Today commemorates the day of passing from this life of father Sherif Canometaj (August 4, 1908- February 14, 1994).
Father Sherif Canonetaj was born on August 4, 1908 in the Carromet of the mountain village of Zhapokika-Tepelena, in a family with Bektashi traditions. His family nurtured him with love for God and Homeland. At the age of 11, he read fluently in Albanian and Arabic. At the age of 27, in 1935, he took the hand of a ‘dervish’, in the tekke of Koshtan, from his father Shefqet Koshtani; in 1943, he started the dervish course in Kryegjyshata, but due to the war, the course was interrupted. He resumed and completed a two-year dervish course at the Bektashi World Headquarters in 1945-1946. Baba Sherifi also taught with a private teacher, Hafiz Ali Korça, who stayed every year, for two or three months, in the Tekke of Elbasan. He also taught in foreign languages, with teachers Qemal Ohri, Novruz Darova, Tasim Dylgjeri, etc. He also taught philosophy, literature, and foreign languages in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Italian. He experienced the events of March 1947 in the Headquarter of Bektashi Community the murder of father Faja and father Fejza, as well as the imprisonment of Bektashi Grandfather Abaz Hilmi Dede for 2-3 months. Then, on November 4, 1948, Dede Ahmeti was appointed father in the tekke of Greshica. Then he moved to the tekke of Çorrush, Mallakastër, the tekke of zall, in the Headquarter , to the tekke of father Xhemal in Elbasan, to the tekke of Martanesh and in the years 1960-1964, to the tekke of Prishta-Skrapar. Then He went to the Tekke of Elbasan, where he remained until 1967, when religion was banned by law from the communist regime. After that he engaged in trade, sold cigarettes for 23 years and lived in Elbasan. In the years 1967-1990, he kept alive the Bektashi faith, using his house as a tekke, where with his mystical strength he healed the wounds of the soul of the believers, who never hesitated to seek help from this tireless servant… Father Sherifi, with his holiness, had convinced not only the people but also the authorities of the time, who never dared to stop his activity.
He is known by several surnames, such as: Carrometi, Canometi, Hajdini, Shabani, Cani and Elbasani. In Elbasan, in the apartment where he lived, he had placed on the door of the house the inscription “Teqe”, the surname Canometi and he liked to say that ‘I am from Zhapokika of Tepelena’, ‘I was born in Canometaj’.
In 1956, the World Grandfather, Dede Ahmeti, at the Hashura ceremony in the Great Tekke of Elbasan, described Father Sherif (affirmed): “The pigeon of Bektashism”, “You believers who have come here today, you who frequent this tekke and you myhib of Baba Sherif, you are lucky, because here serves one of the two pigeons that Albanian Bektashism has today, the fakir Baba Sherif serves. ”
Baba Sherifi has many evaluations from the people of the regions of Tepelena, Gjirokastra, Skrapar, Martanesh, Përmet, Mallakastra, Elbasan, Korça, etc.
During his service as a clergyman, with his work, the wide culture he possessed and the respect he enjoyed from all Bektashi clerics and believers, but also among the people, he managed to obtain all the ranks of Bektashi cleric. In 1965 he became Halife. He left an indelible mark on popular memory and Bektashism. It is these values that elevate the figure of this saint. Baba Sherif remains a prominent figure of Bektashism.
Prepared by:
Nuri Çuni
