Nusrat Jahan Begum


Nusrat Jahan Begum, also known by the title Ummul-Mu'mineen meaning ‘Mother of the Believers’ and Hazrat Amman Jan ‘Beloved Mother' within the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, was the second wife of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the daughter of Mir Nasir Nawab of Delhi. The marriage is seen, within the Community, as having fulfilled certain prophecies.

Family history

Her forefathers had migrated from Bukhara in the reign of the Mughul King Shah Jahan. The well known Urdu poet and Mystic Khwaja Mir Dard was the great grand father of Nusrat Jahan Begum.

Early life

Nusrat Jahan Begum was born to Mir Nasir Nawab and Sayyad Begum in Delhi in 1865. In her young age she was also called ‘Ayesha Begum’ and ‘Naseer ul Jehan’.

Marriage to [Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]

The Nikah of Nusrat Jahan Begum and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was performed on 17 November 1884, at Delhi, by the famous religious scholar Nazeer Husain of Delhi. Nazeer Husain was so old and weak that he was brought in a Doli. The Dower was fixed Rs.1100. Ghulam Ahmad paid the cleric Rs.5 and a 'Prayer mat'. Very few of his friends had accompanied Ghulam Ahmad to Delhi. They included a servant Hamid Ali and a Hindu friend Lala Malawa Mal.

A spiritual order

The great-grandfather of Nusrat Jahan, with the name Muhammad Nasir Andaleeb, is said to be a known poet and spiritual personality. He had been the author of many books, prose and poetry. Muhammad Nasir Andaleeb was a contemporary of Shah Waliullah, Shah Abdul Aziz , and Muhammad Fakhr-ud-din. It is reported that he saw a vision that his Spiritual Order shall last till the Mahdi appears and will then get merged in the Order established by the Mahdi.

Nusrat Jahan Begum and claims of Ahmad

claimed he had received a divine revelation on 20 February 1886; two years after his wedding to Nusrat Jahan. Till then he had no issues from her. He published his divine revelations as an Announcement
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad also predicted that a son would be born to him, a possessor of great qualities. He wrote in the same Announcement :

Children

Ten children were born to Nusrat Jahan Begum:
Five children died young:
  1. Ismat
  2. Bashir
  3. Shaukat
  4. Mirza Mubarik Ahmad
  5. Amtul Naseer
Five children lived longer:
  1. Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
  2. Mirza Bashir Ahmad
  3. Mirza Sharif Ahmad
  4. Mubarika Begum
  5. Sahiba Amtul Hafeez Begum

    Last days

Nusrat Jahan Begum joined Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1884, five years before the foundation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in 1889 and lived till the age of 87. She died in 1952.