Mirza Tahir Ahmad - Early Life

Early Life

Mirza Tahir Ahmed was born in Qadian, India on December 18, 1928. He obtained his early schooling in Qadian and joined the Government College, Lahore in 1944, a few months after the death of his mother, Syeda Maryam Begum. After graduating with distinction from Jamia Ahmadiyya (Theological Academy) in Rabwah, he continued his education and obtained his honours degree in Arabic from the University of Punjab, Lahore.

In 1955 he visited England for the first time with his father, who advised him to remain there to improve his knowledge of the English language and become familiar with European social habits. He studied for two and a half years at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University, but returned to Pakistan in December 1957 without having graduated. During his stay in London Tahir Ahmad visited different parts of the United Kingdom including Ireland, Scotland, Wales and also some parts of Western Europe.

Upon his return in 1957, Tahir Ahmad married Asifa Begum and was appointed the vice president of the newly established Waqf-e-Jadid Foundation, whose main task was to educate community members who lived in rural areas of Pakistan. He also started treating poor people with homeopathy.

During the Pakistani parliamentary investigations regarding the status of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a delegation of five members, including Tahir Ahmad, was sent to plead the community's case. Shortly after, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was declared non-Muslim by the Pakistani National Assembly, which remained the constitutional and legal position of Pakistan as of 2012.