​Early life
His father was Naqi Ali Khan, and his great-grandfather Shah Kazim Ali Khan was a noted Sunni scholar.
Ahmed's mother named him Amman Miyān. Raza Khan used the appellation "Abdul Mustafa" (slave [or servant] of Mustafa) prior to signing his name in correspondence. He studied Islamic sciences and completed a traditionalDars-i-Nizami course under the supervision of his father Naqī Áli Khān, who was a legal scholar. He went on the Hajj with his father in 1878.​
Religious studies
Ahmed Raza Khan translated the Quran into Urdu, which was first published in 1912 under the title of Kanzul ImanKanz ul-Iman fi Tarjuma al-Qur’an. The original manuscript is preserved in the library of Idara Tahqiqat-i-Imam Ahmed Raza, Karachi, and an English translation of Kanzul Iman has also been published. Ahmed Raza Khan also wrote several books on the collection and compilation of hadiths.[​
Beliefs
Ahmed Raza Khan's beliefs regarding Muhammad include:
• Muhammad, although human, possessed a Noor (Light) that predates creation.This contrasts with the Deobandi view that Muhammad wasinsan-e-kamil ("the complete man"), a respected but physically typical human.
• He is haazir naazir (can be present in many places at the same time, as opposed to God, who is everywhere by definition).
• God has granted him ilm-e-ghaib (the knowledge of the unseen). This belief and theory directly negates the Islaamic concept of "shirk" which attributes some qualities only to Almighty Allah, including the 'i'lm-e-ghaib' or knowledge of the unknown and unseen.Raza Khan writes:
We do not hold that anyone can equal the knowledge of Allah Most High, or possess it independently, nor do we assert that Allah’s giving of knowledge to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is anything but a part. But what a patent and tremendous difference between one part [the Prophet’s] and another [anyone else’s]: like the difference between the sky and the earth, or rather even greater and more immense.
—Ahmed Raza Khan, al-Dawla al-Makkiyya (c00), 291.
• Proclaiming the words 'Ya RASOOLALLH'
• To say and write Prophet Mohammad and Abdul-Qadir Gilani Ghous Pak as benefactor and helper.​
Views on economics
Raza through his book,Economic Guidelines for Muslims published in 1912, presented the following points for the economic development of Muslims​
Opposition to other sects
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Mahdi (messiah) awaited by the Muslims as well as a new prophet. These claims proved to be extremely controversial among many in the Muslim community, and he was branded aheretic and apostate by many religious scholars of the time, including Ahmed Raza Khan. Ghulam Ahmad's claims are controversial to this day, but his Mahdi status and prophethood is believed in by the Ahmadiyya sect. Though, Pakistan in 1974, have officially declared the Ahmadiyya sect non-Muslims.
When Ahmed Raza visited Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage in 1905, he prepared a draft document entitled Al Motamad Al Mustanad ("The Reliable Proofs") for presentation to the scholars of Mecca and Medina. Ahmed Raza Khan collected opinions of the ulama of the Hejaz and compiled them in an Arabic language compendium with the title, Husam al Harmain ("The Sword of Two Sanctuaries"), a work containing 34 verdicts from 33 ulama (20 Meccan and 13 Medinese). The work concluded that Founders of Darul Uloom Deoband Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, Qasim Nanotwi and founder of Qadiyani faith Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's beliefs were blasphemous and tantamount to apostasy.
Khan issued fatwas against other religious groups such as Deobandis and Ahl al-Hadith, accusing them of being disrespectful towards Muhammad. Khan went as far as to declare not only all Deobandis and Ahl al-Hadith infidels andapostates, but also any non-Deobandis who doubted the apostasy of Deobandis.​
Opposition to heterodox practices
Raza Khan condemned many practices he saw as bid'at (forbidden innovations), such as:
• Qawali (religious music) and Sufi whirling.He opposed qawwali with music by calling it UnIslamic.He issued a fatwa in which he quoted the sayings of sufi of Chishtiya and Demonstrated that listioning qawali with mazameer(Musical Instruments) is Haram(Forbidden).People Wrongly relate it to Chishti Saints. Tawaf (ceremonially walking in circles around a holy site) of tombs.
• Sajda(prostration) on Shrines and Tombs to those other than God
• Ta'zieh, plays re-enacting religious scenes
• Women going to visit mazaar (tombs)
• Sajda(prostration) on Shrines and Tombs to those other than God
• Ta'zieh, plays re-enacting religious scenes​
Political quietism
During the period of the Indian Khilafat Movement, Gandhi was advised that he should meet with Raza Khan. When he was told that Gandhi wished to meet and speak to him, Raza Khan said, "What would he speak about? Religion or worldly affairs? If it is worldly affairs, what can I partake in, for I have abstained from the world and have no interest in it."
Unlike most other Muslim leaders in the region at the time, Khan and his movement opposed the Indian independence movementdue to its leadership under Gandhi, who was not a Muslim.​
Supporters
Syrian Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Ya’qoubi declared on national television his belief that the mujaddid of the Indian subcontinent was Ahmed Raza Khan, going so far as to say that a person of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah can be identified by his love of Ahmed Raza Khan, and that those outside the Ahlus Sunnah are identified by their attacks on him.​
Criticism
• He advocated the practice of tawassul (asking to deceased Muslims), which his opponents declared to be shirk (polytheism):
If you are embarrassed in your affairs, seek help from the inmates of the tombs, having beliefs that Allah is the one who is helping and the person in the tomb is just wasila.
• Raza opposed labeling then-British held India to be Dar al-Harb ("land of war"), thus opposing any justification of jihad(struggle) or hijrat (mass emigration to escape) against the proposed plans of the Deobandiyya Movement who wished to begin jihaad. Raza's stance was opposed by Deobandi scholars such as Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi.
• Raza Khan opposed the belief in a heliocentric system, instead stating that the sun and moon circulate around the Earth.