Qadian and Your Islam History Lesson of the Day

Ahmadiyya Gate, which reads:
"Love For All Hatred For None",
the slogan of the Ahmadiyya community

My train was only an hour late to Amritsar, which isn't bad I think. Everyone here seems to expect things to be late so no one gets mad when it actually happens. I'm headed straight to Qadian for a few days and will be back to check out Amritsar afterward. I was picked up at the platform by a missionary here who sent me with a driver to Qadian. Neither of them really spoke much English, but we were able to get by.

Here's your Islam history lesson for the day. Qadian is a really important city to people of my particular sect of Islam: Ahmadiyyat. The sect was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was born in and lived in Qadian, so this city is basically the hometown of Ahmadiyyat. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be a reformer of Islam; he didn't bring any new laws, only reviving what the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had already brought to the people. Ahmadis across the world are heavily persecuted by other Muslim sects. At the heart of this persecution is that all Muslims believe that Muhammad (pbuh) is the "seal of the prophets," meaning that no prophets would come after him. Ahmadis interpret that to mean that no law-bearing prophets would come after Muhammad (pbuh). But since Ahmadis still believe in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet, other Muslims consider this blasphemous and Ahmadis are considered by both Sunnis and Shias (the two major sects of Islam) to be non-Muslims. As a result, in Muslim countries like Pakistan, Ahmadis cannot openly practice Islam while also calling themselves Ahmadis without risking jail and/or death. That is to say, the persecution of Ahmadis is actually part of the law in these places.

Baitul Zikr mosque, Qadian

Qadian is a relatively small city tucked away in the north of India, in the state of Punjab and very close to Kashmir. Ahmadis from all over the world come to visit Qadian because of it's historical significance. I'm staying for free at the mosque's guest house here, which is conveniently a two-minute walk away from the mosque itself. I'm also being provided all of my meals and pretty much anything else I need. My room is air conditioned which is awesome because it's SO hot here (like everywhere else in India I've been).

When I got to my room I got settled and thought to myself that it's pretty amazing to be here, but I really wish my dad was here. I know Qadian is important, but beyond that, I don't really know what I should be doing here. It would have been nice to have dad to show me around and explain things.

The call to prayer happened soon thereafter to I walked over to the mosque to say prayers. When I returned, there were some people staying in the room next to mine. They looked really familiar and when I walked up to them one of them said my name and it turns out it was my old friend AC from my mosque in Philadelphia! (We used to live in Philadelphia before moving to California, so my family has a lot of ties to that community.) AC was in Qadian with his parents for a couple days. It just so happens that they were taking a trip to Hoshiarpur (another important city for Ahmadis that I had planned on seeing while I was in Qadian) so they invited me to come along with them. I was so happy to have them there as my surrogate family.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Hoshiarpur
with my friend AC

Hoshiarpur is about a 90-minute drive southeast of Qadian. It's significant because it's the place where Mirza Ghulam Ahmad went on a retreat of sorts and where he is said to have received an important revelation from God. In Hoshiarpur we saw the room where he stayed for his retreat. It's tucked away in a random street. There's a small sign adorning the entryway but other than that, there's nothing else that would belie the significance of this place to people who didn't already know. When we took pictures in front of it, the people across the street were definitely looking at us wondering what was going on. After saying some prayers there (this will be a common theme throughout my Qadian trip) we headed back. As soon as we started driving, it began to pour rain. When it was coming down the hardest, a tree fell on the road no more than 20 feet in front of us. Luckily we were able to sneak around it along with the 20 or so other felled trees in our path.

The man who was driving us turned out to be the superintendent of Jammiah, which is the Ahmadi missionary training school. He took us to visit the school, and it was there that I found out that the head of my local mosque in LA had actually funded the building of this school! A few people earlier in the day had mentioned his name and I thought nothing of it, but now I totally get it. He's kind of a big deal here. He has built a mosque here as well so basically all of the Ahmadis here know who he is. Afterward, the superintendent took us to his house and gave us tea and cookies. It was incredibly generous of him to spend the day showing us around.

Back at the guest house, I had dinner with AC's family and then AC took me around the mosque to show me all of the historically significant things. He knows a LOT. He's been here a few times but he's also an incredibly devout Ahmadi. I guess I won't be so lost here after all.