Souvenir on 50th Jalsa Salana USA — Page 9
HAIJHRr1T MIRZA '"f AHIR AllMAD KIIAI IF/\ Tl L MASill IV (ABA) H adhra t M ir La Ta h ir Ahmad ( AB A) is the s piritu a l h ea d of the wo rld -w id e Ahm adiyya Mu s lim Co mmunit y. He is the fo urth su ccesso r o f the P ro m ise d M ess ia h , H ad hr at Mi rza G hul a m Ahm a d (AS). H ad hr al Mir za Ta hir Ahm ad ( AB A) was bo rn o n 18 D ece mber 1 928 in Qa di an, Indi a. He w as e du ca ted in In d ia, P ak istan a nd the UK (a t Th e Lo nd on Sc h oo l o f Ori enta l and Afr i ca n Studi es). He d evo ted his lif e to the servi ce o f faith and ser ve d w ith g r ea t di stincti on in vario us ca paci ti e!> unde r the l ea de rs hip of the sec- o nd and the third Khulafa (su ccesso rs to the Pro mi se d M essia h). In 1 982, he was e l ec ted as the He ad of the wo rld- w ide Ahmad iyya Mu s lim Co mmunit y foll ow ing the demi se o f the third Kha lifa. Th e anti - Ahm adi yya O r dinan ce XX, imp ose d o n 26 April 1 984, by Ge ne ral Zia, the then di c tator Pr es ident o f Pakis tan , de ni es the fundam ental hum an ri g ht s and re li g io us fr ee dom to Ahm adi Mu s lims and ma k es the d a il y lif e o f an A hm adi a c rim e. Th e Ordin an ce made it imp oss ible for him to functio n as the h ea d o f his Co mmunit y while rema inin g in Paki stan. After du e co ns ulta ti o n, he dec i de d to l eave the co untr y. Thr ee d ays after the p ro mul ga ti on of the ordinance, he fl ew fro m K arac hi and ca me to Lond o n where he c urr ently li ves. H ad h rat Mir za Ta hir A hm ad (A B A) is w i de ly t rave led and of ten de li ve rs a ddr esses to di verse a udi en ces fro m a ll wa lks of li fe and wide ly d iffe ring c ultur es. He has w ritt en m any b ooks in Urdu as we ll as so me in E ng li sh. ' Murd e r in the Na me of A ll ah ' and ' Islam 's R es p onse to Co n te mp o rary I ss u es' are t wo o f hi s r ece nt E ng li sh publi ca tions which the rea de r may fi nd of int eres t. He h as wr it te n exte ns i ve ly in U rdu a nd occas iona ll y ex pr esses him se lf in Urdu poe try. He h as r ece ntl y co mpl eted a co mp re hensi ve b oo k on the subj ec t of " R eve lation, Ratio na lit y, Kn ow led ge and Truth. " He deal s with both the sc ienti fi c di scove ri es a nd the diff e re nt phil o- so phic and soc iol og ical sch oo ls of tho ug ht with a pe netrating in sig ht. Th e b oo k p roves co n- c lus i ve ly th at be hind a ll evo luti on and p rog r ess there is a plan and d es ig n of the A lmi g ht y Crea to r. By qu o ting exte nsi ve ly from the Ho ly Qur 'a n, he brin gs out viv idl y, h ow Almi g hty A ll ah, who revea l ed the Holy Qur 'a n, a nd who is al o the Crea t or of the Uni ve rse, fore to ld the eve nts which are un fo ld ing in the world now. He has al so ad ded his insig ht int o the p rop h ecies made in the Ho ly Qur 'a n abou t the futu re. Hadh r at Mirza Tahi r A hm ad (A B A) l ea ds the Co mmunit y of abo ut 15 milli on peop le in 1 53 co untries. Mi lli ons watc h him ove r Mu s lim Te l ev is ion A hm ad i yya - a sa te llite tel evis io n net wo rk which broa d cas ts a ll ove r the wor ld in e ight lan guages. His addr esses and o ther mee tin gs are o ften acco mp anied by ' Qu est io n and An swe r ' sessio ns. He is al ways r ea dy to r espo nd to qu estio ns ag i tat ing the mind s o f hi s audi e n ce o n any top ic. religio us o r te mp o ral , o n the bas is of the a ll -e n co mp ass ing t eac hin gs of Islam.