Salīma Murād

Biography

Salima Murad, also known as Salima Pasha, was an Iraqi Jewish singer prominent in Baghdad during the 1930s.

Music researcher Yeheskel Kojaman describes Salih and Dawud al-Kuwaiti performing and composing new songs for her. Private parties formed part of her career alongside her recognition among the city’s music audiences. Kojaman’s published interview names her among Iraqi Radio’s women singers at its 1936 foundation. His recollections connect her career with Baghdad’s new song tradition and the Kuwaiti brothers, as music moved from cafés and nightclubs into regular broadcasting. Saadi al-Saadi reports her Baghdad birth, childhood interest in singing and work with lyricist Abd al-Karim al-Allaf. His firsthand testimony concerns the 31 March 1966 Al-Shaab Hall concert: he was an accompanying chorister and heard her sing Hadha mu insaf mink and Nuba mukhammara. Muhammad al-Qubbanji and Afifa Iskandar also participated. Husayn al-Azami dates her marriage to Nazim al-Ghazali to 1953 and describes joint concerts, songs and maqam recordings, followed by reduced activity after his 1963 death. His direct memories are of seeing her on her Baghdad porch in the early 1970s, with Nazim’s name above the door. She died in 1974.