Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Mahmoud Ayoub, Redemptive Suffer-

ing in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of Ashura 

in Twelver Shiism (The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 

1978); Valerie Hoffman-Ladd, “Devotion to the Prophet 

and His Family in Egyptian Sufism.” International Jour-

nal of Middle East Studies 24 (1992): 615–637.

ahl al-kitab

  See p

eople

 

of

 

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Ahmadiyya

The Ahmadiyya is a controversial Islamic mis-

sionary revival movement founded by m

irza

g

hUlam

 a

hmad

 (ca. 1835–1908) in British i

ndia

during the 19th century. This movement began 

in the town of Qadian in northern India in 

1889, and it has spread to other parts of the 

world, including Africa, Southeast Asia, Great 

Britain, and North America, through the mis-

sionary activities of its adherents. Its members, 

who tend to be economically prosperous, were 

divided into two separate groups in 1914: the 

Qadianis (also called the Ahmadiyya Muslim 

Community) and the Lahoris (also called the 

Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of 

Islam). Both groups recruit new members by 

conducting organized missionary programs and 

active publication activities. The total size of the 

Ahmadiyya community in 2001 was estimated to