Imam of the Selim II Mosque in the Province of Hatai in southern Turkey plays for visitors on the musical instrument Ny (longitudinal flute).
The 37-year-old Ibrahim Gulju makes a musical instrument in the workshop, under which the office was converted inside the mosque built in the city of Palo in 1574 by one of the most famous Ottoman architects and engineers Sinan.
Imam’s interest in Naya appeared 12 years ago. Since then, Gulju not only makes the instrument with his own hand, but also improved the skills of performing music on it.
The melodies that he performs under the shadow of the 1357-year-old olive tree in the courtyard of the mosque attract the attention of local and foreign guests. Gulju also teaches the game on Nai, and gives the students a produced tool.
Sounds of Naya, rising from a mosque, in which the victims of the epicenter in Kazhramanmarash also found shelter, creates an atmosphere of calm for visitors.
In an interview with the Anadol agency, Imam said that he began to engage in the manufacture of Naya out of curiosity, and then improved skills.
According to Gulju, to visitors to the mosque, known as the “yellow mosque of Selima”, I like to listen to the melodies on Nai. The man says that he performs not only religious melodies, but also ancient compositions, the tradition of the ancestors.
There are those who, having heard the melody, show a desire to learn to make this tool and play on it, he noted. “Now I study the manufacture and play for 20 people for free. I do not receive income. I give students who mainly injured during the earthquake,” he said.
According to him, the complex built by Mimar Sinan in 1574, and the Selima II mosque visits many local and foreign tourists. Knowledge of Arabic, French and English gives Gulju the opportunity to tell guests the story of the mosque.