White Minaret | |
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Location | Qadian, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar Division, Punjab, India |
Coordinates | 31°49′4″N75°23′31″E / 31.81778°N 75.39194°E |
Height | ~105ft |
tt | 13 March 1903 |
Founded | 1916 |
Owner | Ahmadiyya Muslim Community |
The White Minaret is a stone minaret beside the Aqsa Mosque in Qadian, Punjab. It was constructed under the direction of the Indian religious leader Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. It serves as a lighthouse symbolising the ultimate pre-eminence of Islam. [1]
The minaret has three stages, 92 steps, and a total height of about 105 ft or 32 m. [2] [3] Its construction was completed in 1916 and has since become a symbol and distinctive mark in Ahmadiyya Islam. The minaret features on the Ahmadiyya flag [ broken anchor ] and also (sometimes with rays of light) in the movement's major publications. [4]
Part of a series on Ahmadiyya |
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Islamic tradition holds that Jesus would descend at a white minaret to the east of Damascus. [5] According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who held himself as manifestation of Jesus, this prophecy was fulfilled with his advent in Qadian, a town situated directly to the east of Damascus, and the significance of the minaret was symbolic. Reference to a white minaret, according to him, symbolised the spread of Islamic teachings linked to the coming of the Messiah, which would enlighten the world and lead to Islam's ultimate pre-eminence. Ghulam Ahmad wrote:
Just as you can see that the lamp placed on top of a minaret spreads its light far and wide, and just as lightning in one part of the sky also illuminates all other parts, so too will it be in these days...The true nature of the tower of the Messiah that is mentioned in the ahadith is that the Messiah’s invitation and message will spread on this earth very quickly just as light or sound from a tower reaches far. [6]
With reference to the Messiah appearing to the east of Damascus – a commercial city within the Christian Byzantine Empire during Muhammad's time – In a tract published on 28 May 1900, Ghulam Ahmad linked Biblical prophecies concerning the return of Christ with those found in the Quran and Hadith, stating that they pointed in the same direction for a specific reason, particularly the one mentioned by Jesus in the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: [7]
For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
According to Ghulam Ahmad, specific mention in the hadith of the east of Damascus with reference to the promised Messiah, carried a deeply religious significance since it was in Damascus that Paul of Tarsus laid the foundation of the doctrine of Trinity and divinity of Jesus and therefore the seed for the corruption of Christian beliefs, according to him, was first sown in Damascus. From there this erroneous idea had spread to other countries with Paul’s preaching, particularly towards the West. It was therefore fitting that the Messiah appear from the East and, like the sun, illumine through his teachings even the West where the Christian faith would at the time be ascendant. [8] In the same tract, he wrote:
Now our adversaries, though they repeatedly read this hadith of Damascus, yet they are unable to answer as to what the message contained in that which has been stated in it is – namely that the promised Messiah will descend near the minaret that is to the east of Damascus. Rather they have considered this hadith like a mere story, but let it be remembered that this is no story and that God is pure from useless actions…This passage did not mean that the minaret is a part of Damascus and is situated in Damascus as has unfortunately been understood. Rather, it meant that the light of [the teachings of] the promised Messiah will rise, like the sun, from a direction to the east of Damascus and dispel the Western darkness. And this was a subtle indication for the minaret of the Messiah, near which he is to descend, had been declared as being to the east of Damascus and the Damascene Trinity was kept to its western side. And thus was it foretold about the age to come, that when the promised Messiah comes, he will make his appearance like the sun which comes out of the east, and as opposed to him, the lifeless lamp of Trinity that is situated towards the west, will fade away day by day.
— Majmooa Ishtiharat, [9]
Although Ghulam Ahmad interpreted the prophecy symbolically, with the publication of the announcement in 1900, he sought to construct a physical structure representing the fulfilment of the prophecy and solicited donations for the building of the minaret laying its foundation on 13 March 1903. The minaret, according to him, was to be a physical representation of the fulfilment of the prophecy and a monument signifying the advent of the Promised Messiah with a light and a clock fixed on its top symbolising the light of Islamic teachings spreading far and wide and "so that Man will recognize his time", and a Muezzin to give the call to prayer five times a day symbolising an invitation to Islam. Though the foundation stone for the minaret was laid in 1903, construction subsequently stopped due to a lack of funds. Work continued under Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud, the second Ahmadiyya caliph in 1914, reaching completion in 1916. Bright lights were fixed at the top of the minaret. These lights were not fixed so as to brighten the minaret itself but were instead pointing away from the minaret thereby representing its Lighthouse status. [10] The clock was not fixed until 1933 and in the late 1930s it was coated with plaster of white marble. In 1980, it was veneered with white marble slabs. [11]
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdī—which is the metaphorical second-coming of Jesus (mathīl-iʿIsā), in fulfillment of the Islamic prophecies regarding the end times, as well as the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century.
Ahmadiyya considers Jesus (ʿĪsā) as a mortal man, entirely human, and a prophet of God born to the Virgin Mary (Maryam). Jesus is understood to have survived the crucifixion based on the account of the canonical Gospels, the Qurʾān, hadith literature, and revelations to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Having delivered his message to the Israelites in Judea, Jesus is understood to have emigrated eastward to escape persecution from Judea and to have further spread his message to the Lost Tribes of Israel. In Ahmadiyya Islam, Jesus is thought to have died a natural death in India. Jesus lived to old age and later died in Srinagar, Kashmir, and his tomb is presently located at the Roza Bal shrine.
The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam, is a separatist group within the Ahmadiyya movement that formed in 1914 as a result of ideological and administrative differences following the demise of Hakim Nur-ud-Din, the first Caliph after Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement are referred to by the majority group as ghayr mubāyi'īn and are also known colloquially as Lahori Ahmadis.
The Ahmadiyya Caliphate is a non-political caliphate established on May 27, 1908, following the death of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who claimed to be a Prophet, a Messenger, the promised Messiah and Mahdi, the expected redeemer awaited by Muslims. It is believed by Ahmadis to be the re-establishment of the Rashidun Caliphate that commenced following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The caliphs are entitled Khalīfatul Masīh, sometimes simply referred to as Khalifa. The caliph is the elected spiritual and organizational leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Ghulam Ahmad. He is believed by the Community to be divinely ordained and is also referred to by its members as Amir al-Mu'minin and Imam Jama'at. The 5th and current Caliph of the Messiah of the Ahmadiyya Community is Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
Ad-Dajjal, otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology who will pretend to be the promised Messiah and later claim to be God, appearing before the Day of Judgment according to the Islamic eschatological narrative. The word Dajjal is not mentioned in the Quran, but he is mentioned and described in the Hadith. Corresponding to the Antichrist in Christianity, the Dajjal is said to emerge out in the East, although the specific location varies among the various sources.
Mirza Nasir Ahmad was the third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from Pakistan. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 8 November 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor and father, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad.
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad was the second caliph, leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jahan Begum. He was elected as the second successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 14 March 1914 at the age of 25, the day after the death of his predecessor Hakim Nur-ud-Din.
Hakeem Noor-ud-Din was a close companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and his first successor and first Ahmadiyya caliph since 27 May 1908.
Mirza Ghulam Aḥmad was a religious figure from India, and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah, and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days. He declared that Jesus (Isa) had in fact survived the crucifixion and later died a natural death, after having migrated towards Kashmir and that he had appeared in the likeness of Jesus.
Noor-ul-Haq is a two-part Arabic book written by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1894. It consists of both prose and poetry. The first part was written in refutation of a book written by Padre Imad ud-Din Lahiz, a Christian preacher who had apostatised from Islam. The second part was written with regards to the solar and lunar eclipses which took place in 1894. With the publication of the book Ghulam Ahmad issued an advertisement with a reward of 5,000 rupees to anyone who could produce its like in terms of literary style.
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ) is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed as both the Promised Mahdi and Messiah expected by Muslims to appear towards the end times and bring about, by peaceful means, the final triumph of Islam; as well as to embody, in this capacity, the expected eschatological figure of other major religious traditions. Adherents of the Ahmadiyya—a term adopted expressly in reference to Muhammad's alternative name Ahmad—are known as Ahmadi Muslims or simply Ahmadis.
Jalsa Salana is a formal, annual gathering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It was initiated in 1891 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the community, in Qadian, India. Usually, the gathering spans three days, beginning with the flag hoisting ceremony following the Friday Sermon. Although the convention held in the UK is deemed to be the major and 'international Jalsa' attended by Ahmadis from across the world, Ahmadis in other countries hold their own national Jalsas, sometimes attended by the Khalifatul Masih.
The Review of Religions is an English-language comparative religious magazine published monthly by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Regularly in print since 1902, it is one of the longest running Islamic periodicals in English. It has been described as the main publication of the Ahmadiyya movement in the language and as a valuable source material for information on the geographical expansion of Ahmadi activity. The magazine was launched by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with the aim of conveying an accurate understanding of Islamic teachings across the English-speaking world and dispelling misconceptions held against the faith. The articles, however, typically comprise distinctly Ahmadi perspectives. In addition to the English edition published from London, the magazine currently publishes separate quarterly editions in German, French and Spanish.
Jāmi’ah al-Ahmadīyyah is an International Islamic seminary and educational institute with campuses in Pakistan, United Kingdom, India, Ghana, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, In addition, there are affiliated Mu'alimeen centers in Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone Madagascar and some other countries. This historical institute was founded in 1906 as a Section in Madrassa Talim ul Islam by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, it is the main centre of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for Islamic learning.
Abū Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Baṭālvī was an Indian Islamic scholar of the Ahl-i Hadith movement during the late 19th and early 20th-century in British India. A native of Batala in the Punjab, he became a student of Syed Nazir Husain Dehlawi and is considered one of the founders of the Ahl-i Hadith alongside him and Siddiq Hasan Khan. Batalvi was the editor of the magazine Isha'atus Sunnah and is best known for being a major antagonist to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement.
Mirza Bashir Ahmad was a religious scholar and writer of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was the son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who was the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement and who claimed to be the Messiah and Mahdi awaited by Muslims.
The Ahmadiyya branch in Islam has relationships with a number of other religions. Ahmadiyya consider themselves to be Muslim, but are not regarded as Muslim by mainstream Islam. Mainstream Muslim branches refer to the Ahmadiyya branch by the religious slur Qadiani, and to their beliefs as Qadianism a name based on Qadian, the small town in India's Punjab region where the founder of Ahmadiyya, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement in Syria under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London.
The Aqsa Mosque is the largest and oldest mosque of Qadian, India. It is situated inside the compound of the ancestrial house of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, close to the White Minaret, and located in the Ahmadiyya Mohallah of Qadian.
The Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement in Egypt with origins in the Indian subcontinent. Although the earliest contact between Egyptians and the Ahmadiyya movement was during the lifetime of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, its founder, the movement in Egypt was formally established in 1922 under the leadership of its second Caliph Opposition to the Ahmadiyya grew particularly in the latter part the 20th century and Ahmadis have seen increased hostility in Egypt more recently. There are up to 50,000 Ahmadi Muslims in Egypt.