Salima Mourad or Salima Murad (; 2 February 1900 – 28 January 1974) was an

Iraqi Jewish The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...

singer who was well-known and highly respected in the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. She was given the nickname "

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

" by the Iraqi Prime Minister

Nuri al-Said Nuri Pasha al-Said Al-Qaraghuli CH (; December 1888 – 15 July 1958) was an Iraqi politician and statesman who served eight terms as Prime Minister of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet and governmental positions in Iraq during its Briti ...

. Salima was dubbed by

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...

as the most famous woman singer, since the early 1930s. She was also the wife of a very successful Iraqi singer and actor,

Nazem Al-Ghazali Nazem al-Ghazali (, given name also spelled ''Nazim'', ''Nadhim'', ''Nadhem'' or ''Nathem''; 1921 – 23 October 1963) was an Iraqi singer, considered one of the most important figures in Iraqi music. Life Nazem al-Ghazali was born in the Hayda ...

. Even after the bulk of Iraqi Jews left Iraq, Salima continued to live there until her death in 1974. Despite the popularity of her music in the Arab world, her music only ever had a small following in Israel.

References

External links

Jewish Role in Iraqi Music

1900 births 1974 deaths Musicians from Baghdad Iraqi Jews 20th-century Iraqi women singers Jewish singers Converts to Islam from Judaism {{Iraq-singer-stub