Bismilahi Rrahmani Rrahim!
In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful!
Dear brothers, clerics, myhibans and Bektashi believers in the world!
Dear friends, spiritual and biological relatives of father Rexhebi!
May the peace and blessings of God be upon you! May the Ahl al-Bayt fulfill every wish in your dear families!
Today, 25 years ago, our saint, Father Rexheb Beqiri, closed his eyes in the Bektashi tekke of Detroit, in Michigan, United States of America. He was separated from this world, with the people and his relatives, with those who lovingly surrounded him in 1954 when the tekke was opened, who sacrificed for the growth of this building, who not only practiced Bektashi rites and tradition, but also preserved the essence of the tariqat, the brotherhood within them, the brotherhood with all races, ethnicities and religious differences in the champion country of democracy.
Baba Rexhebi left Albania in November 1944, forced by the ideological circumstances that our country was going through. Accused as an “enemy” of the communist party, he was sentenced to death (absence) and it was the wish of his myrshid, father Selim Gjirokastra, that his dervish, faithful to the national ideal, escape the punishment of Moscow’s servile and further fought for a free and democratic Albania. Together with Imam Vehbi Ismaili, Mid`hat Frashëri, Ali bej Këlcyrë, Hasan Dostin, Abaz Kupin, and dozens of other men who made the history of Albanian nationalism in the 20th century. Our Bektashi saint left with the idea of continuing a war at all costs against Slavic communism.
Baba Rexhebi faced with his characteristic stoicism, the endless sufferings of the emigrant, to open there the first house of Haxhi Bektash Veliu. This mission was achieved not only by the will of God Almighty, but also thanks to the treasure trove of religious harmony among the Albanians of America and especially the national feelings of Father Fan Noli. It was precisely this disciple of Albanian Christianity who gathered Albanians regardless of religion and contributed spiritually and financially to the establishment of the Bektashi tekke.
From May 1954 until today, the Bektashi tekke of Detroit that bears the name of the saint, father Rexhebi, has become an excellent hearth of Albanianism. Thousands of Bektashi believers were raised and educated there, not only for the love of God, but also for Albania, for the biological family, as well as for the wonderful American family, with different ethnicities, races and languages. As for the culminating events in the history of our nation, the tekke became the hearth of the assemblies of Muslim, Christian and Albanian Bektashis, as well as dignified national attitudes.
During these decades of the spread of Bektashi light in the USA, in addition to father Rexhebi, in this tekke have served and prayed the most beautiful years of their lives, father Bajram Gurakuqi, dervish Lutfi Gjirokastra and father Arshi Bazaj, who, the entire Albanian community in Michigan remembers them with the deepest respect because, being loyal to Father Rexhebi, they actually remained loyal to the pure Bektashi tradition. Today, the dervish Eliton Pashai walks in these tracks, who keeps the candle of Haxhi Bektash Veliu, in the youngest generation of Albanian-Americans in Michigan, unquenched.
Bektashi sisters and brothers!
Baba Rexhebi left behind an excellent deed. Let’s move on!
Baba Rexhebi left a spirit of holiness. Let’s light it up!
Let us bow with the deepest respect for this great Bektashi and Albanian, remembering what the American scholar today, Franxis Trix, said: “Baba Rexhebi was a blessing for America!”
Amin!
BEKTASHIAN WORLD GRANDFATHER
HIS GRACE
HAXHI DEDE EDMOND BRAHIMAJ
