Ahmadiyya and other faiths

[citation needed]Ahmadiyya teachings also identify the emergence of the Antichrist (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal) as foretold in Islamic eschatology with the missionary expansion and colonial dominance of European Christianity.

[3][4][5][6] Ghulam Ahmad, who wrote extensively on this topic, identified the Antichrist principally with colonial missionaries who, according to him, were to be countered through argumentation rather than by physical warfare.

[7][8] While the term Dajjāl is taken as a reference to the forces of falsehood in matters of ideology and religious belief, prophecies concerning Gog and Magog (or Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj) are taken as relating to the duplicity in the realm of politics and the shattering of world peace by the same forces – whose ancestors are thought to be the Slavic and Teutonic peoples – and are seen as embodied by the political (as opposed to religious) dominance of European powers.

[9][10][11] The conflict between Russia and the United States as two superpowers, or the militant rivalry between the communist and capitalist systems and their impact over the nations of the world, are thus seen as having occurred in accordance with prophecies concerning Gog and Magog.

Ahmadis believe that historically, Sikhism was a Sufi sect of Islam, a view strongly opposed by modern Sikhs.

[14] Ghulām Ahmad was involved in debates with leaders of the Arya Samaj movement of Hinduism and wrote several texts on the subject.

However, unlike mainstream Muslims, Ahmadis believe that many founders or significant figures of various faiths, including Krishna and Buddha, have brought messages from God.

He considered Krishna and Rama human prophets who preached to others about the One God, and he believed that Hindus had distorted this view into polytheism over many thousands of years.

[27] Ahmadis believe that many verses of the Old Testament and New Testament—such as those in the Book of Revelation, and those about the Second Coming of Christ in the 24th chapter of Matthew—were prophecies regarding the Messiah of the end times, and that they were fulfilled through the appearance of Ghulām Ahmad.

[28] Ahmadis also cite a passage in Chapter 12 of the Book of Daniel:[29] And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

They believe that the Messiah, Isa (i.e., Jesus), and the Mahdi whose comings are prophesied in Islam are, in fact, two titles or roles for the same person.

[35] Members of the Ahmadiyya community believe that Ghulām Ahmad was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Maitreya, a future Buddha said to usher in an age of peace and security.