The main purpose of the magazine was to satirically depict various social phenomena, such as inequality, cultural assimilation, and corruption; and to ridicule backward lifestyles and values of the clergy and religious fanatics.

[6] Molla Nasreddin’s primary purpose was to attack the hypocrisy of the Muslim clergy using an acerbic sense of humor and realist illustrations reminiscent of a Caucasian Honoré Daumier or Toulouse-Lautrec.

It also satirized the colonial policies of the US and European nations towards the rest of the world, the venal corruption of the local elite, and equal rights for women while arguing repeatedly for Westernization and educational reform.

[2] An issue of Molla Nasraddin would often contain the following articles and columns:[7] Managing to speak to the intelligentsia as well as the masses, the magazine was an instant success and was read across the Muslim world from Morocco to India.

Its written articles were polyphonic, self-contradictory, and staunchly in favor of the creolization that resulted from multiple languages (it drew on three alphabets), ideas, and identities (its editorial offices were itinerant between Tbilisi, Baku, and Tabriz).