Skip to main content

Bektashi World Centre

The main building and tekke

In the entrance to the tekke - Imam Ali and Haji Bektash

The tombs of leaders of the Bektashi community

Haji Bektash

The future Bektashi cultural centre

Haxhi Dede Reshat Bardhi
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
wow...another bektashi posting...if i didnt know any better i'd say u were converting to the bektashi religion alwin...LOL!
6:43 pm
olli said…
Just an old-fashioned baptist myself nick
7:16 pm
Anonymous said…
Any idea where does the Bektashi Community get its financing? There is some concern in some circles (namely me) that Iran has gained quite a bit a leverage and Bektashi theology is really in a sorry state and cannot compete with the theo-dollars from Persia.

Nick: Alwyin is doing what any good British brigadier would: scope out the local culture, and use it to divide and conquer (LoL)
9:59 pm
Anonymous said…
I saw Bardhi on tv at some gov party. They had caught him drinking big glasses of red wine over and over again.

heheh
3:04 am
Anonymous said…
I think they were allowed to drink, no? So, you can drink all you want, eat all you can, marry seven women, don't have to work and theorize all day, where the sacrifice in that?

But, I read somewhere that the Bektashi were considered so bizarre by some muslim scholars (apparently outside of Albania) that they considered them altogether outside of islam. I also read that they include pagan and christian elements in their religion. Alwyn do you know this to be true? Was their creator that black jewish messiah or something.
4:04 am
Anonymous said…
You know the orthodox will badmouth all heretics, and for sure the Bektashis are heretics.

However, in retrospect heretics are always more logical, nicer, and fun than the orthodox.

So you can tell that 'outside' muslim scholar to shove it.

here, poke some fun at him too:

http://www.bektashi.net/beliefs-jokes1.html
8:14 am
olli said…
More mystical movements within any religious tradition tend to get a bad press from the more doctrinaire elements.

Sunni's don't like Bektashi the same way they don't like Shia, because Bektashism has a lot in common with Shia Islam.

As far as I know the Iranians do try to get some leverage with the Bektashi but with limited success.

There are no theo-dollars: that's why the Bektashi are the only religious community here not building grand new mosques/churches all over the place.

The only outside source of funding that I know of is Bektashis in the US.

Regarding Shabbetai Zevi (Zvi)it's all very obscure but it seems more likely that bektashi's influenced him - especially after his conversion to islam - than the other way round.

Do they incorporate traditions from other religions? Yes. The same way all religions do - not generally as doctrine but as practice.
8:40 am
james said…
Where is the Bektashi World Center? Are they building the new cultural center at the same location? Is it normally open for tours? Did you realize that you have possibly become the Community Outreach director for Bektashi Albania?
10:36 am
olli said…
It's sort of east - Rr Dhimiter Kamarda. Cultural centre is on site. There are no official tours but you can just turn up and have a look round. Best times 10-1, 5-7.

Look out for more info in the new edition of IYP guide to Tirana
3:50 pm
Anonymous said…
I just came across this blog. You have some really interesting stuff here and I like the design...
7:33 am
ibn Abee Jetmir said…
bektashis are not considered muslims even by the not so strict albanian muslims. they are totally different, and have beliefs which go totally against Quranic teachings. they turn their "shaykhs" divine, all hearing, all seeing beings. the reason he was probably drinking is because he is a shaykh, and we cant understand what he does, so we accept it without questioning. their shaykhs make claims like "i was just praying in makkah" while in albania. quite some beliefs eh?
6:15 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century

Another article on religion in Albania appeared yesterday. Patrick Poole, writing in the American Thinker , argues that Saudi funding for the construction of mosques and the training of imams is a threat to Albania, since these mosques and imams reflect the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.
34 comments
Read more

Kamëz Part 3

For those who want a lengthy detailed report into the election there will, undoubtedly, be a range of them to chose from. In the meantime, here are my brief reflections on the last few weeks. At the heart of the problems around this election is the unwarranted influence of political parties on all aspects of the electoral process. Every institution responsible for organising and facilitating the election is under the control of political parties. The Electoral Code itself was heavily revised only days before the original date for the elections and only weeks before the actual date (Law 9676 13 January 2007). It was these revisions, specifically Article 181/2, that created the overly complicated identification requirements that caused so much confusion, and undoubtedly disenfranchised some voters. Let's be clear though: these revisions were not designed to protect the interests of the electorate. They were drafted primarily because the political parties do not trust each other. The ...
27 comments
Read more

Big in Albania

Ask me how much I knew about Albania before coming here and my list would be a short one: Enver Hoxha, bunkers and Sir Norman Wisdom. I have no idea when or how I acquired this extensive body of knowledge, but the association of Norman Wisdom with Albania was by far the most interesting part of it. I remember watching Norman Wisdom's old films on British television. My parents were fans of his wholesome, slapstick comedy, but apparently missed the ideological significance of Pitkin's relationship with Mr Grimsdale. Pitkin, the downtrodden and oppressed representative of the workers, triumphed every time over his capitalist oppressor, Mr Grimsdale - and he got the girl. It took a theorist of Hoxha's insight and profundity to discern this deeper political message. It always seemed tremendously unlikely, yet the story of Sir Norman's fame in Albania has been reported in worthy sources like the BBC , the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph . According to the Guardian, when Wi...
22 comments
Read more