According to legend, Muslimov worked hard every day, up to 168 years, did not smoke or drink, but ate fruits, vegetables, wholemeal bread, chicken broth, low-fat cheese and yogurt. He had several wives through his lifetime. Muslimov became ill with pneumonia between 1972 and 1973, but survived only to die later in 1973.
Muslimov's story was picked up in 1973 by National Geographic Magazine, which told that on the occasion he still rode horseback and tended an orchard planted in the 1870s. National Geographic later recanted on the claim. The same story was told by the Guinness Book of World Records, stated as unconfirmed along with other similar claims. The 1974 Guinness noted that medical examinations revealed that the men with these extraordinary age claims typically had the physiology of men in their 90s. It also stated that these age claims most likely resulted from son father and even son grandfather impersonations in order to avoid the Czarist draft.
