Thomas Schmidt, Berliner Zeitung, August 14th, 1999
Translated by Ashik Huso
be found nesting here as well as wolves. An aura of sacred silence prevails in this
isolated area. However far below the summit resounds a clamor of the thousands
who have come from all over the country on foot, on mules, in trucks or jeeps.
Men with shouldered lambs tramp up the stony pathway. They bought the
animals from one of the many shepherds who have set up shop here. Hundreds of
lambs will be slaughtered at the end of August. For four days every year Bektashis
celebrate this festival on Mount Tomori.
Haji Bektash was a dervish, an Islamic mystic, who lived in the 13th century in
central-Anatolia not far from present-day Ankara. That his followers are to be
found in Albania has a lot to do with the Janissaries. In 1826 Sultan Mahmud II
destroyed these elite troops of the Ottoman Empire as they had become a threat to
stability. The Bektashis were firmly attached to the Janissaries, and as a result
were exposed to prosecution. They escaped to Albania, which at that time was on
the outskirts of the empire. When Kemal Atatürk, (founder of modern Turkey)
prohibited all dervish brotherhoods 1925 then, the Bektashis transferred their
headquarters from Turkey to Tirana. In the tekke, a type of cloister or prayer
house, the dedebaba, the head of all Bektashis, makes his seat.
at the base of Mount Tomori. People expecting all kinds of advice from him wait facing the
prayer house. His long, white beard only enhances the dignity of this 65-year old man. In
his khirka, the white ankle-length skirt, over which is worn a deep green mantle, and with
the white taj, the distinctive dervish headgear which has a green turban wrapped around it
base, Dedebaba Reshat is quite conspicuous among all the farmers wearing their t-shirts
and sweat pants. He is seen not only as a Bektashi saint, but also a kind of martyr. For ten
long years (1958 to 1968) he was held in a prison camp during the time when Albania was
under the Stalinist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. His only crime: being a Bektashi baba, a
member of the higher clergy, and one of directors of a Bektashi organization. When he
finished his sentence he was bound after his release to compulsory labor for the rest of the
life. When the communist regime collapsed in 1991 Haji Reshat had spent 23 years of
slave labor in street-construction and in quarries.
familial relationships. Today there is no dependable statistics regarding the strength of the religious communities in
the most impoverished country in Europe. Its citizens are not especially religious today and were not it either before
Enver Hoxha outlawed religion in 1967 and turned Albania’s churches, mosques and tekkes into fields or museums.
At the beginning of World War II was over 15% of the Albanian were Bektashis. Approximately 70% of the
population was Muslim (both Sunni and Bektashi, while 20% were Orthodox and 10% Roman Catholic.
The veiled elucidations of Islam and the inner search for God are more important for Bektashis than compliance to
the Shari’at, Islamic religious rulings. Women and men sit together in the Muhabets, the meetings that take place in
the tekkes, in which the baba explains the finer points of faith to the believers. During the discussion rakija, an
Albanian brandy, is imbibed in minute quantities. Conversely, there is a clear hierarchical structure within
Bektashism. The regular members are called Muhibs (Arabic for “devotees”), followed by the Dervishes (Persian for
"humble ones"), then babas (Turkish for "father") and finally the dede (Turkish for “grandfather”). The Bektashi
way is paved initiations and sacred rites.
Only the most energetic climb up from the Kulmak Pass to the peak of Tomori. For the Bektashi, the tomb of the
Abbas Aliu (Abbas ibn Ali) is the goal. The monument stands on the very summit of the mountain. One after the
other, visitors lower their heads and kiss the entrance of the tomb. Within is the flower-covered sarcophagus of the
half-brother of Imam Hussein. Candles, money and wish lists are laid down.
On the outside wall of the tomb a sign announces that Abbas Aliu of Karbala once traveled here. Of course Karbala
lies in the present-day Iraq and is one of the sacred places for Shi’ites worldwide. Similar to Shi’ites, the Bektashis
admire Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed. Bektashi ladies are, however, different than the Shi’ites of the Middle
East in that they never veil. Bektashism preaches religious tolerance and it is said to unify not only elements of Shi’
ism and mystical Islam, but also Christianity and paganism.
In Albanian history, the Bektashis played an important role. Abdyl Frashëri, the head of the League of Prizren
which fought for the rights of the Albanians in the Ottoman Empire, was a Bektashi. After it had demanded
autonomy for Albania at the Berlin congress of 1878, the League convinced many Bektashi babas to support
rebellions against the central-power.
Turkey and the shutting down of the Pir Evi (the Tekke of
Haji Bektash, which contains the grave of the admired
mystic) the third Bektashi congress, which represented
approximately seven millions members, decided to transfer
the headquarters of the order from Anatolia to Albania.
Salih Nijazi, an Albanian, and who lived in Turkey, was
chosen to the first dedebaba in 1930. He moved to the
tekke in Tirana and established the world-center of
Bektashism. However he later was murdered during the
World War II. The second dedebaba, Ali Riza, was very
controversial because of his lack knowledge of the doctrine.
He resigned from his appointment shortly thereafter. His
successor, Kamber Ali Prishta, was little more than two
years in the office. The Communist partisans, who
occupied Tirana after the Germans evacuated in 1944,
threw him into the prison, where he died soon after. Enver
Hoxha soon began his fight against religion. In February of
1945, the communist government installed Xhafer Sadik
Baba as the new dedebaba of the Bektashis. However he
died few months later.
It is certain that Bektashis who have come to Mount
Tomori today would hardly know the names of the first
three dedebabas who once held the highest rank in
Bektashim during the Second World War. However
everyone proudly knows the story of Abbas Hilmi, the
fifth dedebaba. In 1947 he was visited by two pro-
communist babas who demanded that all dervishes and
babas be allowed permission to shave, wear civilian clothes
clothing in the public and to marry. If he did not grant these
demands, he would be labeled an opponent of Enver
Hoxha. Abbas Hilmi Dedebaba answered them with two
fatal shots from his pistol. Afterwards, it is said he turn the
gun on himself.
Ahmed Myftar, dedebaba number six, was little more
than a government stooge and he goaded the believers to
the hate the Anglo-American imperialists and in love
communist party, the party of the "Ashure", that the ten-
day mourning-period for Imam Husain. Fehmi, dedebaba
number seven, hung a gigantic portrait Stalin in the main
tekke in Tirana. But such concessions were of no use. In
1967, Enver Hoxha (often called the “red god”) proclaimed
Albania to the first atheistic state of the world. The tekke of
Tirana was turned into an old-folks home. The gatherings
on Mount Tomori were prohibited.
On the road up to the Kulmak Pass, one passes a neglected
heliport. Within view are two tunnels were drilled into the
mountain; one for the politburo, and the other the chief of
staff of the military in the case of an invasion. These
bunkers were built in vain, for the regime collapsed. Since
then, Mount Tomori hosts the Bektashis in August once
again. However the few dervishes that have appeared on
slopes are all elderly. A younger generation of enthusiasts
is hardly in sight. Nevertheless it takes only a few Bektashi
dervishes to give the atmosphere its flavor. More
importantly, the people have met and the roast lamb is
exquisite.
Dedebaba
Dedebaba
Dedebaba
Dedebaba
Dedebaba
Myftar
Dedebaba
Dedebaba
make the Ziyaret up Mount
Tomori, 1996