Aḥmadīy(y)a

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Aḥmadīy(y)a. The movement founded by Mirzā Ghulām Aḥmad Qādiyānī (c.1835–1908), hence the later name Qādī. In Barāhīn-i-Aḥmadiyya (1880), Aḥmad claimed to be al-Mahdī, and in due course also the Messiah, the avatāra of Kṛṣṇa, and the reappearance of Muḥammad. The Aḥmadīya believe, with other Muslims, that ʿIsa/Jesus did not die on the cross, but they do not believe that he was received into heaven. Rather, they hold that he visited India to preach, and died there, aged about 120. His tomb is at Srinagar. While sharing many Muslim beliefs, they are nevertheless regarded by Muslims as heretical and to be treated as such. The Lahore group (Aḥmadīya Anjuman-i-Ishāʾat-i-Islam) has spread widely and established the Woking mosque as its UK centre.