Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a devout Muslim who claimed to be the direct descendant of Muhammed was born on the 13th February, 1835. In the year 1889 he accepted a covenant of allegiance from his first followers in Ludhiana in the Punjab. A year later he announced that God had revealed to him that Jesus had died a normal death. God had also told him theta he was ‘The Promised Messiah.’ God promised Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad that his mission would be a success and that his message would be taken to the end of the world. His writings had attracted much attention throughout the world since his birth in and Russian philosopher Count Leo Tolstoy wrote in one of his books that the writings of the Qadian Messiah were ‘Very profound and very true.’
The Ahmadiyya Prophet claimed to be ‘The Lion of God.’ He had a striking appearance with a black beard. Muslims generally agreed that he was ‘The Mahdi’ which translates as “The Guided One’ who would appear at the beginning of the 14th Century of the Hegira, which is roughly the 19th Century AD. The signs that he was ‘The Promised Messiah’ was an eclipse of the moon and an eclipse of the sun in the same month in the middle of Ramadan. These occurred at the commencement of his spiritual ministry on the 13th of Ramadan, 1311; Thursday the 21st March, 1894 was when the moon eclipsed and then on the 6th April, 1894 the sun eclipsed.
‘The Promised Messiah’ was sent to safeguard against any perversion of the Qur’an and to promote the use of classical Arabic. Ahmadiyya teaching states that Muhammed predicted that a Prophet would be raised up in Islâm and demonstrate the superiority of Islâm over all other religions. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad started teaching as ‘The Mahdi’ in 1876. He died of a sudden illness on the 26th May, 1908. He was succeeded by Nurud Din as the First Successor of ‘The Promised Messiah.’ More than 100 years after his death millions of people around the world still recognise him as ‘The Promised Messiah’ and his movement is now led by the Fourth Successor, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad.
Sunni and Shia Muslims reject Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s claim to be ‘The Mahdi’ and they are still looking for the arrival of ‘The Mahdi.’