessarily imply a complete turning from an old to a totally new life. While it entailed the acceptance of new religious beliefs and membership in a new religious community, most converts retained a deep attachment to the cultures and communities from which they came.”^[28]

The result, he points out, can be seen in the diversity of Muslim societies today, with varying manifestations and practices of Islam.

Conversion to Islam also came about as a result of the breakdown of historically-religiously organized societies: with the weakening of many churches, for example, and the favouring of Islam and the migration of substantial Muslim Turkish populations into the areas of Anatolia and the Balkans, the “social and cultural relevance of Islam” were enhanced and a large number of peoples were converted. This worked better in some areas (Anatolia) and less in others (such as the Balkans in which “the spread of Islam was limited by the vitality of the Christian churches”.)^[25]

During the Abbasid period, economic hardships, social disorder, and pressure from Muslim attackers, led to the mass conversion of Samaritans to Islam.^[29]

Along with the religion of Islam, the Arabic language, Arabic numerals and Arab customs spread throughout the empire. A sense of unity grew among many though not all provinces and gradually formed the consciousness of a broadly Arab-Islamic population. What was recognizably an Islamic world had emerged by the end of the 10th century.^[30] Throughout the period, as well as in the following centuries, divisions occurred between Persians and Arabs, and Sunnis and Shias, and unrest in provinces empowered local rulers at times.^[27]

Conversion within the empire: Umayyad vs. Abbasid period

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There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as responsible for setting up the “dhimmah” to increase taxes from the dhimmis to benefit the Arab Muslim community financially and to discourage conversion.^[31] Islam was initially associated with the Arabs’ ethnic identity and required formal association with an Arab tribe and the adoption of the client status of mawali.^[31] Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier since that deprived the provinces of revenues from the tax on non-Muslims.

During the following Abbasid period, an enfranchisement was experienced by the mawali and a shift was made in the political conception from that of a primarily-Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire.^[32] Around 930 a law was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire to be Muslims.^[31] Both periods were also marked by significant migrations of Arab tribes outwards from the Arabian Peninsula into the new territories.^[32]

Conversion within the empire: “Conversion curve”

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Richard Bulliet‘s “conversion curve” shows a relatively low rate of conversion of non-Arab subjects during the Arab centric Umayyad period of 10%, in contrast with estimates for the more politically-multicultural Abbasid period, which saw the Muslim population grow from around 40% in the mid-9th century to close to 100% by the end of the 11th century.^[32] That theory does not explain the continuing existence of large minorities of Christians during the Abbasids. Other estimates suggest that Muslims were not a majority in Egypt until the mid-10th century and in the Fertile Crescent until 1100. What is now Syria may have had a Christian majority until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.

Emergence of the Seljuks and Ottomans (950–1450)

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The expansion of Islam continued in the wake of Turkic conquests of Asia Minor, the Balkans and the Indian subcontinent.^[23] The earlier period also saw the acceleration in the rate of conversions in the Muslim heartland, and in the wake of the conquests, the newly-conquered regions retained significant non-Muslim populations. That was contrast to the regions in which the boundaries of the Muslim world contracted, such as the Emirate of Sicily (Italy) and Al Andalus (Spain and Portugal), where Muslim populations were expelled or forced to Christianize in short order.^[23] The latter period of that phase was marked by the Mongol invasion (particularly the Siege of Baghdad in 1258) and, after an initial period of persecution, the conversion of those conquerors to Islam.

Ottoman Empire (1299–1924)

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Main article: History of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire defended its frontiers initially against threats from several sides: the Safavids in the east, the Byzantine Empire in the north until it vanished with the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and the great Catholic powers from the Mediterranean Sea: Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and Venice with its eastern Mediterranean colonies.

Later, the Ottoman Empire set on to conquer territories from these rivals: Cyprus and other Greek islands (except Crete) were lost by Venice to the Ottomans, and the latter conquered territory up to the Danube basin as far as Hungary. Crete was conquered during the 17th century, but the Ottomans lost Hungary to the Holy Roman Empire, and other parts of Eastern Europe, which ended with the Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699.^[33]

The Ottoman sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922 and the caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924.^[34]

Modern

Further information: Islamization § Modern day (1970s to present)

Islam has continued to spread through commerce and migrations, especially in Southeast Asia, America and Europe.^[23]

Modern day Islamization appears to be a return of the individual to Muslim values, communities, and dress codes, and a strengthened community.^[35]

Another development is that of transnational Islam, elaborated upon by the French Islam researchers Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy. It includes a feeling of a “growing universalistic Islamic identity” as often shared by Muslim immigrants and their children who live in non-Muslim countries:

The increased integration of world societies as a result of enhanced communications, media, travel, and migration makes meaningful the concept of a single Islam practiced everywhere in similar ways, and an Islam which transcends national and ethnic customs.^[36]

This does not necessarily imply political or social organizations:

Global Muslim identity does not necessarily or even usually imply organized group action. Even though Muslims recognize a global affiliation, the real heart of Muslim religious life remains outside politics—in local associations for worship, discussion, mutual aid, education, charity, and other communal activities.^[36]

A third development is the growth and elaboration of transnational military organizations. The 1980s and 90s, with several major conflicts in the Middle East, including the Arab–Israeli conflict, Afghanistan in the 1980s and 2001, and the three Gulf Wars (1980–88, 1990–91, 2003–2011) were catalysts of a growing internationalization of local conflicts. ^{[citation needed]} Figures such as Osama bin Laden and Abdallah Azzam have been crucial in these developments, as much as domestic and world politics.^[36]

By region

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Arabia

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Further information: Early social changes under Islam

At Mecca, Muhammad is said to have received repeated embassies from Christian tribes.

Greater Syria

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Main article: Muslim conquest of the Levant

Like their Byzantine and late Sasanian predecessors, the Marwanid caliphs nominally ruled the various religious communities but allowed the communities’ own appointed or elected officials to administer most internal affairs. Yet the Marwanids also depended heavily on the help of non-Arab administrative personnel and on administrative practices (e.g., a set of government bureaus). As the conquests slowed and the isolation of the fighters (muqatilah) became less necessary, it became more and more difficult to keep Arabs garrisoned. As the tribal links that had so dominated Umayyad politics began to break down, the meaningfulness of tying non-Arab converts to Arab tribes as clients was diluted; moreover, the number of non-Muslims who wished to join the ummah was already becoming too large for this process to work effectively.

Palestine

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Further information: Islamization of Jerusalem

The Siege of Jerusalem (636–637) by the forces of the Rashid Caliph Umar against the Byzantines began in November 636. For four months, the siege continued. Ultimately, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, an ethnic Arab,^[37] agreed to surrender Jerusalem to Umar in person. The caliph, then in Medina, agreed to these terms and travelled to Jerusalem to sign the capitulation in the spring of 637.

Sophronius also negotiated a pact with Umar known as Umar’s Assurance, allowing for the religious freedom for Christians in exchange for jizya, a tax to be paid by conquered non-Muslims, called dhimmis. Under Muslim rule, the Jewish and Christian population of Jerusalem in this period enjoyed the usual tolerance given to non-Muslim theists.^[38]^[39]

Having accepted the surrender, Omar then entered Jerusalem with Sophronius “and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities”.^[40] When the hour for his prayer came, Omar was in the Anastasis church, but refused to pray there, lest in the future Muslims should use that as an excuse to break the treaty and confiscate the church. The Mosque of Umar, opposite the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with the tall minaret, is known as the place to which he retired for his prayer.

Bishop Arculf, whose account of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the seventh century, De locis sanctis, written down by the monk Adamnan, described reasonably pleasant living conditions of Christians in Palestine in the first period of Muslim rule. The caliphs of Damascus (661-750) were tolerant princes who were on generally good terms with their Christian subjects. Many Christians, such as John of Damascus, held important offices at their court. The Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad (753-1242), as long as they ruled Syria, were also tolerant to Christians. Harun Abu Jaʻfar (786-809), sent the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to Charlemagne, who built a hospice for Latin pilgrims near the shrine.^[38]

Rival dynasties and revolutions led to the eventual disunion of the Muslim world. In the ninth century, Palestine was conquered by the Fatimid Caliphate, whose capital was Cairo. Palestine once again became a battleground as the various enemies of the Fatimids counterattacked. At the same time, the Byzantines continued to attempt to regain their lost territories, including Jerusalem. Christians in Jerusalem who sided with the Byzantines were put to death for high treason by the ruling Shiʻi Muslims. In 969, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, John VII, was put to death for treasonous correspondence with the Byzantines.

As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims and pilgrimages increased, tolerance for other religions declined. Christians were persecuted and churches destroyed. The Sixth Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996–1021, who was believed to be “God made manifest” by his most zealous Shiʻi followers, now known as the Druze, destroyed the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. This powerful provocation helped ignite the flame of fury that led to the First Crusade.^[38] The dynasty was later overtaken by Saladin of the Ayyubid dynasty.

Africa

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North Africa

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In Egypt conversion to Islam was initially considerably slower than in other areas such as Mesopotamia or Khurasan, with Muslims not thought to have become the majority until around the fourteenth century.^[42] In the initial invasion, the victorious Muslims granted religious freedom to the Christian community in Alexandria, and the Alexandrians quickly recalled their exiled Monophysite patriarch to rule over them, subject only to the ultimate political authority of the conquerors. In such a fashion the city persisted as a religious community under an Arab Muslim domination more welcome and more tolerant than that of Byzantium.^[43] (Other sources question how much the native population welcomed the conquering Muslims.)^[44]

Byzantine rule was ended by the Arabs, who invaded Tunisia from 647 to 648^[45] and Morocco in 682 in the course of their drive to expand the power of Islam. In 670, the Arab general and conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi established the city of Kairouan (in Tunisia) and its Great Mosque also known as the Mosque of Uqba;^[46] the Great Mosque of Kairouan is the ancestor of all the mosques in the western Islamic world.^[41] Berber troops were used extensively by the Arabs in their conquest of Spain, which began in 711.

No previous conqueror had tried to assimilate the Berbers, but the Arabs quickly converted them and enlisted their aid in further conquests. Without their help, for example, Andalusia could never have been incorporated into the Islamic state. At first only Berbers nearer the coast were involved, but by the 11th century Muslim affiliation had begun to spread far into the Sahara and Sahel.^[47]

The conventional historical view is that the conquest of North Africa by the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate between CE 647–709 effectively ended Catholicism in Africa for several centuries.^[48] However, new scholarship has appeared that provides more nuance and details of the conversion of the Christian inhabitants to Islam. A Christian community is recorded in 1114 in Qal’a in central Algeria. There is also evidence of religious pilgrimages after 850 CE to tombs of Catholic saints outside of the city of Carthage, and evidence of religious contacts with Christians of Arab Spain. In addition, calendar reforms adopted in Europe at this time were disseminated amongst the indigenous Christians of Tunis, which would have not been possible had there been an absence of contact with Rome.

During the reign of Umar II, the then governor of Africa, Ismail ibn Abdullah, was said to have won the Berbers to Islam by his just administration, and other early notable missionaries include Abdallah ibn Yasin who started a movement which caused thousands of Berbers to accept Islam.^[49]

Horn of Africa

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See also: Islam in Somalia and Islam in Ethiopia

The history of commercial and intellectual contact between the inhabitants of the Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula may help explain the Somali people‘s connection with Muhammad. The early Muslims fled to the port city of Zeila in modern-day Somaliland to seek protection from the Quraysh at the court of the Aksumite Emperor in present-day Ethiopia. Some of the Muslims that were granted protection are said to have then settled in several parts of the Horn region to promote the religion. The victory of the Muslims over the Quraysh in the 7th century had a significant impact on local merchants and sailors, as their trading partners in Arabia had then all adopted Islam, and the major trading routes in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea came under the sway of the Muslim Caliphs. Through commerce, Islam spread amongst the Somali population in the coastal cities. Instability in the Arabian peninsula saw further migrations of early Muslim families to the Somali seaboard. These clans came to serve as catalysts, forwarding the faith to large parts of the Horn region.^[50]

East Africa

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Western Africa

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Further information: Islamization of the Sudan region

The spread of Islam in Africa began in the 7th to 9th century, brought to North Africa initially under the Umayyad Dynasty. Extensive trade networks throughout North and West Africa created a medium through which Islam spread peacefully, initially through the merchant class. By sharing a common religion and a common transliteralization (Arabic), traders showed greater willingness to trust, and therefore invest, in one another.^[53] Moreover, toward the 19th century, the Northern Nigeria based Sokoto Caliphate led by Usman dan Fodio exerted considerable effort in spreading Islam.^[49]

Persia and the Caucasus

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Main articles: Islamization of Iran, Muslim conquest of Armenia, and Muslim conquest of Azerbaijan

It used to be argued that Zoroastrianism quickly collapsed in the wake of the Islamic conquest of Persia due to its intimate ties to the Sassanid state structure.^[7] Now however, more complex processes are considered, in light of the more protracted time frame attributed to the progression of the ancient Persian religion to a minority; a progression that is more contiguous with the trends of the late antiquity period.^[7] These trends are the conversions from the state religion that had already plagued the Zoroastrian authorities that continued after the Arab conquest, coupled with the migration of Arab tribes into the region during an extended period of time that stretched well into the Abbasid reign.^[7]

While there were cases such as the Sassanid army division at Hamra, that converted en masse before pivotal battles such as the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, conversion was fastest^[54] in the urban areas where Arab forces were garrisoned slowly leading to Zoroastrianism becoming associated with rural areas.^[7] Still at the end of the Umayyad period, the Muslim community was only a minority in the region.^[7]

Through the Muslim conquest of Persia, in the 7th century, Islam spread as far as the North Caucasus, which parts of it (notably Dagestan) were part of the Sasanid domains.^[55] In the coming centuries, relatively large parts of the Caucasus became Muslim, while the larger swaths of it would still remain pagan (paganism branches such as the Circassian Habze) as well as Christian (notably Armenia and Georgia), for centuries. By the 16th century, most of the people of what are nowadays Iran and Azerbaijan had adopted the Shia branch of Islam through the conversion policies of the Safavids.^[56]

Islam was readily accepted by Zoroastrians who were employed in industrial and artisan positions because, according to Zoroastrian dogma, such occupations that involved defiling fire made them impure.^[49] Moreover, Muslim missionaries did not encounter difficulty in explaining Islamic tenets to Zoroastrians, as there were many similarities between the faiths. According to Thomas Walker Arnold, for the Persian, he would meet Ahura Mazda and Ahriman under the names of Allah and Iblis.^[49] At times, Muslim leaders in their effort to win converts encouraged attendance at Muslim prayer with promises of money and allowed the Quran to be recited in Persian instead of Arabic so that it would be intelligible to all.^[49]

Robert Hoyland argues that the missionary efforts of the relatively small number of Arab conquerors in Persian lands led to “much interaction and assimilation” between rulers and ruled, and to descendants of the conquerors adapting the Persian language and Persian festivals and culture,^[57] (Persian being the language of modern-day Iran, while Arabic is spoken by its neighbors to the west.)

Central Asia

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Ghurid Empire ruled by Muhammad of Ghor and Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad.

A number of the inhabitants of Afghanistan accepted Islam through Umayyad missionary efforts, particularly under the reign of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and Umar ibn Abdul Aziz.^[58] Later, starting from the 9th century, the Samanids, whose roots stemmed from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility, propagated Sunni Islam and Islamo-Persian culture deep into the heart of Central Asia. The population within its areas began firmly accepting Islam in significant numbers, notably in Taraz, now in modern-day Kazakhstan. The first complete translation of the Qur’an into Persian occurred during the reign of Samanids in the 9th century. According to historians, through the zealous missionary work of Samanid rulers, as many as 30,000 tents of Turks came to profess Islam and later under the Ghaznavids higher than 55,000 under the Hanafi school of thought.^[59] After the Saffarids and Samanids, the Ghaznavids re-conquered Transoxania, and invaded the Indian subcontinent in the 11th century. This was followed by the powerful Ghurids and Timurids who further expanded the culture of Islam and the Timurid Renaissance, reaching until Bengal.

Turkey

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Main articles: Arab-Byzantine Wars, Byzantine-Seljuq wars, Byzantine-Ottoman Wars.

Indian subcontinent

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Islamic influence first came to be felt in the Indian subcontinent during the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders. Arab traders used to visit the Malabar region, which was a link between them and the ports of South East Asia to trade even before Islam had been established in Arabia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book The History of India as told by its own Historians, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 CE. The first Indian mosque is thought to have been built in 629 CE, purportedly at the behest of an unknown Chera dynasty ruler, during the lifetime of Muhammad (c. 571–632) in Kodungallur, in district of Thrissur, Kerala by Malik Bin Deenar. In Malabar, Muslims are called Mappila.

In Bengal, Arab merchants helped found the Port of Chittagong. Early Sufi missionaries settled in the region as early as the 8th century.^[60]^[61]

H. G. Rawlinson, in his book Ancient and Medieval History of India (ISBN 978-81-86050-79-8), claims the first Arab Muslims settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century. This fact is corroborated, by J. Sturrock in his South Kanara and Madras Districts Manuals,^[62] and also by Haridas Bhattacharya in Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV.^[63]

The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went.^[64] It was, however, the subsequent expansion of the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent over the next millennia that established Islam in the region.

Embedded within these lies the concept of Islam as a foreign imposition and Hinduism being natural condition of the natives who resisted, resulting in the failure of the project to Islamicize the Indian subcontinent is highly embroiled with the politics of the partition and communalism in India. Considerable controversy exists as to how conversion to Islam came about in the Indian subcontinent.^[65] These are typically represented by the following schools of thought:^[65]

Conversion was a combination, initially by violence, threat or other pressure against the person.^[65]
As a socio-cultural process of diffusion and integration over an extended period of time into the sphere of the dominant Muslim civilization and global polity at large.^[66]
A related view is that conversions occurred for non-religious reasons of pragmatism and patronage such as social mobility among the Muslim ruling elite or for relief from taxes^[65]^[66]
Was a combination, initially made under duress followed by a genuine change of heart^[65]
That the bulk of Muslims are descendants of migrants from the Iranian plateau or Arabs.^[66]

Muslim missionaries played a key role in the spread of Islam in India with some missionaries even assuming roles as merchants or traders. For example, in the 9th century, the Ismailis sent missionaries across Asia in all directions under various guises, often as traders, Sufis and merchants. Ismailis were instructed to speak to potential converts in their own language. Some Ismaili missionaries traveled to India and employed effort to make their religion acceptable to the Hindus. For instance, they represented Ali as the tenth avatar of Vishnu and wrote hymns as well as a mahdi purana in their effort to win converts.^[49] At other times, converts were won in conjunction with the propagation efforts of rulers. According to Ibn Batuta, the Khaljis encouraged conversion to Islam by making it a custom to have the convert presented to the Sultan who would place a robe on the convert and award him with bracelets of gold.^[68] During Delhi Sultanate‘s Ikhtiyar Uddin Bakhtiyar Khilji’s control of the Bengal, Muslim missionaries in India achieved their greatest success, in terms of number of converts to Islam.^[69]

The Mughal Empire, founded by Babur, a direct descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, was able to conquer almost the entirety of South Asia. Although religious tolerance was seen during the rule of emperor Akbar‘s, the reign under emperor Aurangzeb witnessed the full establishment of Islamic sharia and the re-introduction of Jizya (a special tax imposed upon non-Muslims) through the compilation of the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri.^[70]^[71] The Mughals, already suffering a gradual decline in the early 18th century, was invaded by the Afsharid ruler Nader Shah.^[72] The Mughal decline provided opportunities for the Maratha Empire, Sikh Empire, Mysore Kingdom, Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad and Nizams of Hyderabad to exercise control over large regions of the Indian subcontinent.^[73] Eventually, after numerous wars sapped its strength, the Mughal Empire was broken into smaller powers like Shia Nawab of Bengal, the Nawab of Awadh, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Kingdom of Mysore, which became the major Asian economic and military power on the Indian subcontinent.^{[citation needed]}

Southeast Asia

[edit source]

Main articles: Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia and Spread of Islam in Indonesia

Even before Islam was established amongst Indonesian communities, Muslim sailors and traders had often visited the shores of modern Indonesia, most of these early sailors and merchants arrived from the Abbasid Caliphate‘s newly established ports of Basra and Debal, many of the earliest Muslim accounts of the region note the presence of animals such as orang-utans, rhinos and valuable spice trade commodities such as cloves, nutmeg, galangal and coconut.^[74]

Islam came to the Southeast Asia, first by the way of Muslim traders along the main trade-route between Asia and the Far East, then was further spread by Sufi orders and finally consolidated by the expansion of the territories of converted rulers and their communities.^[75] The first communities arose in Northern Sumatra (Aceh) and the Malacca‘s remained a stronghold of Islam from where it was propagated along the trade routes in the region.^[75] There is no clear indication of when Islam first came to the region, the first Muslim gravestone markings year 1082.^[76]

When Marco Polo visited the area in 1292 he noted that the urban port state of Perlak was Muslim,^[76] Chinese sources record the presence of a Muslim delegation to the emperor from the Kingdom of Samudra (Pasai) in 1282,^[75] other accounts provide instances of Muslim communities present in the Melayu Kingdom for the same time period while others record the presence of Muslim Chinese traders from provinces such as Fujian.^[76] The spread of Islam generally followed the trade routes east through the primarily Buddhist region and a half century later in the Malacca‘s we see the first dynasty arise in the form of the Sultanate of Malacca at the far end of the Archipelago form by the conversion of one Parameswara Dewa Shah into a Muslim and the adoption of the name Muhammad Iskandar Shah^[77] after his marriage to a daughter of the ruler of Pasai.^[75]^[76]

In 1380, Sufi orders carried Islam from here on to Mindanao.^{[citation needed]} Java was the seat of the primary kingdom of the region, the Majapahit Empire, which was ruled by a Hindu dynasty. As commerce grew in the region with the rest of the Muslim world, Islamic influence extended to the court even as the empires political power waned and so by the time Raja Kertawijaya converted in 1475 at the hands of Sufi Sheikh Rahmat, the Sultanate was already of a Muslim character. In Vietnam, the Cham people proselytized due to contact with traders and missionaries from Kelantan.

Another driving force for the change of the ruling class in the region was the concept among the increasing Muslim communities of the region when ruling dynasties to attempt to forge such ties of kinship by marriage.^{[citation needed]} By the time the colonial powers and their missionaries arrived in the 17th century the region up to New Guinea was overwhelmingly Muslim with animist minorities.^[76]

Flags of the Sultanates in the East Indies

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Inner Asia and Eastern Europe

Ilkhanate Empire ruler, Ghazan, studying the Quran (Azerbaijani culture).

In the mid 7th century AD, following the Muslim conquest of Persia, Islam penetrated into areas that would later become part of European Russia.^[78] A centuries later example that can be counted amongst the earliest introductions of Islam into Eastern Europe came about through the work of an early 11th-century Muslim prisoner whom the Byzantines captured during one of their wars against Muslims. The Muslim prisoner was brought^{[by whom?]} into the territory of the Pechenegs, where he taught and converted individuals to Islam.^[79] Little is known about the timeline of the Islamization of Inner Asia and of the Turkic peoples who lay beyond the bounds of the caliphate. Around the 7th and 8th centuries some states of Turkic peoples existed – like the Turkic Khazar Khaganate (see Khazar-Arab Wars) and the Turkic Turgesh Khaganate, which fought against the caliphate in order to stop Arabization and Islamization in Asia. From the 9th century onwards, the Turks (at least individually, if not yet through adoption by their states) began to convert to Islam. Histories merely note the fact of pre-Mongol Central Asia‘s Islamization.^[80] The Bulgars of the Volga (to whom the modern Volga Tatars trace their Islamic roots) adopted Islam by the 10th century.^[80] under Almış. When the Franciscan friar William of Rubruck visited the encampment of Batu Khan of the Golden Horde, who had recently (in the 1240s) completed the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria, he noted “I wonder what devil carried the law of Machomet there”.^[80]

Another contemporary institution identified as Muslim, the Qarakhanid dynasty of the Kara-Khanid Khanate, operated much further east,^[80] established by Karluks who became Islamized after converting under Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan in the mid-10th century. However, the modern-day history of the Islamization of the region – or rather a conscious affiliation with Islam – dates to the reign of the ulus of the son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, who founded the Golden Horde,^[81] which operated from the 1240s to 1502. Kazakhs, Uzbeks and some Muslim populations of the Russian Federation trace their Islamic roots to the Golden Horde^[80] and while Berke Khan became the first Mongol monarch to officially adopt Islam and even to oppose his kinsman Hulagu Khan^[80] in the defense of Jerusalem at the Battle of Ain Jalut (1263), only much later did the change became pivotal when the Mongols converted en masse^[82] when a century later Uzbeg Khan (lived 1282–1341) converted – reportedly at the hands of the Sufi Saint Baba Tukles.^[83]

Some of the Mongolian tribes became Islamized. Following the brutal Mongol invasion of Central Asia under Hulagu Khan and after the Battle of Baghdad (1258), Mongol rule extended across the breadth of almost all Muslim lands in Asia. The Mongols destroyed the caliphate and persecuted Islam, replacing it with Buddhism as the official state religion.^[82] In 1295 however, the new Khan of the Ilkhanate, Ghazan, converted to Islam, and two decades later the Golden Horde under Uzbeg Khan (reigned 1313–1341) followed suit.^[82] The Mongols had been religiously and culturally conquered; this absorption ushered in a new age of Mongol-Islamic synthesis^[82] that shaped the further spread of Islam in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

In the 1330s, the Mongol ruler of the Chagatai Khanate (in Central Asia) converted to Islam, causing the eastern part of his realm (called Moghulistan) to rebel.^[84] However, during the next three centuries these Buddhist, Shamanistic and Christian Turkic and Mongol nomads of the Kazakh Steppe and Xinjiang would also convert at the hands of competing Sufi orders from both east and west of the Pamirs.^[84] The Naqshbandis are the most prominent of these orders, especially in Kashgaria, where the western Chagatai Khan was also a disciple of the order.^[84]

Muslims of Central Asian origin played a major role in the Mongol conquest of China. Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a court official and general of Turkic origin who participated in the Mongol invasion of Southwest China, became Yuan Governor of Yunnan in 1274. A distinct Muslim community, the Panthays, was established in the region by the late 13th century.

Europe

Tariq ibn Ziyad was a Muslim general who led the Islamic conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711-718 A.D. He is considered to be one of the most important military commanders in Iberian history. The name “Gibraltar” is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Tāriq (جبل طارق) (meaning “mountain of Tariq”), named after him.

There are accounts of the trade connections between the Muslims and the Rus, apparently Vikings who made their way towards the Black Sea through Central Russia. On his way to Volga Bulgaria, Ibn Fadlan brought detailed reports of the Rus, claiming that some had converted to Islam.

According to the historian Yaqut al-Hamawi, the Böszörmény (Izmaelita or Ismaili / Nizari) denomination of the Muslims who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 10th to 13th centuries, were employed as mercenaries by the kings of Hungary.

Hispania / Al-Andalus

Balkans

See also: Rumelia, Balkans, and Ottoman Empire

In Balkan history, historical writing on the topic of conversion to Islam was, and still is, a highly charged political issue. It is intrinsically linked to the issues of formation of national identities and rival territorial claims of the Balkan states. The generally accepted nationalist discourse of the current Balkan historiography defines all forms of Islamization as results of the Ottoman government’s centrally organized policy of conversion or dawah. The truth is that Islamization in each Balkan country took place in the course of many centuries, and its nature and phase was determined not by the Ottoman government but by the specific conditions of each locality. Ottoman conquests were initially military and economic enterprises, and religious conversions were not their primary objective. True, the statements surrounding victories all celebrated the incorporation of territory into Muslim domains, but the actual Ottoman focus was on taxation and making the realms productive, and a religious campaign would have disrupted that economic objective.

Ottoman Islamic standards of toleration allowed for autonomous “nations” (millets) in the Empire, under their own personal law and under the rule of their own religious leaders. As a result, vast areas of the Balkans remained mostly Christian during the period of Ottoman domination. In fact, the Eastern Orthodox Churches had a higher position in the Ottoman Empire, mainly because the Patriarch resided in Istanbul and was an officer of the Ottoman Empire. In contrast, Roman Catholics, while tolerated, were suspected of loyalty to a foreign power (the Papacy). It is no surprise that the Roman Catholic areas of Bosnia, Kosovo and northern Albania, ended up with more substantial conversions to Islam. The defeat of the Ottomans in 1699 by the Austrians resulted in their loss of Hungary and present-day Croatia. The remaining Muslim converts in both elected to leave “lands of unbelief” and moved to territory still under the Ottomans. Around this point in time, new European ideas of romantic nationalism started to seep into the Empire, and provided the intellectual foundation for new nationalistic ideologies and the reinforcement of the self-image of many Christian groups as subjugated peoples.

As a rule, the Ottomans did not require followers of Greek Orthodoxy to become Muslims, although many did so in order to avert the socioeconomic hardships of Ottoman rule.^[85] One by one, the Balkan nationalities asserted their independence from the Empire, and frequently the presence of members of the same ethnicity who had converted to Islam presented a problem from the point of view of the now dominant new national ideology, which narrowly defined the nation as members of the local dominant Orthodox Christian denomination.^[86] Some Muslims in the Balkans chose to leave, while many others were forcefully expelled to what was left of the Ottoman Empire.^[86] This demographic transition can be illustrated by the decrease in the number of mosques in Belgrade, from over 70 in 1750 (before Serbian independence in 1815), to only three in 1850.

Immigration

Since the 1960s, many Muslims have migrated to Western Europe. They have arrived as immigrants, guest workers, asylum seekers or as part of family reunification. As a result, the Muslim population in Europe has steadily risen.

A Pew Forum study, published in January 2011, forecast an increase of the proportion of Muslims in the European population from 6% in 2010 to 8% in 2030.^[87]

source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islam#:~:text=Conversion%20to%20Islam%20also%20came,Balkans%2C%20the%20%22social%20and%20cultural

Ahmadiyya

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Ahmadi” redirects here. For the surname, see Ahmadi (surname). For other uses, see Ahmadi (disambiguation).

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Ahmadiyya,^[a] officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ)^[4]^[b] is an Islamic messianic^[5]^[6] movement originating in British India in the late 19th century.^[7]^[8]^[9] It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed as both the Promised Mahdi (Guided One) and Messiah expected by Muslims to appear towards the end times and bring about, by peaceful means, the final triumph of Islam;^[10] as well as to embody, in this capacity, the expected eschatological figure of other major religious traditions.^[11] Adherents of the Ahmadiyya—a term adopted expressly in reference to Muhammad‘s alternative name Aḥmad^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]—are known as Ahmadi Muslims or simply Ahmadis.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at
The White Minaret and the Ahmadiyya flag in Qadian, India. For Ahmadi Muslims, the two symbolize the advent of the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
Type	Sect of Islam
Scripture	Quran
Caliph	Mirza Masroor Ahmad
Founder	Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Origin	19th century British India
Separated from	Sunni Islam
Number of followers	10–20 million^{[citation needed]}

Ahmadi thought emphasizes the belief that Islam is the final dispensation for humanity as revealed to Muhammad and the necessity of restoring it to its true intent and pristine form, which had been lost through the centuries.^[7] Its adherents consider Ahmad to have appeared as the Mahdi—bearing the qualities of Jesus in accordance with their reading of scriptural prophecies—to revitalize Islam and set in motion its moral system that would bring about lasting peace.^[16] They believe that upon divine guidance he purged Islam of foreign accretions in belief and practice by championing what is, in their view, Islam’s original precepts as practised by Muhammad and the early Muslim community.^[17]^[18] Ahmadis thus view themselves as leading the propagation and renaissance of Islam.^[19]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad established the Community (or Jamāʿat) on 23 March 1889 by formally accepting allegiance from his supporters. Since his death, the Community has been led by a succession of Caliphs. By 2017 it had spread to 210 countries and territories of the world with concentrations in South Asia, West Africa, East Africa, and Indonesia. The Ahmadis have a strong missionary tradition, having formed the first Muslim missionary organization to arrive in Britain and other Western countries.^[20] Currently, the community is led by its caliph, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, and is estimated to number between 10 and 20 million worldwide.^[21]^[22]^[23]

The movement is almost entirely a single, highly organized group. However, in the early history of the community, some Ahmadis dissented over the nature of Ahmad’s prophetic status and succession. They formed the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, which has since dwindled to a small fraction of all Ahmadis. Ahmadiyya’s recognition of Ahmad as a prophet has been characterized as heretical by mainstream Muslims, who believe that Muhammad was the final prophet, and the Ahmadi movement has faced non-recognition and persecution in many parts of the world.^[24]^[23]^[25]^[26] Some Sunni Muslims pejoratively use the term Qādiyānī to refer to the movement.^[27]

Naming and etymology

See also: Muhammad (name), Ahmad (name), and Ḥ-M-D

Ahmadiyya
Arabic	أحمدية
Romanization	Aḥmadīya(t)
Literal meaning	fellowship/followers of Aḥmad, i.e. Muhammad

The Ahmadiyya movement was founded in 1889, but the name Aḥmadīyah was not adopted until about a decade later. In a manifesto dated 4 November 1900, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announced that the name chosen to identify the movement from other Muslim groups would be in reference to Muhammad‘s alternative name Aḥmad.^[28]^[15] According to him, the meaning of the name Muḥammad—”the most praised one”—comported with the traits of glory and indicated the triumphant career of the Islamic prophet following his migration to Medina; but Aḥmad, an Arabic elative form meaning “highly praised” and also “one who praises the most”, comported with the beauty of his sermons and conveyed the perseverance and forbearance that characterized his earlier life at Mecca. Accordingly, these two names reflected two aspects or modalities of Islam and in later times it was the latter aspect that was destined to be the chief characteristic of its progress.^[13]^[15]^[29]^[30] Ghulam Ahmad deemed it a blameworthy innovation (bid‘ah) to label an Islamic group or school after anyone other than Muhammad.^[31] The announcement of 1900 stated:

The name which is appropriate for this Movement and which we prefer for ourselves and for our Jamā’at is Muslims of the Aḥmadīyah Section. And it is permissible that it also be referred to as Muslims of the Aḥmadī school.^[32]

Lexicology

The term Aḥmadīyah—formed by way of suffixation (nisba) from Aḥmad and the suffix -īya(t) (comparable to the English -ness)—is an abstract noun used in reference to the movement itself; while the term Aḥmadī (adjectivally denoting affiliation to Aḥmad) is a noun used in reference to an adherent of the movement, whether male or female. Despite Ahmadis dissociating the name from their founder, deriving it instead from Islamic prophecy^[33] and the name variant of Muhammad,^[13] some Sunni Muslims, especially in the Indian subcontinent from where the movement originated, refer to Ahmadis using the pejorative terms Qādiyānī—derived from Qadian, the home town of Ghulam Ahmad; or Mirzaī—from Mirza, one of his titles.^[34] Both are externally attributed names and are never used by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community itself.^[35]

History

Ahmadiyya timeline
1882	Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (without publicity) says he is the Mujaddid of the fourteenth Islamic century
1889	Mirza Ghulam Ahmad establishes the Ahmadiyya Muslim movement
1890	Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announces that he is ‘The Promised Messiah’ and ‘The Imam Mahdi’ of the Latter days
1908	Mirza Ghulam Ahmad dies in Lahore. Hakeem Noor-ud-Din is elected as the First Caliph
1914	Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad is elected as the Second Caliph
1947	Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad migrates to Lahore, Pakistan
1948	Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad establishes the city of Rabwah as the new headquarters of the Community
1965	Mirza Nasir Ahmad is elected as the Third Caliph
1982	Mirza Tahir Ahmad is elected as the Fourth Caliph
1984	Mirza Tahir Ahmad migrates to London, England, moving the headquarters to London
2003	Mirza Masroor Ahmad is elected as the Fifth Caliph
2019	The headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is moved from the Fazl Mosque in Southfields, London to Islamabad in Tilford, Surrey

Formally, the history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community begins when Mirza Ghulam Ahmad took the oath of allegiance from a number of his companions at a home in Ludhiana, India, on 23 March 1889. However, the history can be taken back to the early life of Ahmad, when he reportedly started receiving revelations concerning his future, but also as far back as the traditions of various world religions. At the end of the 19th century, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian proclaimed himself to be the “Centennial Reformer of Islam” (Mujaddid), metaphorical second coming of Jesus and the Mahdi (guided one) awaited by the Muslims and obtained a considerable number of followers especially within the United Provinces, the Punjab and Sindh.^[36] He and his followers believe that his advent was foretold by Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, and also by many other religious scriptures of the world. Ahmadiyya emerged in India as a movement within Islam, also in response to the Christian and Arya Samaj missionary activity that was widespread in the 19th century.

The Ahmadiyya faith believes that it represents the latter-day revival of the religion of Islam. Overseas Ahmadiyya missionary activities started at an organized level as early as 1913 (for example, the UK mission in Putney, London). For many modern nations of the world, the Ahmadiyya movement was their first contact with the proclaimants from the Muslim world.^[37] According to Richard Brent Turner, “until the mid-1950s the Ahmadiyyah was arguably the most influential community in African-American Islam”.^[38] Today, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has one of the most active missionary programs in the world. It is particularly large in Africa. In the post colonial era, the Community is credited for much of the spread of Islam in the continent.^[39]

First Caliphate

After the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Hakeem Noor-ud-Din was unanimously elected as his first successor and Caliph of the Community. Within the stretch of his Caliphate, a period which lasted six years, he oversaw a satisfactory English translation of the Quran, the establishment of the first Ahmadiyya Muslim mission in England and the introduction of various newspapers and magazines of the Community. As a result of growing financial requirements of the Community, he set up an official treasury. Most notably, however, he dealt with internal dissensions, when a number high-ranking office bearers of the Ahmadiyya Council disagreed with some of the administrative concepts and the authority of the Caliph.

Second Caliphate

Soon after the death of the first caliph, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad was elected as the second caliph, in accordance with the will of his predecessor. However, a faction led by Maulana Muhammad Ali and Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din strongly opposed his succession and refused to accept him as the next caliph, which soon led to the formation of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. This was due to certain doctrinal differences they held with the caliph such as the nature of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s prophethood and succession.^[40] It has also been theorised that a clash of personalities with that of the dissenters and the caliph himself, who had a relatively poor academic background, also played a role.^[41] However, the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement, which settled in Lahore, has had relatively little success and has failed to attract a sizeable following.^[42] In the history of the Community, this event is referred to as ‘The Split’ and is sometimes alluded to a prophecy of the founder.

Elected at a young age, Mahmood Ahmad’s Caliphate spanned a period of almost 52 years. He established the organizational structure of the Community and directed extensive missionary activity outside the subcontinent of India. Several weeks following his election, delegates from all over India were invited to discuss about propagation of Islam. Two decades later, Mahmood Ahmad launched a twofold scheme for the establishment of foreign missions and the moral upbringing of Ahmadi Muslims. The Tehrik-e-Jadid and Waqf-e-Jadid or the ‘new scheme’ and the ‘new dedication’ respectively, initially seen as a spiritual battle against the oppressors of the Ahmadi Muslims, called upon members of the Community to dedicate their time and money for the sake of their faith. In time the scheme produced a vast amount of literature in defence of Islam in general and the Ahmadiyya beliefs in particular. The funds were also spent on the training and dispatching of Ahmadi missionaries outside the Indian sub-continent.^[43]

During his time, missions were established in 46 countries, mosques were constructed in many foreign countries and the Quran published in several major languages of the world. Although the Community continued to expand in the course of succeeding Caliphates, sometimes at a faster pace, the second caliph is credited for much of its inception. Ahmad wrote many written works, the most significant of which is the ten volume commentary of the Quran.^[43]

Third Caliphate

Elected on 8 November 1965, Mirza Nasir Ahmad succeeded as the third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Started by his predecessor, he is credited with the expansion of the missionary work, particularly in Africa, and is seen as having shown great leadership and guidance to the Community during the period when the National Assembly of Pakistan declared the Community as a non-Muslim minority.^[44]^[45] Nusrat Jahan Scheme, a scheme dedicated to serving parts of Africa by running numerous medical clinics and schools was one of the many outcomes of his 1970 tour of West Africa, regarded as the first ever visit to the continent made by an Ahmadi Caliph. During his visit for the foundation stone ceremony of the Basharat Mosque, the first mosque in modern Spain, he coined the popular Ahmadiyya motto: Love for all, Hatred for None.^[46]^[47]

Mirza Nasir Ahmad established the Fazl-e-Umar Foundation in honour of his predecessor, oversaw the compilations of dialogues and sayings of the founder of the Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and also directed the complete collection of the dreams, visions and verbal revelations of the founder.^[44]

Fourth Caliphate

Mirza Tahir Ahmad was elected as the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community on 10 June 1982, a day after the death of his predecessor. Following the Ordinance XX that was promulgated by the government of Pakistan in 1984, which rendered the Caliph unable to perform his duties and put the very institution in jeopardy, Ahmad left Pakistan and migrated to London, England, moving the headquarters of the Community to Fazl Mosque, the first mosque in London.^[48] For Ahmadi Muslims, the migration marked a new era in the history of the Community. Ahmad launched the first Muslim satellite television network, Muslim Television Ahmadiyya;^[49] instituted the Waqfe Nau Scheme, a program to dedicate Ahmadi Muslim children for the services of the Community; and inaugurated various funds for humanitarian causes such as the Maryum Shaadi Fund, the Syedna Bilal Fund, for victims of persecution, and the disaster relief charity Humanity First.^[49]

To the Community, Ahmad is noted for his regular Question & Answer Sessions he held in multiple languages with people of various faiths, professions and cultural backgrounds. However, Ahmad also wrote many books – the most significant of which include Islam’s Response to Contemporary Issues, Murder in the name of Allah, Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship, Gulf Crisis and The New World Order and his magnum opus^[50] Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth.

Fifth Caliphate

Following the death of the fourth Caliph in 2003, the Electoral College for the first time in the history of the Community convened in the western city of London, after which Mirza Masroor Ahmad was elected as the fifth and current Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. In his effort to promote his message of peace and facilitate service to humanity, Ahmad travels globally meeting heads of state, holding peace conferences, and exhibiting Islamic solutions to world problems.^[51] In response to ongoing conflicts, Ahmad has sent letters to world leaders, including Elizabeth II and Pope Francis. Being the spiritual head of millions of Ahmadi Muslims residing in over 200 countries and territories of the world, Ahmad travels globally, teaching, conveying and maintaining correspondence with communities of believers and individuals, expounding principles of the Islamic faith.

Summary of beliefs

The Six articles of Islamic Faith and the Five Pillars of Islam constitute the basis of Ahmadi belief and practice. Likewise, Ahmadis accept the Quran as their holy text, face the Kaaba during prayer, follow the sunnah (normative practice of Muhammad) and accept the authority of the ahadith (sing. hadith; reported sayings of and narrations about Muhammad).^[52] In the derivation of Ahmadi doctrine and practice, the Quran has supreme authority followed by the sunnah and the ahadith. Quranic rulings cannot be overruled by any other secondary or explanatory source. If a hadith is found to be in manifest conflict with the Quran and defies all possible efforts at harmonization, it is rejected regardless of the classification of its authenticity.^[35]^[53] Their acceptance of the authority of the four Rightly Guided caliphs (successors) as legitimate leaders of the Muslim community following Muhammad’s death, their belief that a caliph need not be a descendant of Muhammad, and use of the Kutub al-Sittah fundamentally aligns Ahmadis with the Sunni tradition of Islam rather than with the Shi’a tradition.^[54] In matters of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Ahmadis reject strict adherence (taqlid) to any particular school of thought (madhhab), giving foremost precedence to the Quran and sunnah, but usually base their rulings on the Hanafi methodology in cases where these sources lack clear elaboration.^[55] What essentially distinguishes Ahmadi Muslims from other Muslims is their belief in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement, as both the promised Mahdi (Guided One) and Messiah foretold by Muhammad to appear in the end times. Summarising his position, Ahmad writes:

The task for which God has appointed me is that I should remove the malaise that afflicts the relationship between God and His creatures and restore the relationship of love and sincerity between them. Through the proclamation of truth and by putting an end to religious conflicts, I should bring about peace and manifest the Divine verities that have become hidden from the eyes of the world. I am called upon to demonstrate spirituality which lies buried under egoistic darkness. It is for me to demonstrate by practice, and not by words alone, the Divine powers which penetrate into a human being and are manifested through prayer or attention. Above all, it is my task to re-establish in people’s hearts the eternal plant of the pure and shining Unity of God which is free from every impurity of polytheism, and which has now completely disappeared. All this will be accomplished, not through my power, but through the power of the Almighty God, Who is the God of heaven and earth.^[56]

In keeping with this, he believed his objective was to defend and propagate Islam globally through peaceful means, to revive the forgotten Islamic values of peace, forgiveness and sympathy for all humankind, and to establish peace in the world through the teachings of Islam. He believed that his message had special relevance for the Western world, which, he believed, had descended into materialism.^[57]

Ahmadi teachings state that all the major world religions have divine origins and are part of the divine plan towards the establishment of Islam as the final religion, because Islam is the most complete and perfected the previous teachings of other religions,^[58] which (they believe) have drifted away from their original form and been corrupted. The message which the founders of these religions brought was, therefore, essentially the same as that of Islam, albeit incomplete. The completion and consummation of the development of religion came about with the advent of Muhammad. However, the global conveyance, recognition and eventual acceptance of his message (i.e. the perfection of the manifestation of Muhammad’s prophethood) was destined to occur with the coming of the Mahdi.^[59] Thus, Ahmadi Muslims regard Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as that Mahdi and, by extension, the “Promised One” of all religions fulfilling eschatological prophecies found in the scriptures of the Abrahamic religions, as well as Zoroastrianism, the Indian religions, Native American traditions and others.^[60] Ahmadi Muslims believe that Ahmad was divinely commissioned as a true reflection of Muhammad’s prophethood to establish the unity of God and to remind humankind of their duties towards God and His creation.^[61]^[62] Summarising the Islamic faith, Ahmad writes:

There are only two complete parts of faith. One is to love God and the other is to love humankind to such a degree that you consider the suffering and the trials and tribulations of others as your own and that you pray for them.^[63]

Articles of faith

Ahmadi Muslims subscribe to the same beliefs as the majority of Muslims,^[64] but with a difference of opinion on the meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin. The six articles of faith are identical to those believed in by Sunni Muslims, and are based on the Quran and traditions of Muhammad:

Unity of God

Main article: Tawhid

Ahmadi Muslims firmly believe in the absolute Unity of God.^[64] Acknowledgement of this principle is the most important and the cardinal principle of Islam as interpreted by the Community. All other Islamic beliefs spring from this belief. The belief in the Unity of God is thought to influence a person’s life in all its aspects and is believed to have much wider meaning and deeper applications. For example, elaborating on the Oneness of God, the Quranic verse “There is no all-encompassing power except God” is believed to negate all forms of fear with the exception of the fear of God. It instills a sense of complete dependence on God and that every good emanates from him. In general, the belief in unity of God is thought to liberate believers from all forms of carnal passions, slavery and perceptions of earthly imprisonment. The founder of the Community writes:

The Unity of God is a light which illumines the heart only after the negation of all deities, whether they belong to the inner world or the outer world. It permeates every particle of man’s being. How can this be acquired without the aid of God and His Messenger? The duty of man is only to bring death upon his ego and turn his back to devilish pride. He should not boast of his having been reared in the cradle of knowledge but should consider himself as if he were merely an ignorant person, and occupy himself in supplications. Then the light of Unity will descend upon him from God and will bestow new life upon Him.^[65]

It is further believed that the Islamic concept of Oneness of God inculcates the realization of the Oneness of the human species and thus removes all impediments in this regard. The diversity of all human races, ethnicities and colours are considered worthy of acceptance. Moreover, it is thought that a belief in the Unity of God creates a sense of absolute harmony between the Creator and the creation. It is understood that there can be no contradiction between the word of God and work of God.^[66]^[67]

Angels

Main article: Islamic view of angels

The belief in angels is fundamental to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. They are spiritual beings created by God to obey him and implement his commandments. Unlike human beings, angels have no free will and cannot act independently. Under God’s command, they bring revelations to the Prophets, bring punishment on the Prophets’ enemies, glorify God with his praise, and keep records of human beings’ deeds. Angels are not visible to the physical eye. Yet, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, they do sometimes appear to man in one form or another. This appearance, however, is not physical but a spiritual manifestation.^[68] Ahmadi Muslims regards angels as celestial beings who have their own entity as persons. The major role they play is the transmission of messages from God to human beings. According to the Quran, the entire material universe as well as the religious universe is governed by some spiritual powers, which are referred to as angels. Whatever they do is in complete submission to the Will of God and the design that he created for things. According to Islam, as interpreted by Ahmadi Muslims, they cannot deviate from the set course or functions allocated to them, or from the overall plan of things made by God.^[69]

Books

Main article: Islamic holy books

For Ahmadi Muslims, the third article in Islam is concerned with the belief in all the divine scriptures as revealed by God to his Prophets. This includes the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, the scrolls of Abraham, and the Quran. Before the advent of Islam, the history of religion is understood as a series of dispensations where each messenger brought teachings suitable for the time and place. Thus, at the time of their inception, the divine teachings sent by God concurred in their fundamentals, with the exception of minor details that were chosen to complement the time and place. With the exception of the Quran, it is believed that the divine scriptures are susceptible to human interpolation. Islam recognises that God sent his prophets to every nation and isolated communities of the world. Thus, according to the Ahmadi teachings, books outside of the Abrahamic tradition, such as the Vedas and Avesta are too considered as being of divine origin. Among the recognised books, the Community believes that the Quran is the final divine scripture revealed by God to humankind. The teachings of the Quran are considered timeless.^[70]

Prophets

Main articles: Prophets in Islam, Prophethood (Ahmadiyya), and Khatam an-Nabiyyin

According to the Ahmadi Muslim view, the fourth article of faith in Islam is concerned with the belief in all divine prophets sent by God. Ahmadi Muslims believe that when the world is filled with unrighteousness and immorality, or when a specific part of the world displays these attributes, or when the followers of a certain law (religion) become corrupt or incorporate corrupted teachings into the faith, thus making the faith obsolete or in need of a Divine Sustainer, then a Prophet of God is sent to re-establish his Divine Will. Aside from the belief in all prophets in the Quran and the Old Testament, the Community also regards Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, and Confucius as prophets.^[71]

According to the Ahmadiyya belief, the technical Islamic terms ‘warner’ (natheer), ‘prophet’ (nabi), ‘messenger’ (rasul) and ‘envoy’ (mursal) are synonymous in meaning. However, there are two kinds of prophethood as understood by the Community: Law-bearing prophets, who bring a new law and dispensation, such as Moses (given the Torah) and Muhammad (given the Quran); and non-law-bearing prophets, who appear within a given dispensation such as Jeremiah, Jesus and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Adam is regarded as the first human with whom God spoke and revealed to him his divine will and thus the first prophet, but is not regarded as the first human on earth by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, contrary to traditional Islamic, Jewish and Christian interpretations. This view is based on the Quran itself, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.^[72]

Day of Judgement

Main article: Qiyamat

The fifth article of faith relates to the Day of Judgment.^[73] According to the Ahmadis, after belief in one God, belief in the Day of Judgement is the most emphasized doctrine mentioned in the Quran.^[73] According to Ahmadi Muslim beliefs, the entire universe will come to an end on the Day of Judgment, a position also taken by all other Islamic sects and schools of thought. The dead will be resurrected and accounts will be taken of their deeds. People with good records will enter into Heaven while those with bad records will be thrown into Hell.^[73] Hell is understood in Ahmadiyya as a temporary abode, lasting an extremely long time but not everlasting, much like in mainstream Judaism. It is thought to be like a hospital, where souls are cleansed of their sins, and this view is based on the Quran and Hadith.^[74]

Divine decree

Main article: Predestination in Islam

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that divine decree controls the eventual outcome of all actions in this universe. Within the boundaries of divine decree, man is given free will to choose the course.^[75]

Five pillars

Main article: Five Pillars of Islam

The Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam; also arkan ad-din, ‘pillars of religion’) are five basic acts in Islam, considered obligatory for all Ahmadi Muslims.^[76] The Quran presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are: (1) the shahadah (creed), (2) daily prayers (salat), (3) almsgiving (zakah), (4) fasting during Ramadan, and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetime.

Distinct teachings

Although the Five Pillars of Islam and the six articles of belief of Ahmadi Muslims are identical to those of mainstream Sunni Muslims and central to Ahmadi belief,^[77] distinct Ahmadiyya beliefs include:

Second Coming

Contrary to mainstream Islamic belief, Ahmadi Muslims believe that Jesus was crucified and survived the four hours on the cross.^[78] He was later revived from a swoon in the tomb.^[79] Ahmadis believe that Jesus died in Kashmir of old age whilst seeking the Lost Tribes of Israel.^[78]^[80]^[81]^[82] Jesus’ remains are believed to be entombed in the Roza Bal shrine in Kashmir under the name Yuz Asaf.^[78]^[80]

Seal of Prophets

Although Ahmadi Muslims believe that the Quran is the final message of God for humankind, they also believe that God continues to communicate with his chosen individuals in the same way he is believed to have done in the past. All of God’s attributes are eternal. In particular, Ahmadi Muslims believe that Muhammad brought prophethood to perfection and was the last law-bearing prophet and the apex of humankind’s spiritual evolution. New prophets can come, but they must be completely subordinate to Muhammad and will not be able to exceed him in excellence nor alter his teaching or bring any new law or religion. They are also thought of as reflections of Muhammad rather than independently made into Prophets, like the Prophets of antiquity.^[83]

Jihad

Main article: Ahmadiyya view on Jihad

According to Ahmadi Muslim belief, Jihad can be divided into three categories: Jihad al-Akbar (Greater Jihad) is that against the self and refers to striving against one’s low desires such as anger, lust and hatred; Jihad al-Kabīr (Great Jihad) refers to the peaceful propagation of Islam, with special emphasis on spreading the true message of Islam by the pen; Jihad al-Asghar (Smaller Jihad) is an armed struggle only to be resorted to in self-defence under situations of extreme religious persecution whilst not being able to follow one’s fundamental religious beliefs, and even then only under the direct instruction of the Caliph.^[84] Ahmadi Muslims point out that as per Islamic prophecy, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad rendered Jihad in its military form as inapplicable in the present age as Islam, as a religion, is not being attacked militarily but through literature and other media, and therefore the response should be likewise.^[85] They believe that the answer of hate should be given by love.^[86]

Concerning terrorism, the fourth Caliph of the Community wrote in 1989:

As far as Islam is concerned, it categorically rejects and condemns every form of terrorism. It does not provide any cover or justification for any act of violence, be it committed by an individual, a group or a government.^[87]

Abrogation

Religion and science

Cyclical nature of history

A final distinct belief is the notion that the history of religion is cyclic and is renewed every seven millennia. The present cycle from the time of the Biblical Adam is split into seven epochs or ages, parallel to the seven days of the week, with periods for light and darkness. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad appeared as the promised Messiah at the sixth epoch heralding the seventh and final age of humankind.^[93]

Demographics

Main article: Ahmadiyya by country

By 2016, the community had been established in 209 countries and territories of the world with concentrations in South Asia, West Africa, East Africa, and Indonesia. The community is a minority Muslim sect in almost every country of the world.^[94] In some countries like Pakistan, it is practically illegal to be an Ahmadi Muslim.^[95] Together, these factors make it difficult to estimate the Ahmadiyya population for both the community itself as well as independent organizations. For this reason, the community gives a figure of “tens of millions”;^[96] however, most independent sources variously estimate the population to be at least 10 to 20 million^[97] worldwide, thereby representing around 1% of the world’s Muslim population.^[98] In 2001, the World Christian Encyclopedia, estimated that the Ahmadiyya movement was the fastest growing group within Islam.^[99] It is estimated that the country with the largest Ahmadiyya population is Pakistan, with an estimated 4 million Ahmadi Muslims.^[100] The population is almost entirely contained in the single, organized and united movement, headed by the Caliph. The other is the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, which represents less than 0.2% of the total Ahmadiyya population.^[42] Ahmadiyya are estimated to be from 60,000 to 1 million in India.^[101]

Organizational structure

The Caliph

Main article: Khalifatul Masih

Ahmadi Muslims believe that the Ahmadiyya caliphate is the resumption of the Rightly Guided Caliphate. This is believed to have been re-established with the appearance of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad whom Ahmadis believe was the promised Messiah and Mahdi. Ahmadi Muslims maintain that in accordance with Quranic verses^[102] and numerous hadith on the issue, Khilāfah or the Caliphate can only be established by God Himself and is a divine blessing given to those who believe and work righteousness and uphold the unity of God. Therefore, any movement to establish the Caliphate centred around human endeavours alone is bound to fail, particularly when the condition of the people diverges from the precepts of prophethood and they are as a result disunited, their inability to elect a caliph caused fundamentally by the lack of righteousness in them. It is believed that through visions, dreams and spiritual guidance, God instils into the hearts and minds of the believers of whom to elect. No campaigning, speeches or speculation of any kind are permitted. Thus the caliph is designated neither necessarily by right (i.e. the rightful or competent one in the eyes of the people) nor merely by election but primarily by God.^[103]

According to Ahmadiyya thought, it is not essential for a caliph to be the head of a state, rather the spiritual and religious significance of the Caliphate is emphasised. It is above all a spiritual office, with the purpose to uphold, strengthen, spread the teachings of Islam and maintain the high spiritual and moral standards within the global community established by Muhammad. If a caliph does happen to bear governmental authority as a head of state, it is incidental and subsidiary in relation to his overall function as a caliph.^[104]^[105] The caliph is also referred to by Ahmadi Muslims as Amir al-Mu’minin (Leader of the Faithful). The current and fifth caliph is Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

The Consultative Council

The Majlis-ash-Shura or the Consultative Council, in terms of importance, is the highest ranking institution within the Community after the Caliphate. It was established in 1922 by the second caliph, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad. This advisory body meets formally at least once a year. At the international level, the council is presided over by the caliph. Its main purpose is to advise the caliph on important matters such as finance, projects, education and other issues relating to members of the Community. It is required for the caliph to carry out his duties through consultation, taking into consideration the views of the members of the council. However, it is not incumbent upon him to always accept the views and recommendations of the members. The caliph may comment, issue instructions, announce his decisions on the proposals during the course of the proceedings or may postpone the matter under further reflection. However, in most cases the caliph accepts the advice given by the majority. At the national level, the council is presided over by the ʾAmīr (national president). At the conclusion of the proceedings, the recommendations are sent to the caliph for approval which he may accept, reject or partially accept.^[106]

The Headquarters

The principal headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the city, town or place where the caliph resides. As such, since the forced exile of the fourth caliph from Pakistan in 1984, the de facto headquarters of the Community had been based at the Fazl Mosque in London, England. In 2019, the fifth caliph moved the headquarters to Islamabad, Tilford, England on land bought by the Community in 1985.^[107]^[108] Although the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina are acknowledged to be more sacred, Qadian is considered to be the spiritual headquarters of the Community.^[109] It is believed, and prophesied, that in the future, the Ahmadiyya Caliphate will once again return to Qadian, the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. However, the Ahmadiyya city of Rabwah in Pakistan, since its founding on 20 September 1948 by the second caliph, after the Indian partition, coordinates majority of the organization’s activity around the world. In particular, the city is responsible for, but not exclusively, the two central bodies of the Community; Central Ahmadiyya Council and the Council for ‘The New Scheme’.^[110]^[111] Another, but much smaller body, the Council for ‘New Dedication’ , is also active. All central bodies work under the directive of the caliph.

Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya or the Central Ahmadiyya Council, first set up by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1906, is today responsible for organizing the Community activities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; whereas the Anjuman Tehrik-i-Jadid or the Council for ‘The New Scheme’, first set up by the second caliph, is responsible for missions outside the Indian subcontinent.^[110] Each council is further divided into directorates, such as the Department of Financial Affairs, the Department of Publications, the Department of Education, the Department of External Affairs, and the Department of Foreign Missions, among others.^[112] Under the latter council, the Community has built over 15,000 mosques, over 500 schools, over 30 hospitals and translated the Quran into over 70 languages.^[113] The Anjuman Waqf-i-Jadid or the Council for ‘The New Dedication’, also initiated by the second caliph, is responsible for training and coordinating religious teachers in rural communities around the world.

Institutions

Of all religious institutions of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Jāmi’ah al-Ahmadīyya, sometimes translated as Ahmadiyya University of Theology and Languages, is particularly notable. It is an international Islamic seminary and educational institute with several campuses throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Founded in 1906 as a section in Madrassa Talim ul Islam (later Talim-ul-Islam College) by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, it is the main centre of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for Islamic learning and the training of missionaries. Graduates may be appointed by the Caliph either as missionaries of the Community^[111] (often called Murrabi, Imam, or Mawlana) or as Qadis or Muftis of the Community with a specialisation in matters of fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence). Some Jamia alumni have also become Islamic historians. As of 2008, there are over 1,300 graduates of the university working as missionaries throughout the world.^[113]

Auxiliary organizations

There are five organizations auxiliary to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Each organization is responsible for the spiritual and moral training of their members. The Lajna Ima’illah is the largest of all the organizations and consists of female members above the age of 15; Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya is for male members between the ages of 15 and 40; Majlis Ansarullah is for male members above the age of 40; Nasiratul Ahmadiyya is for girls between the ages of 7 and 15; and Atfalul Ahmadiyya is for boys between the ages of 7 and 15.^[111]

The Community

The International Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is divided into National Communities, each with its National Headquarters. Each National Community is further divided into Regional Communities, which is again partitioned into Local Communities.^[114] In many cases, each Local Community will have its own mosque, centre or a mission house. The Amīr, or national president, though overseen by the central bodies of the Community, directs the National Amila or the National Executive Body which consists of national secretaries such as the general secretary, secretary for finance, secretary for preaching, secretary for moral training, and secretary for education, among others. This layout is replicated at regional and local levels with each of their own president and executive bodies.^[111]^[115]

Annual events

Unlike the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha also celebrated by Ahmadi Muslims, there are several functions observed by Ahmadis though not regarded as religious holidays. As such, functions are not considered equally obligatory nor is it necessary to celebrate them on the day normally set for celebration. The most important religious function of the Community is Jalsa Salana or the Annual Convention, first initiated by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the formal annual gathering of the Community, for the purpose of increasing one’s religious knowledge and the promotion of harmony, friendship, and solidarity within members of the Community.^[116] Other functions include “Life of the Holy Prophet Day”, “Promised Messiah Day“, “Promised Reformer Day” and “Caliphate Day“.

Persecution

Main article: Persecution of Ahmadis

Ahmadi have been viewed as infidels^[117]^[118] and heretics^[119] and the movement has faced at times violent opposition.^[120]^[121]^[122] In 1973, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation officially declared that the Ahmadiyya was not linked to Islam.^[123] In Pakistan, Ahmadis have been officially declared as non-Muslims by the Government of Pakistan^[124] and the term Qādiānī is often used pejoratively to refer to them and is also used in Pakistani documents.^[27]

Ahmadis have been subject to religious persecution and discrimination since the movement’s inception in 1889.^[125] The Ahmadis are active translators of the Quran and proselytizers for the faith; converts to Islam in many parts of the world first discover Islam through the Ahmadis. However, in many Islamic countries the Ahmadis have been defined as heretics and non-Muslim and subjected to attacks and often systematic oppression.^[25]

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Spread of Islam (wikipedia)

Terminology

History

Rashidun Caliphs and Umayyads (610–750 CE)

Abbasids (750–1258)

Conversion within the empire: Umayyad vs. Abbasid period

Conversion within the empire: “Conversion curve”

Emergence of the Seljuks and Ottomans (950–1450)

Ottoman Empire (1299–1924)

Modern

By region

Arabia

Greater Syria

Palestine

Africa

North Africa

Horn of Africa

East Africa

Western Africa

Persia and the Caucasus

Central Asia

Turkey

Indian subcontinent

Southeast Asia

Flags of the Sultanates in the East Indies

Inner Asia and Eastern Europe

Europe

Hispania / Al-Andalus

Balkans

Immigration

Ahmadiyya

Naming and etymology

Lexicology

History

First Caliphate

Second Caliphate

Third Caliphate

Fourth Caliphate

Fifth Caliphate

Summary of beliefs

Articles of faith

Unity of God

Angels

Books

Prophets

Day of Judgement

Divine decree

Five pillars

Distinct teachings

Second Coming

Seal of Prophets

Jihad

Abrogation

Religion and science

Cyclical nature of history

Demographics

Organizational structure

The Caliph

The Consultative Council

The Headquarters

Institutions

Auxiliary organizations

The Community

Annual events

Persecution

See also

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