Albanian religious leader Baba Mondi speaks to the 'Post' - Israel News

TIRANA – When Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in September, he took the opportunity to announce his government’s intention to create a new state in the Albanian capital, Tirana.

The mini-state, whose territory will consist of about 0.1 square kilometres, is planned to be the “Vatican” of the Shia Bektashi Sufi order – the fourth largest religious community in Albania. Albania has hosted the group’s headquarters, the Bektashi World Center, since 1929, when the community moved from Turkey to Tirana, where secular Turkish authorities persecuted the order’s leadership and members.

The citizens of the future State will only be members of the order’s clergy and its administrative staff, as in the Vatican.

“Our inspiration is to support the transformation of the Bektashi World Center in Tirana into a sovereign state – a new center of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence”, highlighted Rama.

This statement provoked stormy reactions and lively criticism from the Bektashis’ many rivals, coming mainly from Türkiye and its representatives in the Balkans. Most Bektashis still live in Türkiye today.

ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER Edi Rama speaks at the ‘Future Summit’ in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City last month. (credit: David Dee Delgado/Reuters)

The spiritual and religious leader of the Bektashis, Baba Mondi, is the one who has promoted the idea of creating a Bektashi “Vatican” in Tirana. If the initiative is approved soon, he will be the first head of the new state.

In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem PostBaba Mondi explained: “The Albanian state has the right to pass a law in this matter. Then, we can address the international community and ask for their recognition. We want to have diplomatic status in the world and be known as the World Center of Bektashis. We want to represent and protect our believers wherever they are. Our community centers around the world will be part of this World Center. We are developing different strategies regarding the implementation of this plan. But first, the Albanian government must pass a law that changes our status.”

I met Baba Mondi in his office, located in the Bektashi headquarters, on a hill overlooking the center of Tirana. The World Center consists of a vast meeting hall that can serve as a place of prayer, a museum dedicated to the history of the Bektashis, a library and archives. At the end of the interview, Baba Mondi took me on a personal guided tour of the facilities and proudly introduced me to the center that will be the beating heart of the planned “Vatican” in Bektashi.

Wherever he goes, even within the World Center, Baba Mondi is followed by his bodyguards. Although the Bektashi Order believes in peace and love, it cannot ignore the dangers that surround it. A Muslim leader who preaches moderation and tolerance and publicly shows his support for Israel, as Baba Mondi does, finds himself under permanent threat.

Baba Mondi was born Haxhi Dede Edmond Brahimaj 65 years ago in isolated, anti-religious communist Albania. In 1967, Albania declared itself the first atheist state in the world.

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Despite religious persecution, Baba Mondi grew up in a devout family that had to practice its religious life in hiding. His mother was unable to get pregnant, but an uncle, an important Bektashi religious figure, gave a blessing to Baba’s parents, and some time later Baba was born, followed by other siblings. During his childhood, Baba Mondi had secret access to Bektashi’s books, writings and teachings.

One of his most traumatic memories of those difficult times of religious persecution is of the communist authorities setting fire to his family’s home, in which two of his sisters were burned to death.

Years later, he graduated from the Albanian Military Academy and had a military career in the Albanian People’s Army. When communism collapsed in Albania in 1991, he was released from the army. He began religious studies, first becoming a dervish, and in 2011 he was elected the eighth Albanian leader of his order.

Just before the interview began, Baba Mondi surprised me with a question: “Do you want coffee or raki?” As I hesitated to choose alcoholic drinks in the presence of a Muslim religious leader, he encouraged me to try the local arak, which was very tasty. I gave in. He had some too. The Bektashis represent, in fact, another type of Islam – open-minded and tolerant.

“The main and important thing for us is the human being, with all the differences between us”, emphasized Baba Mondi.

“The Bektashi Order was founded in 1281 by Haji Bektashi Veli in present-day Türkiye. He founded a new mystical path of Islam. The first tekke, as we call the sacred building of our community, was also built in 1281. Today we have many tekkes, not only in Albania, but also in many other states. The word ‘tekke’ in Albanian means place of prayer. Today, there are tekkes in 33 states around the world – in the Balkans, Europe, Egypt, Russia, India, China, Japan and the USA. Bektashi believers are all over the world. The Bektashis belong to the Shia part of Islam. They respect the Prophet Muhammad and his family, the Quran and the Twelve Imams (the spiritual successors of Muhammad according to the main Shia tradition).”

Why did the Bektashis move from Türkiye to Albania about 100 years ago?

The Bektashis have been persecuted in Türkiye for many years. In the beginning, the reason for the persecution was that the leader of the Bektashis did not allow the Sultan to have a harem with many women, because we believe that a wife raises the family. The second wave of persecution and killing of over a million Bektashis in Turkey occurred in the days of Sultan Mahmud II (who reigned from 1808 to 1839). He called the Bektashis fanatics and heretics and claimed that they were destroying the religion of Islam in Türkiye. The last persecutor of the Bektashis in Türkiye was Kemal Ataturk, who closed all our tekkes and institutions.

The last leader of the Bektashis in Türkiye was of Albanian origin, and when our tekkes were closed and destroyed, he brought the headquarters of our community to Albania. A memorandum was signed between the Albanian government of the time under King Zog, Egypt and Turkey. Everyone decided that the center of the Bektashis would be here in Albania.

How did the Bektashis survive communist times in Albania?

Mystical practices were persecuted. However, mystical people are those who lead humanity on the path of truth. They were and are persecuted because they talk about things that need to be said.

In Islam, there are four phases that lead to ultimate reality: Shariat, the law; the Tariqat, the mystical path; the Ma’rifat, knowledge; and Haqiqat, which is the ultimate truth. These internships elevate people. All these levels bring people closer to God.

Belief is a personal thing. No one knows what the heart has inside it. And so, the dictatorship in communist times could not take away our beliefs. Our hearts have preserved them for years. Our leaders during communist times taught us that we should keep our religion in our hearts and never lose it. We had to be patient until better times arrived. We secretly celebrated our religious holy days, pretending to have birthdays or other family events. It was difficult to survive in those times.

When communism ended, we opened our tekkes again and rebuilt our communities.

After communism, there were wars in the Balkans. Since then, we have seen that it is not easy to be a Muslim in Europe. You are considered foreign or radical. How do you see the position of Islam in Europe today?

Human beings have no enemies in this world, but human beings themselves. Ignorance, spiritual poverty and selfishness destroy humanity.

Many people misunderstand Islam. Nowadays we see that Islam is more present in the political field and not in the religious field. Religiously, Islam is a religion of peace, love and wisdom. Those who use Islam to accumulate political power in their hands have nothing to do with religion.

There should be no misunderstanding: if a Muslim makes a mistake, it is not a mistake of the Prophet or the Holy Quran, in the same way that a mistake made by a priest is not a mistake of Christ or the Bible. It’s that person’s mistake. We shouldn’t mix things up. Extremists and radicals are neither Muslims nor religious.

The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is considered a religious war. How can religion contribute to resolving this conflict?

I must say that religion does not cause war. War is caused by selfishness and selfishness who abuse religion to create wars.

Mystical people have an expression: don’t pretend that you are superior to others, because in the end, we are all buried in the earth. If humanity understands that life is temporary, bad things will not happen in the world. People have teachers at school, but they do not accept teachers and spiritual leaders. Each person can choose their spiritual leader from a different religion, but the person must have religion in their life. No one can become a better person without religion.

What do you think of what is happening in Iran, with its Shiite religious regime?

I don’t want to judge others for the way they practice their religion. The people and nation of Iran chose this regime. We have to respect the will of the people. We are not judges. In the end, everyone is responsible for their actions and decisions.

Still, when we see the current state of the world and the growing fear of a third world war, what role should religion play in preventing this?

The world’s religious leaders should unite, not be divided, and pray together for peace. They have a mission: to pray for peace, so they must come together and do it. Each religious leader must serve as an example of action in favor of humanity, promoting peace, promoting love between people and leading them to peace and love. Those who govern the nations must fear God.

Visiting Israel

BABA MONDI has visited Israel several times and hopes to see you again soon. He also welcomed groups of Israelis to Albania to meet the Bektashis.

“I know Israel and I consider myself a brother of the people of Israel. I visited all of Israel with my friends there. I was invited to a friend’s Jewish wedding.

“The Bektashis are a community and a mystical path of Islam that loves people, regardless of their country of origin, the religion they belong to, the color of their skin or their politics. We consider them brothers and sisters.

“Two things really impressed me (when I visited Israel). The first was hospitality. I was received as a brother and friend. Second, I visited all the holy places. I took the positive energy from these places and those who believe in them. I’m not talking about extremists, but about those who believe in God and live according to the principles of the holy books.

“We have a prayer that says: Cursed are those who wear God’s uniform to do the Devil’s work. Humanity has to understand that human beings cannot lie to two things: God and themselves. You can lie to other people, but you cannot lie to God and yourself. The Holy Quran says that those who know themselves know God. Nowadays, many don’t know each other.

“Some nations in the world spend a lot of money on their armed forces. But people have to find peaceful ways, without armies and wars, to allow each nation to be independent. Wars and murders are not religious. They are the work of the Devil. People who work in the ways of the Devil are not human.”