What is the Ahmadiyya movement, and why is it considered outside mainstream Islam by most scholars?

The Ahmadiyya movement was founded in 1889 in Qadian, Punjab (British India), by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be a divinely appointed reformer and, in later teachings, a prophet (nabi) and the promised Messiah. The movement has since split into two main branches, with differing views on the precise nature of his claim. The central point of disagreement with the wider Muslim community concerns the doctrine of khatam an-nabiyyin, that Muhammad is the final prophet, after whom no new prophet will come, a belief mainstream scholars consider explicitly affirmed by the Quran. Because the mainstream Sunni and Shia scholarly consensus, along with major international Islamic bodies such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, holds that any claim to prophethood after Muhammad falls outside the bounds of Islamic belief, Ahmadis are generally not recognized as Muslim by the broader Muslim community, even though Ahmadis themselves identify as Muslim and follow many core Islamic practices. Some countries have enacted specific laws restricting the Ahmadiyya community's religious activities, a situation that remains a matter of considerable debate and, at times, real hardship for Ahmadi communities.

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