Mir Gazanfar Ibrahimov

Mir Gazanfar Ibrahimov
Haji Mir Gazanfar Ibrahimov, 1979
Personal life
Born(1904-03-22)22 March 1904
Quba, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire
Died3 November 1980(1980-11-03) (aged 76)
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR
SpouseAsiya Ramazan gizi Ramazanova (1910–1991)
ChildrenMir Ali, Mir Huseyn, Oktay, Mir Sohrab, Fatmakhanim, Mir Saib
Parents
  • Mashadi Mir Alekper Ibrahim-zade (father)
  • Mashadi Seid Fatmakhanim Ibrahim-zade (mother)
Religious life
ReligionIslam
SchoolShia
Muslim leader
PostSheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus
Period in office
1978–1980
PredecessorAli-Agha Suleymanzadeh
SuccessorAllahshukur Pashazadeh

Haji Mir Gazanfar Mir Alekper oglu Ibrahimov[1] (Azerbaijani: Hacı Mir Qəzənfər Mir Ələkbər oğlu İbrahimov; Russian: Хаджи Мир Газанфар Мир Алекпер оглы Ибрагимов; 22 March 1904, Quba, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire – 3 November 1980, Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) was an akhund and the 11th Sheikh ul-Islam of the Muslims of the Caucasus.

Biography

Ibrahimov was born on 22 March 1904[2][3] in the city of Quba, Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire, into a family of hereditary akhunds. His father, Mashadi Mir Alekper Ibrahim-zade, served as akhund of the Quba mosque, where the future Sheikh received his early religious education at the maktab attached to the mosque.

In 1913, following his father's death, his mother, Mashadi Seid Fatmakhanim, took him to the city of Mashhad (Iran), where she had earlier made a pilgrimage and received the title "Mashadi". From 1914 to 1919, Mir Gazanfar studied at one of the madrasas near the mausoleum of Imam Reza in Mashhad. At the end of 1919 the family returned home, to what had by then declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

After the establishment of Soviet power, he did not engage in religious activity until his retirement in 1965, working instead in state organizations. He later served as deputy chairman of the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Transcaucasia (SBMT).[4][5]

In 1968 he was appointed akhund of the mosque in the city of Goychay, where he served for ten years; he was recommended for this post by his predecessor, Sheikh ul-Islam Ali-Agha Suleymanzadeh.[4]

In late February–early March 1969, during the days of Eid al-Adha, he performed the Hajj to Mecca, receiving the title "Haji". In July of the same year, as part of a delegation of the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Transcaucasia, he took part in a conference of representatives of all religions in the USSR, organized by the Russian Orthodox Church in Zagorsk, titled "For Cooperation and Peace Among Peoples".[6] He spoke Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Russian, and Tatar.

Following the death of Ali-Agha Suleymanzadeh, who died on 26 November 1977, Ibrahimov was elected on 7 March 1978 at the 7th Congress of Muslim clergy and mosque representatives of Transcaucasia (46 delegates from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia) as chairman of the Spiritual Board — Sheikh ul-Islam.[2] His candidacy was proposed by the SBMT's executive secretary Allahshukur Pashazadeh, who was himself elected deputy chairman for Shia affairs at the same congress, and who later succeeded Ibrahimov as Sheikh ul-Islam.

As late as July 1979 Ibrahimov was still performing the duties of Sheikh ul-Islam, receiving a delegation from the United States at the Taza Pir Mosque in Baku[7] — a fact that directly contradicts the death date of 1979 found in some reference sources. On 14 July 1979, Ibrahimov received participants of a bilateral seminar of Soviet and American youth representatives devoted to Soviet–American relations, and held a conversation with the American delegation's representative Walter Cline.[7]

Haji Mir Gazanfar Ibrahimov at Taza Pir Mosque, Baku, 1979

In 1980, after suffering a serious injury (a fracture of the femoral neck), Ibrahimov resigned: in his own conviction, a Sheikh ul-Islam, whom the congregation follows, could not have moral or physical shortcomings. Although a Sheikh ul-Islam is not bound by strict doctrinal obligation to personally lead everyday religious rites, as spiritual leader of the Muslims of Transcaucasia he traditionally led the principal state-level Islamic prayers and ceremonies, during which worshippers lined up directly behind him and mirrored his movements in unison: standing (qiyam), bowing (ruku), and prostration (sujud). The injury he had sustained made it impossible to perform these movements cleanly and consistently, which became the concrete physical — not merely symbolic — reason for his resignation. He died on 3 November 1980. He was buried at the Yasamal Cemetery in Baku.[3]

Gravestone of Haji Mir Gazanfar Ibrahimov, Yasamal Cemetery, Baku

Legacy

During his years as akhund of the Goychay mosque (1968–1978), Ibrahimov provided spiritual leadership to the community, conducting services and instructing worshippers under the Soviet system of state control over religious organizations.

Ibrahimov led the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Transcaucasia in 1978–1980, a period when religious organizations in the USSR operated under strict state control, and the international contacts of the clergy were used by the Soviet state as an element of foreign policy.[7] Despite his comparatively short term of leadership, Ibrahimov ensured continuity of administration following the death of Sheikh ul-Islam Ali-Agha Suleymanzadeh and prepared the transition to the next generation of religious leaders.

In religious circles, Ibrahimov was known as a man who combined the traditional religious education he received at the madrasa in Mashhad with experience working in state organizations, which allowed him to interact both with religious communities and with organs of state control, such as the Council for Religious Affairs.

Family

He was married to Asiya Ramazan gizi Ramazanova (10 May 1910 – 14 July 1991).[8] Children:

  1. Mir Ali Ibrahimov (1926–2000)
  2. Mir Huseyn Ibrahimov (1928–1986)
  3. Oktay Ibrahimov (1928–1996)
  4. Mir Sohrab Ibrahimov (born 12 June 1943) – Minister of Light Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR,[9] Permanent Representative of the Azerbaijan SSR to the Council of Ministers of the USSR in Moscow[10]
  5. Fatmakhanim Sadigova (née Ibrahimova; born 17 May 1945) – head of the department of scientific-technical information at the "Geophysics and Engineering Geology" production association of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), member of the National Committee of Azerbaijani Geophysicists, executive secretary of the journal Geophysical Innovations in Azerbaijan[11]
  6. Mir Saib Ibrahimov (5 October 1949 – 26 January 2020)

See also

References

  1. ↑ The use of the prefix "Mir" before given names among Persian and Azerbaijani sayyids indicates descent from Ahl al-Bayt (the family of the prophet Muhammad) through the sayyid line.
  2. 1 2 "Report of the Council for Religious Affairs Commissioner for the Azerbaijan SSR, A. F. Akhadov, on preparations for the 7th Congress of Muslim clergy of Transcaucasia, 17 February 1978". Russian Perspectives on Islam. Retrieved 22 July 2026.; "Report of the Council for Religious Affairs Commissioner for the Azerbaijan SSR, A. F. Akhadov, on the proceedings of the 7th Congress of Muslim clergy of Transcaucasia, 13 March 1978". Russian Perspectives on Islam. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 Gravestone inscription of Mir Gazanfar Ibrahimov, Yasamal Cemetery, Baku: "SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM IBRAHIMOV HAJI MIR GAZANFAR MIR ALEKPER OGLU, III.1904 – XI.1980." Personal photograph, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Şeyxülislam Mirqəzənfər İbrahimov". qafqazislam.com. Caucasian Muslims Office. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  5. ↑ During the Soviet period the organization was officially known as the "Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Transcaucasia" (SBMT), the name under which it appears in all archival documents from 1969–1980. In the post-Soviet period the organization was renamed and is now known as the "Caucasian Muslims Office" (Azerbaijani: Qafqaz Müsəlmanları İdarəsi).
  6. ↑ "Materials of the Conference of Representatives of All Religions in the USSR for Cooperation and Peace Among Peoples". Bratsky Vestnik (in Russian) (5): 8. 1969.
  7. 1 2 3 "Information from the Council for Religious Affairs Commissioner for the Azerbaijan SSR, A. F. Akhadov, on the visit of an American delegation to the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Transcaucasia, 18 July 1979". Russian Perspectives on Islam. Retrieved 22 July 2026.; "Report of the Council for Religious Affairs Commissioner for the Azerbaijan SSR, A. F. Akhadov, on the observance of a Muslim holiday, 27 September 1979". Russian Perspectives on Islam. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Gravestone inscription of Asiya Ramazan gizi Ramazanova, Yasamal Cemetery, Baku. Personal photograph, 2026.
  9. ↑ Rostetskaya, N. (2 April 1988). "We Have Common Interests: The Minister of Light Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR, S. G. Ibragimov, answers questions from a Vyshka correspondent". Vyshka. pp. 94–95.
  10. ↑ "Speech of Heydar Aliyev on 21 January 1990 at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Moscow, dedicated to the tragedy of 20 January 1990". Heydar Aliyev Heritage electronic archive. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Sizinlə əməkdaşlıqdan məmnunluq duyuruq". Vyshka. 13 May 2005. p. 7.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.