Religious leader of Albania: 'I consider myself a brother of the people of Israel' - exclusive

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

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

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

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

This declaration sparked stormy reactions and vivid criticism of the Bektashis’ many rivals, mainly coming from Turkey and its proxies in the Balkans. Most Bektashis still live today in Turkey.

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

In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post, Baba Mondi explained: “The Albanian state has the right to pass a law in this matter. Then, we can go to the international community and ask for its recognition. We want to have diplomatic status in the world and be known as the World Center of the 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 concerning the implementation of this plan. But first, the government of Albania has to pass a law changing our status.”

I met Baba Mondi at his office, located within the Bektashi headquarters on a hill overlooking the center of Tirana. The World Center is composed of a vast gathering hall that can serve as a prayer site, 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 premises and proudly presented the center that will be the beating heart of the planned Bektashi “Vatican.”

Wherever he goes, even within the World Center, Baba Mondi is followed by his bodyguards. Despite the fact that the Bektashi Order believes in peace and love, it can’t ignore the dangers around it. A Muslim leader preaching moderation and tolerance and publicly showing his support of Israel, as Baba Mondi does, finds himself under permanent threat.

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

Despite the religious persecution, Baba Mondi grew up in a devout family that had to practice its religious life in hiding. His mother couldn’t get pregnant, but an uncle, an important Bektashi religious figure, gave the Baba’s parents a blessing, and some time afterward Baba was born, followed by other siblings. During his childhood, Baba Mondi had access, in secret, to Bektashi books, writings, and teachings.

One of his most traumatic memories from those difficult times of religious persecution is of the Communist authorities burning down his family’s house, in which two of his sisters were burned to death.

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

Just before the interview began, Baba Mondi surprised me with a question: “Will you have coffee or raki?” As I hesitated to choose alcohol 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 indeed represent another sort 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 today’s Turkey. He founded a new mystical path of Islam. The first tekke, as we call the sacred building of our community, was built in 1281 as well. Today, we have many tekkes, not only in Albania but also in many other states. The word ‘tekke’ in Albanian means place of prayer. Nowadays, there are tekkes in 33 states all over the world – in the Balkans, Europe, Egypt, Russia, India, China, Japan, and the US. 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 Turkey to Albania around 100 years ago?

The Bektashis were persecuted in Turkey for many years. At first, 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 one wife creates the family. The second wave of persecution and the killing of more than one million Bektashis in Turkey was in the days of Sultan Mahmud II [who reigned from 1808 till 1839]. He called the Bektashis fanatics and heretics and claimed that they were destroying the religion of Islam in Turkey. The last persecutor of Bektashis in Turkey was Kemal Ataturk, who closed all our tekkes and institutions.

The Bektashis’ last leader in Turkey 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. They all decided that the center of the Bektashis would be here in Albania.

How did the Bektashis survive the Communist times in Albania?

The mystical practices were persecuted. However, mystical people are those who lead humanity on the road of the truth. They were and are persecuted because they speak about things that have to be said.

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

Belief is a personal thing. Nobody knows what the heart has inside it. And so, the dictatorship in Communist times could not take away our beliefs. Our hearts preserved them for years. Our leaders during the Communist times taught us that we must keep our religion in our hearts and never lose it. We had to have patience till better times would come. We secretly celebrated our sacred religious days, pretending we had birthdays or other family events. It was hard to survive those times.

When Communism was over, we opened our tekkes again and rebuilt our communities.

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

Human beings don’t have enemies in this world but the human beings themselves. Ignorance, spiritual poorness, 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 the religion.

There must be no misunderstanding: If a Muslim makes a mistake, it’s not the mistake of the Prophet or of the Holy Quran, the same way a mistake made by a priest is not the mistake of Christ or of the Bible. It’s the mistake of that person. We shouldn’t mix all things together. The extremists and radicals are neither Muslims nor religious people.

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

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

Mystical people have an expression: don’t pretend that you are higher than 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 in school, but they do not accept spiritual teachers and leaders. Each person can choose his spiritual leader from a different religion, but a person must have religion in his life. No one can make himself a better person without religion.

What do you think about what is going on in Iran, with its religious Shia regime?

I don’t want to judge others on how they exercise their religion. The people and the nation of Iran have chosen that regime. We have to respect the will of the people. We are not judges. In the end, everyone is responsible for his actions and decisions.

Still, when you see the current state of the world and the growing fear of a third world war, what role should religion have in stopping this?

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

Visiting Israel

BABA MONDI visited Israel several times and hopes to see it again soon. He also hosted groups of Israelis in Albania to get to know the Bektashis.

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

“The Bektashis are a community and a mystical path of Islam that loves people no matter what country they come from, what religion they belong to, the color of their skin, or their politics. We consider them as brothers and sisters.

“Two things had a big impression on me [when I visited Israel.] The first was the hospitality. I was welcomed as a brother and a friend. Second, I visited all the sacred places. I took the positive energy from these places and the believers in them. I am not talking about the extremists, but about those who believe in God and live according to the principles of the sacred books.

“We have a prayer that says: Cursed are those who wear the uniform of God to make 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 can’t lie to God and to yourself. The Holy Quran says that those who know themselves have known God. Nowadays, many don’t know themselves.

“Some nations in the world spend too much money on the military. But people have to find peaceful ways, without armies and wars, to allow every nation to be independent. Wars and killings are not religious. They are the Devil’s work. People that work in the Devil’s ways are not human.”