Tirana (AFP) - In the Albanian capital, Baba Mondi envisions a Vatican-like state for his Bektashi faith in a small patch of land that would serve as a model for love and tolerance.
Last year, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced plans to create a sovereign Muslim microstate within the country's borders led by the Sufi sect with about 100,000 members, writes A2 CNN.
"Our state will be a truly small state, spiritual and administrative... but with a big heart," the Bektashi leader told AFP in Tirana, dressed in a white tunic, a green jacket and hat, his face covered by a long beard, foreign media report .
"The whole world will be able to see the light of the Bektashis," said Baba Mondi, writes A2 CNN.
The creation of a religious state in Albania would have been unthinkable during the four-decade communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who completely banned religion and persecuted clergy and priests.
Hundreds of clergy from all faiths were executed, imprisoned, or sent into exile, while places of worship were destroyed.
But since the fall of communism in the early 1990s, there has been an influx of religious faith in many areas of Albania.
The Bektashis rank as the fourth largest religious community in Albania, after Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics.
And while the bureaucratic details of the state are still being worked out, along with an official date for its creation, Baba Mondi has ambitious plans for the future state.
"This state will have neither police, nor army, nor taxes, it will be spiritual," said the leader of the Bektashis.
"Its goal will be to organize and protect Bektashis worldwide," he further said.
The Bektashi state would also advocate for persecuted members living in countries where they do not have the right to practice their religion "like in Turkey or Iran," according to its leader.
The future state will be located on land where a Bektashi temple is already located in Tirana and will occupy a very small space, making it the smallest country in the world.
Vatican City currently holds the title of the smallest state, with only 0.44 square kilometers of territory, writes A2 CNN.
The Bektashi Order was founded in the 13th century in the Ottoman Empire and is considered a tolerant, mystical branch of Islam open to other religions and philosophies.
Several key leaders moved to Albania after being banned in Turkey by the founding father of the modern state, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in the early 20th century.
Unlike the more conservative beliefs of Islam, Bektashi believers, men and women, worship together and the consumption of alcohol is permitted, if not encouraged.
"Rakia, like mother's milk, has benefits, because it goes straight to the brain without passing through the stomach," said Baba Mondi, referring to the popular fruit rakia that is widely distributed throughout the Balkans.
The practice is part of an overall vision of tolerance and the promotion of harmony that is central to Bektashi thought, according to Baba Mondi.
"Wherever they are, the Bektashis have always expressed love, generosity, and respect for humans as the most perfect creatures in this world," he added.
"We are against conflicts caused by extremists, we are for peace and love."
For the Albanian Prime Minister, providing the Bektashis with their own state is partly about protecting the spirit of tolerance.
“We must take care of this treasure that is religious tolerance, to preserve and promote it,” Rama said during a speech in January, marking the 95th anniversary of the transfer of the Bektashi holy see from Turkey to Albania.
He has not yet revealed a timeline for the creation of the state. But for Baba Mondi and his Sufi followers, the future is filled with possibilities.
"Bektashism has been and will remain a bridge between East and West," Baba Mondi told AFP.
"We have always been a middle ground in this world to show that we can live with love, peace and kindness." (A2 Televizion)
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MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
