Azernews.Az

Ganja has hosted a final concert dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the prominent musician Ashiq Molla Juma (1854-1920) as part of the project "Our Musical Identity", Azernews reports.

The project was carried out by Ganja State Philharmonic and the Azerbaijan Ashiqs Union with support from the Culture Ministry and the Ganja Executive Power.

The concert brought together ashiqs Bakhtiyar Ganbaroglu, Afghan Mammadov, Elbrus Guseynov, Galib Babakhanov, Saleh Taghiyev, Bakhruz Bagirov, Ganbar Allahverdiyev, Yashar Maharramov, Firaddin Mekhtiyev, and Aristun Kamalov, who delighted the audience with compositions such as "Şərili," "Şəqayi Gəraylı," "Təbriz Gəraylısı," "Ofşarı," "Naxçıvanı," "Baş sarıtel," "Kərəm gözəlləməsi," "Koroğlu dubeytisi," and "Hüseyni."

The diverse and multifaceted poetic creativity of Molla Duma is a precious ornament of the treasury of Azerbaijani ashug poetry and serves as a worthy example for the modern generation, which continues to develop and enrich the ever-living art of ashiq.

Ashiq Molla Duma, Suleyman Salah oglu from the Molla Orudj family, was born in 1850 in the small village of Laiskhi in the Goynuk settlement of the Shaki (Nukha) district of Azerbaijan, to a family of hereditary peasants.

From an early age, his father taught him to take the agricultural work seriously. The diligent youth mastered the Arabic and Persian languages perfectly after several years of studying at a rural madrasah and memorized the Quran; he developed a great interest in classical Eastern literature and folklore. For several years, he took private lessons from the famous scholar of his time, Sheikh Ahmad Gureishi.

The sheikh had one daughter, a beauty, who was two years younger than Suleyman. Sheikh Ahmed often taught them joint lessons in Arabic, Persian, and theology, instructing them in poetics, Eastern literature, astronomy, mathematics, natural sciences, and other secular subjects.

The young man and the girl fell deeply in love with each other. Soon, among the people, the young Suleyman was nicknamed "Molla" due to his scholarship and erudition. His fame quickly spread from his native Shaki to Derbent and Tabriz. But then disaster struck — his beloved unexpectedly passed away, struck down by an incurable illness. From that moment on, themes of poignant pain and sorrow took a significant place in the ashiq's work.

Throughout his remaining life, the ashiq tirelessly and inconsolably mourned his love, vividly depicting tenderness, passion, and beauty through various characters in his poetry. The ashug was deeply convinced that the happiness of any person lies in their love; it is precisely in the pursuit of this noble, high feeling that one can attain perfection. At the same time, in his works, he spoke out against the vices of society and social oppression and was a defender of the ideas of the first democratic republic in the East — the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, for which he was killed by the Bolsheviks.

Within "Our Musical Identity" project, musical evenings dedicated to ashiq art and epic tales with a centuries-old history have been organized.

Ashiq art, which is the foundation of national folklore, is included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The project aims to promote national values among the youth and present ancient heritage to the wider public. Previous events had been organized honoring Ashiq Alasgar and Ashiq Shamshir.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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