Mirza Masroor Ahmad, leader of Muslim minority group, visits faithful in U.S.

Mirza Masroor Ahmad, spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Com­munity, toured the United States for three weeks October, visiting U.S. adherents belonging to the global body of 10 to 20 million.

Masroor Ahmad, called the khalifa or caliph, heads a small subset of Islam whose theology closely resembles that of most Sunni Muslims, save for an important distinction: Ahmadi Mus­lims believe that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908, was the mahdi, a savior prophesied to usher in the end times and the peaceful triumph of Islam. Masroor Ahmad, the founder’s great-grandson, who lives in the United Kingdom, was elected in 2003 as the fifth caliph.

This belief has led to persecution from other Muslims in various parts of the world such as Pakistan, where Masroor Ahmad was raised. Masroor Ahmad emphasized that members of his community hold fast to a message of peace, echoing the slogan on many signs during his visit: “Love for all, hatred for none.”