Mirza Nasir Ahmad

Mirza Nasir Ahmad (16 November 1909 – 9 June 1982) was the third Caliph (خليفة المسيح الثالث) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Mirza Nasir Ahmad was born in Qadian, India on 16 November 1909.

His early education was both religious and secular.

By the age of thirteen, with guidance from his father Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, Nasir Ahmad had committed all 114 chapters of the Qur’an to memory, making him a Hafiz.

His father placed great emphasis on the acquisition of religious education.

In pursuit of that goal, Nasir Ahmad was enrolled at the Madrassa Ahmadiyya, Qadian, graduated with honors in July 1929.

After graduation, he went through his post-secondary education and by 1934, obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Government College, Lahore.

On 5 August 1934, Nasir Ahmad married Syeda Mansoora Begum, a granddaughter of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and eldest daughter of Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan of Malerkotla, India.

Within a month of getting married, Nasir Ahmad left India and proceeded for postgraduate studies to England.

In England, he obtained Masters of Arts degree in the Tripos (P.P.E.) Political Science, Philosophy and Economics from Balliol College, University of Oxford.

He impressed his college professors as a very well-behaved and deep-thinking student.

During a subsequent visit to England, he met one of his former professors who welcomed him to his residence.

The professor told other members of the Community that he had seen signs of leadership in Nasir Ahmad and was certain that he would be a leader one day.

Before returning to India he visited Egypt for three months from July to November 1938 in order to improve his Arabic and to meet up with his brother Mirza Mubarik Ahmad to analyse the progress of the Community in Cairo.

During his stay, he also visited numerous sites of historical interest.

In November 1938, he returned to the town of his birth, Qadian, where he was appointed a professor at Jamia Ahmadiyya, the missionary theological training college of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

In 1939, he was appointed principal where he remained for five years.

From May 1944 to November 1965, he was principal of the Talim-ul-Islam College, first in Qadian, then after partition, in Rabwah, Pakistan.

During the anti-Ahmadiyya riots in 1953, Nasir Ahmad was imprisoned briefly but released on 28 May 1953.

Upon his release, he served in various other offices of the community, until being elected as Khalifatul Masih after the demise of his father, Khalifatul Masih II.

He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 8 November 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor and father, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad.

Under his leadership, there was further expansion of missionary work started by his predecessor the second caliph, particularly in Africa and Europe.

Mirza Nasir Ahmad was elected as Khalifatul Masih III on 9 November 1965, shortly after Isha prayer at Mubarak Mosque in Rabwah, Pakistan.

The Majlis Intikhab Khilafat (Electoral College) was presided by Mirza Aziz Ahmad.

Shortly after his election as Khalifatul Masih, he established the Fazl-e-Umar Foundation in honour and memory of Khalifatul Masih II Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad.

One of the projects envisioned by the foundation was the construction of a library.

The 'Nusrat Jehan Scheme', a scheme dedicated to serving parts of Africa by running numerous medical clinics and schools was one of the many outcomes of his 1970 tour of West Africa, the first visit to the continent made by an Ahmadi caliph.

In 1970, Khalifatul Masih III embarked on a nine-week tour of various African countries.

During his visit, he attended numerous receptions held in his honour and inspected the educational, social as well as spiritual services rendered by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of various African countries.

He started the Nusrat Jehan scheme and appealed for financial contributions from the community.

Under this scheme, Ahmadi doctors and teachers are serving in various parts of Africa by running numerous medical clinics and secondary schools.

In 1971, the Khilafat Library in Rabwah was inaugurated, which today houses over 100,000 books, rare manuscripts, a children's section and science displays.

In 1974, he represented the Ahmadiyya Community in the National Assembly of Pakistan in an eleven-day inquisition.

Despite his efforts, the National Assembly declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and he led the Community through this period of increased hostility and government repression.

Following the riots and violence against Ahmadis in 1974, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto faced considerable pressure from religious leaders to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslim.

In 1980, Nasir Ahmad traveled to Spain, where he laid the foundation stone of the Basharat Mosque in Pedro Abad and announced "Love for All, Hatred for None" as the community's motto.

The mosque was inaugurated posthumously in 1982 and was the first purpose-built mosque in Spain since the Reconquista and the Fall of Granada in 1492.

Nasir Ahmad also orchestrated the compilation and arrangement of Ghulam Ahmad's literary output.

The writings of Ghulam Ahmad, which had hitherto been published as individual books, pamphlets or articles were compiled in the twenty-three volume corpus known as Rūhānī Khazā᾽in (Spiritual Treasures).

His sayings and discourses were collected in the ten volume Malfūzāt (spoken words) and his announcements and advertisements were published in three volumes under the title of Majmu'a Ishtihārāt (Collection of Flyers or Posters).