The Bektashi Order is an Islamic Sufi order that spread to Albania through Albanian janissaries during the period of Ottoman Albania. The Bektashi make up almost 5% of the country's population. In regards to ethics, the Bektashi adhere to the line "Be master of your hands, your tongue, and your loins" which essentially means do not steal, do not lie or speak idly, and do not commit adultery.
In Albania, the Bektashi Order has taken on a patriotic and nationalistic character, and it has played a major role in the Albanian National Awakening. Bektashi leaders have historically been prominent members in Albanian movements for self-determination and national autonomy, which has contributed to its popularity amongst the Albanians, and for most of Albania's Bektashi community, their affiliation with the order is based on cultural heritage rather than actual religious belief.
The acceptance of Bektashism amongst the Albanians was largely facilitated by the existent Bektashi syncretism between combined pre-Islamic and Shiite elements with Christian elements. These beliefs were quickly replaced by Albanian popular traditions once Bektashism had spread to Albania, and the Bektashi tekkes were primarily situated outside of Albanian towns, which allowed the order to maintain a rural character. Bektashism is perceived as the purest expression of Albanian religiosity, conserving Albanian cultural traditions to the point where it is considered the only truly 'national religion'.
History Ottoman period
The Bektashi Order was mainly spread in Ottoman Albania in the 16th century through the Janissaries—members of a high-ranking military social class in the Ottoman Empire consisting of Balkan children who were raised by the Ottoman Turks as part of the Devshirme system—and is first associated with the figure, Sari Saltik (Sari Salltëk in Albanian). Many of the Janissaries were indeed Albanians. Legend holds that the tekke (teqe in Albanian) of Sersem Ali Baba in Tetova of today's North Macedonia was founded in the mid 16th century, which would make it the oldest teqe in Albanian-speaking territory. Bektashism spread to Albania slowly, especially considering the language barriers Persian and Turkish missionaries faced; Bektashi missionaries were sent to Albania from the Bektashi centre at Dimetoka, usually in groups of three. The first missionaries arrived during the 14th and 15th centuries.
During Evliya Çelebi's travels in the southern Balkans in the second half of the 17th century, the presence of Bektashi teqes in Mitrovica and Kaçanik in Kosovo during 1660 was noted. Additionally, during Çelebi's tour of southern Albania in the summer of 1670, he also noted the presence of Bektashi teqes in Kaninë and Vlora. The construction of the Teqeja e Zallit (gravel teqe) in 1780 under Asim Baba laid the foundations for the growth of the Bektashi Order within Albania, and it was followed by the construction of more teqes throughout Albania—especially during the period between 1790 and 1825, in which the Bektashi Order maintained a strong presence within Albanian-speaking territories. The expansion of Bektashism in south Albania is linked to the rule of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, who was affiliated with the order and promoted its expansion. Ali Pasha used Bektashi dervishes as spies and diplomatic agents; this led to Mustafa Pasha Bushatli of the Bushati family (who was ruler of the Pashalik of Scutari) refusing to admit Bektashi dervishes to his provinces as he was concerned that they were spies for Ali. He drove the Bektashi Order out of north Albania for this very reason.
Bektashism gradually became more deeply rooted in Albania during the 19th century. The Auspicious Event of 1826, which culminated in the destruction of the Janissary Corps by the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II, also affected the Bektashi Order due to their strong affiliation with the Janissaries. As in Anatolia, many Bektashi buildings in Albania were destroyed or burnt down, including the teqes. However, the Bektashis of Albania were not as suppressed as those in Anatolia, as the formal abolition of the Janissary Corps and the Bektashi Order by the Ottoman Empire was only effective in Istanbul and the other provinces of the empire that were directly under the central Ottoman administration's authority. The Bektashi Order in Albania had fully recovered by the second half of the 19th century. This would also be when Bektashism in Albania adopted Albanian nationalism as a major part of its doctrine, and when the religion would see increased popularity amongst Albanians. During the Albanian National Awakening, the majority of Albanian Muslims constantly expressed their firm desire to sever their links with the Ottoman Empire, and the heterodoxy and tendency to assimilate external elements enabled Bektashism to fully integrate nationalism into its doctrine. This made the Bektashi Order extraordinarily popular in Albania.
Bektashis contributed greatly to Albanian patriotic efforts during this time and were crucial in educating the mostly illiterate Albanian population in the Albanian language. Albanians were attracted to Bektashism for certain values—more particularly, its traditional tolerance and regard for other religions, and its tolerance and open-mindedness towards other practices and beliefs. Additionally, in contrast to Sunni Islam, which was more favourable towards the Ottoman Turks and promoted the Arabic script, Bektashism was more sympathetic for local concerns and favoured the use of a Latin script for the Albanian language. At the beginning of the 20th century, about 15% of Albania's population was Bektashi, and Bektashi teqes served as underground Albanian-language schools and Albanian-language book distributors. However, contrary to what many Bektashi intellectuals had hoped for, the sect did not become the Albanian national religion, especially due to the fact that the Order was disproportionately concentrated in the south of Albania. Around 70% of all Bektashi teqes were found south of Berat and only about 3% in the north.
Post-independence
After the Albanian declaration of independence in 1912, the political instability that followed was harmful to the Albanian Bektashis. The teqes of Albania suffered significant damage and destruction throughout the Balkan Wars and the first two years of World War I. A period of destruction came with the Muslim Uprising of Albania, a Sunni Muslim revolt that was popular in central Albania and demanded that control of Albania was returned to the Ottomans, that the Albanian flag was replaced by the Ottoman one, and the use of Ottoman Turkish as the national language (or at least using Arabic script for Albanian) amongst several other demands. The rebels, led by the fanatic Haxhi Qamili, burnt down many Bektashi teqes from Martanesh in Bulqizë to as far south as Berat due to the strong links between Bektashism and Albanian nationalism (including the efforts Albanian Bektashis made towards the progression of Albanian education and Albanian independence) as well as the religious differences between the Shi'ite-oriented Bektashis and the Sunni Muslim rebels.
During the conflict between Albanians and Greeks in southern Albania during 1914–1915, where Greek forces took advantage of the political instability of Albania and attempted to annex as much Albanian territory into Greece as possible or succeed in creating the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, at least 145 Albanian villages in southern Albania were looted and destroyed. Accompanying this was the destruction of 48 teqes at the hands of the Greek forces. In total, 80 per cent of the teqes in Albania were either extremely damaged or destroyed entirely during 1914–1915. The Bektashi Order of Albania has not fully recovered since this loss. With the conclusion of the First World War, stability returned to the surviving Albanian Bektashi community, and many teqes were rebuilt in the early 1920s.
By 1920, the Bektashi community in Albania had gained enough recognition to have one a representative - Aqif Pasha Biçaku - on the High Regency Council which governed Albania during the absence of Prince Wied; this council consisted of 4 representatives for each religious community. The Bektashi community of Albania stressed its separation from the Turkish Bektashi community during the First National Congress of the Bektashi (held at the teqe of Prishta in Skrapar and headed by Baba Ahmet Turani), where they stressed that they were the first religious community of Albania to be free of foreign control. At a 1923 Muslim conference held in Tirana, disputes arose between the Bektashis and the Sunnis, ultimately culminating in the Bektashi representatives leaving the meeting and breaking relations with the Grand Mufti in Istanbul.
The Second National Congress of the Bektashi was held on 8–9 July 1924, in Gjirokastër under Baba Ahmet Turani. The Turkish Bektashi community contemplated relocating their headquarters in Albania due to the political climate of Turkey, and thereby resolved that religious ceremonies could be performed in the Albanian language; all the dervish orders in Turkey were banned in 1925 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Third National Congress of the Bektashi was held in the teqe of Turan near Korça on 23 September 1929, this time under Baba Zylfo of Melçan, and it turned out to be the most crucial early Bektashi congress. The order declared itself to be a religious community of its own - autonomous from mainstream Islam - and they initiated the Kryegjysh system, with their Kryegjyshata in Tirana as their headquarters.
On the initiative of Salih Nijazi, an Albanian from the Kolonja region who was the Kryegjysh (dedebaba) of the Bektashi Order, the seat of the Order was transferred from Hacıbektaş in Anatolia to the new headquarters in the Albanian capital of Tirana. This was done in response to the Turkish ban on dervish orders and the closing of all the teqes in Anatolia. Estimations on the number of teqes in Albania at the time range from 43 to 65 in 1928 and 52 in 1933, whilst there were about a dozen teqes in Kosovo and several in the Albanian-speaking regions of North Macedonia. Until 1937, the Kryegjysh appointment was approved by King Zog. It is claimed by the Bektashis that Salih Nijazi was murdered in 1941 by the Italian fascist regime that was occupying Albania at the time, and that the cause of this murder was Nijazi's refusal to collaborate with the occupying forces.
Communist period After World War II, the Albanian Partisans seized control of the nation and established a Stalinist regime. The Fourth National Congress of the Bektashi was held in Tirana on 5 May 1945, leading to a change of leadership. Xhafer Sadik was made Kryegjysh, and Baba Faja Martaneshi was made secretary general, but the death of Sadiku on 2 August 1945 led to an early replacement by Abaz Hilmi. On 19 March 1947, Abaz Hilmi Dede shot and killed both Baba Faja Martaneshi and Baba Fejzo Dervishi prior to committing suicide after a heated argument over religious matters occurred. It is believed that Martaneshi and Dervishi, who were loyal towards the Communist regime, demanded the order to collaborate more closely with the Communists and accused Hilmi of being a reactionary.
The Communist dictatorship established complete control over the Bektashi Order through purges and by frightening the babas into submission or silence; this was soon followed with the death of many of the Bektashi leaders, such as Baba Qamil Gllava of Tepelena (executed in Gjirokastra, 1946), Baba Ali Myrteza of Kruja (tortured and then thrown out of a prison window), Baba Ali Tomorri and Baba Shefket Koshtani of Tepelena (executed). Ahmet Myftar, a loyal follower of Communist doctrines, assumed the Kryegjyshata on 8 June 1947, and was a puppet of the Communist regime.