History of Jamia Ahmadiyya

Jamia Ahmadiyya is an institution that aims to produce such scholars and missionaries of the Jama’at, whose task is to propagate the pristine form of Islam as taught by the Promised Messiah and the Mahdi^as.

Jamia Ahmadiyya has its root of establishment from the time of Promised Messiah^as himself, in form of Madrassah Ahmadiyya, because later, the same Madrassah was to evolve into Jami’a Ahmadiyya that provided knowledge to the ‘Waqfeen-e-Zindagi’ and was to become a great educational institution for their education and training.

Many venerable members of the Jama’at passed away in 1905. Particularly the deaths of Hadrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sialkoti^ra and Hadrat Maulvi Burhanuddin Jehlami^ra caused tremendous grief for the whole Jama’at. Allah the Almighty had already informed the Promised Messiah^as by revelation,

“Two Pillars have broken!”

On their death, Huzur^as said, “Good people of our Jama’at are passing away. You see Maulvi Abdul Karim^ra who was a sincere man and similarly Maulvi Burhanuddin^ra has passed away in Jehlam. Many other Missionaries of this Jama’at have died, but unfortunately we see no one who could replace them.” (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, vol. 2, p.412)

To cater for this need, Madrassah Ahmadiyya was established.

“The Madrassah (Talimul Islam) should be so reformed that it should produce preachers and religious scholars who could take over from those that have passed away. Think in this way that this Madrassah should run in such a way that it produces specialists of the Holy Quran, preachers and religious scholars who can become a medium of reformation for the world.” (Maktoobat-e-Ahmadiyya; Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 62-63)

Jami’a Ahmadiyya Qadian, which initially started as Madrassah Ahmadiyya, was founded by The Promised Messiah as in 1906. It was started in 1897 as Talimul Islam School up to Primary Level. A separate Section for the religious instruction was included in it. With the growing needs of the Jama’at, the school kept evolving to cater for the needs. The Jami’a Ahmadiyya was formally inaugurated on 20th May 1928 during the time of Hazrat Musleh Maud in Qadian.

After the partition of India and the relocation of Khilafat, the community was firmly established in Rabwah in Pakistan. It was now finally time to replicate the institution in Rabwah also, which allowed the Jamaat to attain new heights of progress. Sadly, with success came opposition, which resulted in a second migration from Pakistan to the United Kingdom.

Today, by The Grace of Allah, many campuses of Jamia Ahmadiyya have been established in various countries of world. The Islamic educational university founded by The Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) has now had its branches spread to the world. It has campuses in Qadain India, Rabwah Pakistan, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso.

Two types of degrees are offered in most Jamias.

Shahid degree: This program is a seven-years course run in Jamia such as in Qadian, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Ghana) this is the only course offered.
Mubashar degree: This is a four-years course offered in other Jamias. This program runs four years Mubashir Degree in Jamia Ahmadiyya Nigeria.