Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rh)

Fourth Caliph (Khalifatul Masih IV)

Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rh) was born on 18 December 1928 in Qadian, the son of the Second Caliph. He studied at Jamia Ahmadiyya in Rabwah and at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. In 1982 he was elected as the Fourth Caliph.

As early as 1974, Pakistan’s parliament had declared Ahmadis non-Muslims by amending the constitution. On 26 April 1984 President General Zia-ul-Haq then issued “Ordinance XX”, which makes it a punishable offence for Ahmadis in Pakistan to call themselves Muslims, to call their faith Islam or to give the call to prayer (Adhan). As he could no longer carry out his office as Caliph in Pakistan, he migrated to London a few days later and led the Jamaat from there. Among his many great achievements are the television channel MTA, which he founded and which has broadcast around the clock to the whole world ever since, his question-and-answer sessions with people of every background, his Urdu translation of the Holy Qur’an and his book “Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth”. He passed away on 19 April 2003 in London.