Today is the 105th anniversary of the birth of former Bektashi World Leader Ahmet Myftar Dede
“Dede Ahmeti has given a valuable contribution to Bektashism, which will be appreciated and will serve between generations. He was a devoted cleric who served on the Way of Hak, knew how to forgive kindness, love and faith in God, contributed maximally to the spread of the Bektashi faith and the establishment of institutions and did not spare the concrete support and contribution to the liberation of the country from invaders. Dede Ahmeti, is the best example of the well-known Bektashi axiom “Without homeland, we have no religion”, because in the difficult years of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War, he not only publicly condemned the occupation of the country, but was at the forefront of the popular movement for the need for liberation with weapons in hand “- affirms the Bektashi World Leader, His Grace, Haxhi Dede Edmond Brahimaj.
Former Bektashi World Leader, grandfather Ahmet Myftari was born on February 22, 1916, in the village of Brataj in Vlora and passed away in Tirana in 1980. In the school of the village of Brataj he received his first lessons while the others, in the city of Vlora. Dede Ahmet Myftari, inherited from his parents, the love for knowledge and homeland. After finishing the civic school in the years 1924-1929 in Vlora, in 1936, he was sent to perform compulsory military service in Dibra. Here he met his father Zenel Dumen, felt inwardly his love and trust in the Almighty God, and learned about Bektashism and Islam in general. After he took over the tekke of Bllaca and was consecrated a dervish by father Zeneli, in the years 1937-1939, he served as a clergyman in the same tekke. He was only 22 years old when he dressed as a dervish and took the sacred oath to serve the path of Hak, a path to which he remained faithful until the day of his separation from life. In June 1939, like dozens of other Bektashi clerics, he sided with the freedom fighters in concrete action against the Italian invaders. In Vlora and Kurvelesh, in Tepelena and Elbasan, the word of the Bektashi dervish took place in the hearts of the warriors. The patriotic activity of dervish Ahmet Myftari, stands out in the eyes of the Italian authorities. They call him and tell him to be silent, to go to the tekke and take care of the believers. He listens to them and in deep silence answers: “How can I take care of believers with a violated homeland.Nation once, let him be free, then comes faith! ” In early May 1943 he was arrested and sent to the infamous Porto Romano camp. Here, , his free spirit finds no rest too. His warm words convince communists and nationalists that before any kind of party conviction is the homeland. We will forgive Him at any time, by any means, in any situation. With the capitulation of the Italian forces, he left the camp of Porto-Romano and again, with a rifle in his hand, he was ranked among the freedom fighters. In the spring of 1945, he finds himself in the position of district commander in Martanesh and the doors of his military career open before him. He had given the evidence, there on the front line, in the fire of battles. He was even seriously wounded in one of these battles. Friends took him by the shoulder and sent him to the hospital, saving his life. Anyway, inside the heart of Ahmet Myftari, lived the dream of the dervish, the promise he had once given, in the square of the tekke of Bllaca. With his beautiful writing, he thanks the high command for the trust he had given him and in May 1945, he appears at the Holy See of the World Headquarters, lovingly carrying on his shoulder the bow of the Bektashi dervish.
According to official documents, Ahmet Myftari, after receiving the title ‘Father’, in the next three years, works diligently as a clergyman in the tekke of ‘Father Hamiti’ in Elbasan and then in the tekke of ‘Kuzum Babai’ in Vlora. On June 2, 1948, by decision of the General Council of the Bektashi Community, he was appointed to the highest office, that of Bektashi World Leader. For ten years in a row, at the head of the Holy See, dede Ahmet Myftari, in addition to maintaining the pure Bektashi doctrine, enabled religious education by informing the dervishes of the most remote tekke. During these years it gave impetus to Bektashism and became a factor of religious harmony among the traditional religious communities in Albania. Organized a series of connections of the Albanian Bektashi community with other Bektashis around the world. The years of residence of uncle Ahmet Myftari, in this important post, are years of further revival of the Bektashi faith, years of respect for the three traditional erqans, removing once and for all this wonderful faith, from the traps and misdeeds woven by the party -state. During these years, the gates of the tekkes were opened for thousands of benefactors and myhib, religious education was institutionalized, dozens of books on Bektashism were taken out of the archives and these were translated into Albanian, illuminating the deep mysticism.
Prepared by:
Nuri ÇUNI
Kujtim BORIÇI
