"Love and peace is our happiness, there is no other happiness"
By Ina Verbica 19.05.2022
Some representatives of Albanian religious communities visited Germany. Grandfather Dedebaba Hajji Edmond Brahimaj, head of the world Bektashi Headquarter, talks to DW about the resonance of religious tolerance among Albanians.
DW: For four days in a row, as part of the interreligious delegation from Albania to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, you promoted religious tolerance and harmony as an added value of the Albanian people? What resonance did this Albanian experience have?
Great-grandfather Dedebaba Hajji Edmond Brahimaj: Germans are a cultured people, they showed this by their hospitality, which they gave us in all our meetings, they respected us starting from the personalities but also from the German people, with a lot of respect and a lot of love, plus the Albanians who work here, who are an integrated part of Germany, work honestly and this is a good thing, which we see in this blessed country, which is the locomotive of Europe. And this arrival and our reception here has value for our nation, so that they create a good impression on the Albanian nation. This is important to us.
At the symposium in Essen you spoke about tolerance, made many visits, held meetings with the mayors of four cities, Essen, Bocholt, Duisburg and Düsseldorf. How did you experience these meetings?
We were received with great love, all those programs listened to our speeches with great attention. At the symbolic mass on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the city of Bocholt, I said a word and a prayer together with the Christians who were there. They accepted and welcomed the words that I said there, and this was special, because an evangelist translated for me, I was a Bektashi, they were Catholic and an evangelist translated my words and this shows a harmony, love and peace between us.
And this is likely to happen all the time…
And there is a miracle in Albania, which I believe they do not have, the marriage we have between faiths, without having problems for the faith of the other, we respect the person and this is the most important thing in this temporary life. Look here in this guide of the city of Düsseldorf in the center they have put the man, the human figure. People are respected, loved and valued. Even we in Albania are trying, we Bektashis and all religious communities and all believers to have love for each other, brotherhood and peace, because love is what unites people.
The harmonious coexistence of different faiths is a well-known virtue and pride of Albanian society, but is the term tolerance a little exaggerated?
No, it is also guarded by us clergy, we have an interfaith council, a center where all the clergy gather for every problem that the nation has, for every problem that our beliefs have, so that there is no division and war with each other. , but to have love and peace and this interfaith council works to find a common language and not have fights, because this world is temporary and not permanent.
Grandfather Babadede Edmond Brahimaj, Anduena Stephan, honorary consul of the Republic of Albania in Germany and the author, Angjelina Verbica.
Because religious tolerance can be threatened, is there a danger of shaking this harmony?
There is no danger that the Albanians are one and being one despite the fact that different currents may come to Albania, as they have, but they have not found that warm bed to act against human rules. This is a merit of all of us and of the entire Albanian nation. So together we have preserved this miracle of the Albanians.
For decades in Albania there was a ban on religion, atheism imposed by the communist regime. Has this fact affected religious tolerance?
She helped for this unity, which Albanians have between faiths, she did not disrupt her work.
Now the freedom of belief is back and living together continues?
Even now we continue to marry each other. There are four faiths in a family.
Does the deepening in the practice of one's own religion lead to the departure of members of different faiths from each other?
Absolutely not, extreme currents have existed and have not found a place in Albania. My granddaughter is Orthodox, what can I tell her, that I am the best. Man is free to choose both before God and before the law. We all believe in God. Do you choose Christ or Muhammad, that is your right. Well, Albanians should keep one thing in mind, they should go back to work, the second thing is to deal with themselves, not with the neighbor or the other, as we say. I have to be interested in what my family does, what I do personally. Our principle and motto is to never be on the side of evil, but always on the side of good, love and peace. Because love and peace is our happiness, there is no other happiness.
