Syed Taalay Ahmad was a life-devotee of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who was martyred in Ghana, while on duty in the service of Islam Ahmadiyyat.

Syed Taalay Ahmad was born on 9 February 1990 in Lahore (Pakistan) to Syed Hashim Akbar Ahmad (son of Syed Muhammad Ahmad) and Amatushakoor Tayyaba Ahmed. He was a sayyid, a descendant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), through his grandson, Hazrat Imam Hasan (ra). Syed Taalay Ahmad was the maternal great-grandson of Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) and the paternal great-grandson of Hazrat Mir Muhammad Ismail (ra). Hence, he was related to both Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian as well as his wife, Hazrat Amma Jan, Sayyeda Nusrat Jahan Begum (ra). He was also the son-in-law of Sahibzada Mirza Ghulam Qadir Ahmad Shaheed. 

In 1995, Syed Taalay Ahmad moved to Hartlepool (UK) along with his family where he completed his primary and secondary education. He was also a good football and cricket player. He went on to study Biomedical Sciences at the Queen Mary University of London and later obtained a master’s degree in Magazine Journalism from Sunderland University. He was a member of the Waqf-e-Nau scheme and a musi.

He devoted his life to Islam Ahmadiyyat in 2013 and, after serving in various departments, he was finally appointed in the Central Press and Media Office of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was then appointed in the MTA International’s news department in 2016, before which he served The Review of Religions in the department of indexing and tagging. He had the opportunity of making various documentaries for MTA. He was also the one to initiate the very popular This Week With Huzoor programme which features on MTA.

Syed Taalay Ahmad was sent to Ghana to work on a documentary on the Nusrat Jahan Scheme. During the month of Muharram, on the night between the 23rd and 24th of August, the MTA team which was filming the documentary was travelling when they were attacked by robbers who fired at them, injuring two people including Syed Taalay Ahmad. On the way to the hospital, Syed Taalay Ahmad passed away. This was the first martyrdom of a worker from MTA International, as well as Waqf-e-Nau UK.

Numerous national and international news outlets reported on Syed Taalay Ahmad’s demise. 

On 3 September 2021, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V (aa) paid a tribute to Syed Taalay Ahmad in his Friday sermon, led his funeral prayer and later attended the burial at Eashing Cemetery, Godalming, UK. 

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aa) said,

“He was a gem that departed us. May Allah the Exalted continue to grant the Community, such loyal people who have a relationship with Khilafat that is based on obedience & sincerity and who give precedence to faith over the world… This beloved individual fully understood the spirit of waqf [devotion] and fulfilled the oath that he had made in the true sense.”