Muhammad, they claim, was the last to bring God’s
law, but Ghulam Ahmad was among the prophets
chosen to revive it and make it work. Another of
his controversial teachings was that JesUs did not
die on the cross but survived the crucifixion and
escaped to kashmir (northern India), where he
died and was buried. Thus, the promised mes-
siah was Ghulam Ahmad, not Jesus, a claim that
offended Christian missionaries in British India
as well as Muslim authorities. Also, members of
the Hindu community in northern India objected
to his assertion that he was an incarnation of the
Hindu god Krishna. Despite strong opposition
and persecution, the movement Ghulam Ahmad
launched has now reached many countries around
the world and has an estimated membership of
more than 10 million. His male heirs continue to
serve as the leaders of the Qadiani branch of the
Ahmadiyya. Their current leader is Mirza Masroor
Ahmad (b. 1950), Ghulam Ahmad’s great grand-
son, who became the Ahmadiyya caliph after his
father, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, died in 2003.
See also aUthority; christianity and islam;
colonialism; hindUism and islam; reneWal and
reForm movements.
Further reading: Yohanan Friedmann, Prophecy Con-
tinuous: Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and Its
Medieval Background (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1989); Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, Ahmadiyyat:
The Renaissance of Islam (London: Tabshir Publications,
1978).
ghulat (Arabic “to exaggerate,” “to exceed
the proper bounds”)
The ghulat were early radical Shii groups known
for their exaggerated beliefs about God, ali ibn
abi talib (d. 661), and other Shii Imams. Ali was
the cousin and son-in-law of mUhammad, whom
the Shia consider to have been the rightful heir
to the leadership of Islam after the Prophet’s
death. The ghulat deified Ali and believed that
he was a superhuman being with miraculous
powers. The term ghali (pl. ghulat) was used
disparagingly by mainstream Muslims to refer to
supporters of these beliefs. Such doctrines were
considered heretical to Sunni and later moderate
Shii authorities, who consider God to be one and
not incarnate in human beings.
When these extremist doctrines about Ali
spread to newly Islamized areas such as iraq,
iran, Anatolia, and Central Asia during the eighth
century, they were mixed with pre-Islamic and
Christian beliefs, such as reincarnation, resurrec-
tion, and the Christian Trinity (God, JesUs, and the
Holy Spirit). A variety of sects that applied such
views to the veneration of Ali and the 12 Imams
arose, many of which survive today, such as the
Alawis (Nusayris) in syria, the Ahl-i Haqq (People
of the Divine Truth) in Iran, the Alevis in tUrkey,
and the Shabak in northern Iraq. While some
believers within these groups may equate Ali with
God, it is more common for them to place Ali in a
spiritual trinity along with allah and Muhammad
or to see Ali as a manifestation of God. These sects
have been influenced by sUFism in their beliefs
and ritual practices, and most require members to
undergo an initiation ceremony.
Since these sects are considered heretical by
orthodox Muslim authorities, they have often
been persecuted. They therefore practice in secret
and often resort to concealing or even denying
their true beliefs from outsiders, employing the
Shii tactic of taqiyya (dissimulation).
See also alaWi; batin; imam; shiism.
Mark SoileauFurther reading: Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, Barbara Kell-
ner-Heinkele, and Anke Otter-Beaujean, eds., Syncretis-
tic Religious Communities in the Near East (New York:
E.J. Brill, 1997); Matti Moosa, Extremist Shiites: The
Ghulat Sects (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press,
1988).ghusl See ablution.
K 264 ghulat