Dr. Gazmend Kapllani/
As director of DePaul Hidai “Eddie” Bregu Albanian Studies Program, it was a great pleasure to host yesterday the spiritual leader of the first Albanian Bektashi Tekke in the U.S., Baba Eliton Pashaj.
The Albanian Bektashi Tekke was founded in 1954 in Taylor, Michigan, with the support of Albanian-American Bektashis, Sunnis, Catholics, and Albanian Orthodox Christians, by Baba Rexheb, a prominent Albanian-American Sufi Master. The Tekke kept Albanian Bektashism literally alive after the destruction of religion in Albania during communist rule.
Prompted by Baba Eliton’s monograph about Baba Hysen Melçani – a renowned Bektashi Baba who led one of the five oldest Tekkes in the country in Melçan, in the region of Korçë in southern Albania, during the tumultuous years of the Albanian independence movement and the Balkan wars – I had the honor to discuss with Baba Eliton Pashaj about the past and present of Bektashism in Albania and diaspora with a special focus on the connection of the Bektashi order to Albanian modern national history and narratives.
Naim Frasheri, considered the Albanian national poet, in his famous “Bektashi Booklet,” describes Albanian Bektashis as “brothers and one in the soul not only with other Bektashi but with all mankind. They love other Muslims and Christians as they do their own souls, and they strive for good relations with all mankind. Yet above all, they love their country and their countrymen.
This is the finest of all virtues.
The Bektashi love mankind, they help the poor, they show pity and compassion in their hearts, and they are of good spirit, because this is the path. If it were not like this, it would not be the path”.
The attentive audience and our DePaul Albanian Studies students had the opportunity to ask Baba Eliton Pashaj questions, triggering creative discussions about the relationship between religion and contemporary Albanian identity in Albania and the diaspora. The after-event discussions continued during Baba Eliton’s book signing.
I was honored to receive by the hands of Baba Eliton an honorary plaque crafted in wood for distinguished personalities and friends of the Tekke. Our namesake and donor, Hidai “Eddie” Bregu, was very close to the Albanian Tekke and Baba Rexheb personally, and I dedicate the honor received to him.
The meeting ended with an Ashura (Noah Pudding) offering, a special ritual among Bektashis, generously courtesy of Baba Eliton and A Thousand Tales restaurants in Chicago.
Thank you to Baba Eliton Pashaj for honoring us with his visit and to everyone who attended the event.
See you soon at our other events.
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