Sheikh ul-Islam
Abdussalam Akhundzadeh
TitleFifth Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus
Personal
Born(1843-01-13)January 13, 1843
Salyan, Russian Empire
DiedNovember 18, 1907(1907-11-18) (aged 64)
Tbilisi, Russian Empire
ReligionIslam
SchoolShia
Muslim leader
Based inTbilisi, Russian Empire
Period in office21 June 1893 – 18 November 1907
PredecessorMirza Hasan Tahirzadeh
SuccessorMahammad Hasan Movlazadeh Shakavi
PostSheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus

Abdussalam Akhundzadeh (Azerbaijani: Əbdüssəlam Axundzadə, Persian: آخونــدزاده عبدالســلام) was an Azerbaijani religious educator, Islamic theologian and the fifth Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus.

Early life

He was born in Salyan on 13 January 1843 to local cleric Akhund Vali Muhammad and his wife Khanum Aliverdi gizi.[1] He learnt Arabic, Persian and Turkish in early periods of his life from his father.[2] He moved to Tbilisi in 1864 and settled in current Gorgasali street, Old Tbilisi. On October 6, 1879, he was allowed to work as a teacher in the Tatar department, beating Seyid Azim Shirvani in competition,[3] and by July 28, 1880, he was officially appointed a teacher in Gori Teachers Seminary.[1] Meanwhile, he met and with Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Mirza Fatali Akhundov and other Azeri intelligentsia who were working and living in Tbilisi as well.

As Sheikh ul Islam

He was appointed as Sheikh ul-Islam on 21 June 1893 following death of Mirza Hasan Tahirzadeh and held office until his own death in 1907. In 1895, he was elected as head of Spiritual Council of Caucasus. He was present in coronation event of Nicholas II of Russia on 26 May 1896.

He was active during Armeno-Tatar massacres, promoted peace between communities heavily. He visited Nakhchivan on 15 May 1905. Together with the qadis of Yerevan, Sharur and Nakhchivan, archimandrite of Yerevan Karapet and Jafargulu khan, he visited the villages of Garakhanbeyli, Tumbul, Goshadize and Shikhmakhmud. The Muslims of the villages of Garajig and Bulgan were gathered in the Armenian-populated village of Garakhanbeyli, where the Armenians and Muslims vowed that they would not be at enmity with each other.[4] He published a statement alongside Armenian Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian against massacres in June 1905.[5] He received news of his daughter Zabita's death which was caused by nervous breakdown because of witnessing massacres while visiting Ganja.[6] He died shortly afterwards on 18 November 1907, suffering from depression caused by his daughter's death. He was buried in Pantheon of prominent Azerbaijanis, Tbilisi. He was replaced by interim Abbasquli Sultan-Huseynbeyov[7] and then succeeded by Mahammad Hasan Movlazadeh Shakavi.

Family

He married at least three times:

  1. Ummu Salama — daughter of local noble Abdul Ali bey Muradkhanov
    1. Abdullatif bey
    2. Abdurrashid bey (b. 10 April 1880) — Governor of Baku
    3. Asaf bey
    4. Valida khanum (20 December 1884)
    5. Zabita khanum (1887-1905)
    6. Hidayat bey (20 December 1893)
  2. Gulara khanum — daughter of local cleric Haji Alakbar
    1. Asiya khanum (25 September 1901)
  3. Sona khanum — daughter of local noble Javad bek

In addition to his immediate family, he was maternal grand-uncle of Anvar Gasimzade (whose father Ali Gasimov was Akhundzadeh's niece), as well as Fidan Gasimova and Khuraman Gasimova.[8]

Works

In Russian language

  1. Учебник по исламу - Textbook on Islam
  2. Лекарство от невежества (объяснение и заявление метода лечения) - Cure for Ignorance (Explaining and Declaring the Method of Treatment)
  3. Наставление и назидание - Instruction and Edification

In Azerbaijani language

  1. Umdətul Əhkam (“Main Verdict”, 1882, Tabriz),
  2. Zubdətul Əhkam (“Selected Verdict”, 1903)
  3. Tarixi Müqəddəs Ənbiya (“History of Holy Prophets”, 1892)
  4. Tarixi Müqəddəs Xatəmül Ənbiya və Xilafət (" History of the Holy Prophets and the Caliphate "),
  5. Xətti Təliq və Nəstəliq ("Handwriting Taliq and Nastaliq")

In Persian language

  1. Miftahil Lisani Farsi (Persian: فارسي لسان مفتاح) - Key of the Persian language (1891)
  2. Qawaid Mukhtasare Farsi - Brief Rules of the Persian Language
  3. Mutalie-i Kitáb-i-Íqán (Persian: کتاب مطالعه ایقان) - How to read Kitáb-i-Íqán (1896, Tbilisi)[9]
  4. Mudafia bar megalei khasm (Persian: مدافعه بر مقابلهخصم) - Defending against the opponent's article (1897, Tbilisi)[1][10]
  5. Nasihati waiz (Persian: نصحيتو وعظ) - Advise of the Preacher (1903)

References

  1. ^ a b c Rahnulla, Sevinj (2021). Şeyxülislam Abdussalam Axundzadənin dini-etik görüşləri (Dissertasiya) [Sheikh ul-Islam Abdussalam Akhundzadeh's religious-ethic views (Dissertation)] (PDF). Baku.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ "Axundzadə Əbdüssəlam Axund Vəliməmməd oğlu". calilbook.musigi-dunya.az. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  3. ^ Nəsrəddinov, Nazim (26 December 2013). "Naxçıvan "Əshabi - Kəhf"i - Olaylar". www.anl.az. Archived from the original on 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  4. ^ Mustafa, Nazim. "Massacres in Nakhchivan and Sharur-Daralayaz". genocide.preslib.az. Archived from the original on 2015-08-09. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  5. ^ Խմբագրական (1993-03-31). "Խրիմյան Հայրիկի և Բաքվի Շեյխ ուլ Իսլամի համատեղ կոչը հայ և ադրբեջանցի ժողովուրդներին 1905 թվականին" [Joint appeal of Khrimyan Hayrik and Sheikh ul Islam of Baku to the Armenian-Azerbaijani peoples in 1905]. Էջմիածին. Պաշտօնական ամսագիր Հայրապետական Աթոռոյ Ս. Էջմիածնի. Ծ (Ա–Գ): 41.
  6. ^ Рахнулла, С. В.; Rahnulla, S. V. (2017). "Пятый шейх-уль-ислам духовного управления мусульман Кавказа". Актуальні проблеми філософії та соціології (in Russian).
  7. ^ Zaytsev, Ilya. "Документы эпохи Шамиля из Государственного архива Российской Федерации // Ломоносовские чтения. Востоковедение. Тезисы докладов научной конференции . М.,2015": 222. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Musayeva, Yasaman (27 December 2019). "Əfsanə qadın". www.anl.az. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  9. ^ Islamic manuscript catalogue (PDF). Saint Petersburg: Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
  10. ^ Hashemian, Hadi. "«مدافعه بر مقاله خصم» از عبدالسلام آخوندزاده، شیخ الاسلام قفقاز" ["Defending against the Enemy" article by Abdul Salam Akhundzadeh, Shaykh al-Islam of the Caucasus]. Payām-i Bahāristān (in Persian). 3 (12): 386. ISSN 1735-9929.
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