The Ahmadiyya movement, a religious movement within Islam, was founded in 1889 in Punjab by:

The Ahmadiyya movement was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad at Qadian, in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

About Mirza Ghulam Ahmad:

• He was born in 1835 at Qadian.
• He was a religious scholar and writer, who wrote many books defending Islam against the criticism of Christian missionaries and Hindu reform groups.
• In 1889, he accepted the pledge of allegiance (bai'at) of his followers at Ludhiana, which marks the founding of the movement.
• He claimed to be the "Mahdi" and the "Promised Messiah" awaited by Muslims, and a reformer of Islam; this claim was rejected by most Muslims.
• He died in 1908 at Lahore.

Teachings of the Ahmadiyya movement:

• It emphasised the peaceful propagation of Islam, through preaching and writing, rather than through force.
• It rejected the idea of violent jihad, and promoted the "jihad of the pen".
• It promoted Western liberal education among Muslims, and set up schools.
• It was loyal to the British government, which it saw as providing religious freedom.
• It sent missionaries to many countries.

Later history:

• After his death, the movement was led by khalifas (successors).
• In 1914, the movement split into two groups: the Qadiani group (Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) and the Lahori group (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at-i-Islam).
• After the partition of India, the headquarters of the main group moved to Rabwah in Pakistan, and later to London.
• In Pakistan, the Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims by a constitutional amendment in 1974.
• Qadian in India remains an important centre of the community.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sayyid Ahmad Khan led the Aligarh movement.
• ✗Haji Shariatullah founded the Faraizi movement.
• ✗Shah Waliullah was an 18th-century Islamic scholar of Delhi.