The Times
Editorial - June 17th 1908
The death occurred at Lahore on May 26
of Mirza Ghnlam Abmad Khan, who was widely known throughout India as the
founder of the Ahmadiyah schism in the Moslem world,
by which he announced himself to be not only the Mahdi,
but also the Messiah of his generation. The Mirza,
who had attained his 70th year, was the jagirdar, or
owner, of the village of Quadian, in the Gurdaspur district, and was of Mogul descent, his family
having migrated to the Punjab from Samarkand in the reign of Baber. He was
formerly in Government service, but resigned some years ago to devote himself
to vigorous canvassing of his claims. The Rev. Dr. Griswold, of Lahore,
carefully studied the Ahmadiyah movement, and embodied
his researches in a book in which he spoke of the Mirza
as “venerable in appearance, magnetic in personality, and active in
intellect." Maintaining a printing press and a book depot, this teacher of
strange doctrines wrote many theological works, and conducted two newspapers,
one in Urdu and the other in English, in advocacy of his creed. He asserted
that Jesus, though crucified in Palestine, did not die there, but travelled
east, and eventually died in the city of Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. Adopting
the doctrine of repeated manifestations of the Messiah, he taught that, while
Jesus was the Messiah of Moses, he himself was the Messiah of Mahomed, and claimed to have been sent by God to bring back
the true faith, corrupted alike by Jews, Christians, and Moslems. He professed
to have foretold many events and to have wrought even more wonderful works than
Jesus. This teaching was regarded as heretical and blasphemous by orthodox Mlahomedans, but the followers of the Mirza
included not only the unlettered, but also many men of high standing and good
education. The Mirza's claim to have some 70,000 or
80,000 disciples was undoubtedly much exaggerated, and though the last census
returns as to the number of adult male adherents were probably below the actual
figures, Dr. Griswold's estimate, made soon after the publication of official
figures, of a total following of 10,000 cannot be 'regarded as illiberal. The
Indian ferment of the last two or three years, however, has been religious and
social as well as political. Under these favorable conditions the Quadian sect is likely to have made considerable advance.
Should it decay and disappear now that its prophet has passed away, it will be
mourned neither by the Moslem Community as a whole nor by the Government.
Though the Mirza was emphatic and sincere in his
professions of the compatibility of his propaganda with complete loyalty to the
British raj, such eccentric cults in India have in them possibilities both of
sectarian strife and bloodshed and of political dimension. That the movement
has been entirely peaceful and law-abiding may be placed to the credit of its
founder, who has been well described by Dr. Griswold as self-deceived rather
than insincere. At the time of his death he was arranging for the establishment
in Lahore of a society to Promote harmony and good-will between him and Mohemmedans.