Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born in Qadian, India. His life (1835-1908) spanned a period when the religion of Islam was under the heaviest attack by its critics. It was being misrepresented as a primitive, crude and violent ideology. Muslim leaders, with their outdated knowledge, narrow vision and their own misconceptions about Islam, were entirely failing to meet these challenges. Hazrat Mirza, in his writings and lectures, put forward the captivating picture of Islam as found in the Qur'an and the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad — a religion of reason, peace and tolerance. He refuted all charges against Islam and established its superiority over the opposing faiths and philosophies.

His achievements in the revival of Islam and the reform of Muslims proved his claim of being one of the Mujaddids (Reformers) of Islam who arose throughout Muslim history. He also claimed to be the Messiah and Mahdi (Rightly Guided One) whom the Muslims were expecting would come at the most critical time in their history. His interpretation of Messiah was that the Messiah would not be the original Prophet Jesus who had died a natural death may years ago, but that he would be a Muslim saint who would only spiritually resemble the prophet Jesus but would not be a prophet. He repeatedly denied the false allegations made against him of claiming to be a prophet; on the contrary, his mission was to preach Islam in its pristine purity, as taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the Last of all the Prophets.