The commemoration of the death of two Bektashi fathers, father Qazim Bakalli (January 3,1880-February 15.1981) and father Tahir Emini (May.5.1941 -February.17.2006), is an appreciation that the Bektashi Holy See and millions of Bektashis around the world , made for the clergy who have left their mark on the course of this peaceful faith, a faith that spans the time of eight centuries. The activity of these clerics is more than visible, in Kosovo for father Qazimi and in Macedonia for father Tahiri.
Gjakova tekke and Father Qazim Bakalli
Father Qazim Bakalli (3.1.1880-15.2.1981)
Father Qazimi, was born in Gjakova on January 3, 1880, received his first lessons in Mejtep-Ruzhdie of Gjakova. Then he continued in Skopje, the religious school “Dural Mualim”, where he received lessons in Albanian. He also completed the first normal school (1913-1914), in Berat and then in Elbasan. From 1915 he worked as a teacher in Xhafzotaj of Durrës. After the Austro-Hungarian occupation, he worked as a teacher in Gjakova. He was later transferred to Qafë Zogaj. When Prince Vidi left, Father Qazimi was forced to return to Kosovo and stayed for seven or eight months in Nikolic, Has. After the occupation of Has, he returned to Gjakova. Later, Father Qazimi was appointed secretary in the municipality of Bytyqi, where was later appointed provincial. He remained in Bytyq until he was forced to organize a volunteer army against Bajram Curri. This request forced him to resign. For this, he was imprisoned in Krumë and then in Shkodra prison, for five months. He was one of the most active members of the branch of the Kosovo National Defense Committee for Gjakova and its surroundings. Then he started working as a teacher in Poliqan-Lume. At the request of some of his friends, he went to the village of Shtiqën to open a new school. During all this time, he had close ties with Bajram Curri and the government of that time. After all this activity, father Qazimi finally decides to take the religious path, in Bektashism. He was made myhib some time ago by Haji Father Adem Vexh-hi. The dervish uniform was given to him in Fushe Kruja by Haxhi Mehmet Babai. The rule of virginity, made by Sali Niazi Dedei. For a period of time (in the years 1939-1940), he was a dervish in Shkodra, in the service of Baba Hajdar Istanbul. From Shkodra, he went to Elbasan, to the tekke of Father Xhefai Ibrahim .
In October 1941, World Leader Salih Niazi Dedej ordered Dervish Qazimi to reopen the Tetovo tekke and take care of its property. Dervish Musa went with him. Some time later, the World Grandfather Sali Niazi Dedei, appointed him as a father in the post office of the Tetovo tekke.
In 1946, he was named Grandfather (Caliph) by World Grandfather Xhafer Dede Babai. He was also detained in Macedonia by Serbian authorities, but after eight months of investigation, he was acquitted. From that time until he stopped living, he lived in the tekke of Gjakova. He was a man of great authority for Kosovo and had many admirers. From the hand of Baba Qazimi, many dervishes and fathers have emerged. The time when Father Qazimi appointed dervishes and fathers, was the time when Bektashism was not allowed in Albania (prohibition by the law of religion in 1967). Father Qazimi was a knowledgeable, cultured man, who also wrote and translated. He also had strong patriotic feelings. In the Bektashi tekke of Gjakova, he supported the idea of a special library, where he had deposited many of his writings. A manuscript, translated from Qazim’s Persian, has survived. It was preserved by the literary critic, Vehap Shita. Today the book “Divan of Shemsi Tabrizi”, by the care of the Bektashi World Headquarters, is published in Albanian. Father Qazimi passed away on February 5, 1998. His work remains unforgettable for all Bektashi believers.
Father Tahir Emini (1941 -February 17.2006)
Father Tahir Emini was born in the village of Rrasë of Dushës, near Tetovo, in 1941. He was educated in his early childhood with the ballads of Albanian bravery of his parents, who raised him with love for God and homeland. He received his first lessons in Rrasa, to later attend pedagogical studies in Tetovo and Skopje. He had an early dream, to teach his compatriots the beautiful Albanian language. There are dozens of schools where he taught. For decades, although Slavic obscurantism tried to undermine the patriotic faith of the Albanians, he did not tire and never gave up.Father Tahir Emini, for a long time, worked as a teacher in the village of Zhelina in Tetovo, and later as a school director in the village of Grupcin. Early on, he had entered into secret relationships with units of the divine life, reminding us all of the great Bektashi principle that with the eyes of the head one sees the creatures while with those of the heart, one sees the Creator. In the early 1990s, when the hearts of Bektashi believers were filled with hope, Father Tahir Emini gathered around the light of Bektashism with tens of hundreds of myhibans and zahirs, along with Father Tajar Gashi, believers and. Their relatives, following in the footsteps of father Qazim Bakalli. He crossed the closed threshold of the Harabati-Baba tekke, leaving behind years of spiritual wasteland. This epochal transcendence would certainly come through great physical and spiritual pain. His sweet word, generosity and kindness, gathered around the centuries-old walls of the tekke hundreds of believers. And exactly in these moments, with the resurgence of Bektashism in the mother country, the World Leader of the Bektashis, Haxhi Dede Reshat Bardhi would show great paternal care. The period from 1994 until the day of February 2006, when the heart of father Tahir Emini stopped beating, is the period of a close, fraternal, spiritual and institutional cooperation of the Holy See in Tirana with tekke… Tahir Emini, gave spirit to the Harabati-Baba tekke, turning it into a religious temple for every true believer.
Father Tahiri, was a noble man, wise and a great patriot. He devoted his whole life to the mystical Islamic religious faith and the spread of the ideas of the Holy Qur’an as well as the messages of the great Albanian patriots with Bektashi religious affiliation. Cooperation with the Bektashi World Headquarters, and his dedicated work for Bektashiism led the Bektashi World Headquarters to appoint him President of the Bektashi Community of Macedonia in 1994. At the Harabati Baba tekke in Tetovo, Father Tahiri devotedly served for 11 years. In many meetings and conversations with intellectuals, rulers and clergy of other religious communities, he said: “I think this is the opportunity to say to all our neighbors and the whole world: Do not play with the religious feelings of Albanians, try to understand them and accept them as they are. The demands of Albanians to be treated like other peoples of Europe are convincing, transparent, very sincere because they are fair and legal. Do not look at them through the dark glasses of religion. “Albanians, with their religious tolerance, can be a model for the whole of Europe.” Today, father Tahir Emini is commemorated on the 15th anniversary of his death.
Prepared by:
Shelda JANO
Nuri ÇUNI
