He received primary education in Istanbul where he went with his aunt, but dropped out following the beginning of World War I and began making a living.

In 1918, he returned to Batumi where he attended the play Othello staged by an Azerbaijani theatre troupe led by Huseyn Arablinski at the local Actors' Society.

He decided to join the troupe but appeared in minor roles until 1922, when he replaced an absent actor as Soltan bey in The Cloth Peddler and was recognized for his talent.

Following the political turmoil of the early 1920s, Rajab began working as an actor at the Azerbaijani State Drama Theatre in Tiflis, Georgia.

He was found guilty by the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union and executed by firing squad on 2 January 1938.