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The announcement of the creation of a “Bektashi” state entity in Albania – compared by some to the Vatican City in relation to the Italian Republic – quickly spread across the vast ocean of mass media. However, after the initial hype, the news almost entirely faded away, like a firework destined to burn out quickly.
Perhaps for this reason, the digital Ummah did not have the time to reflect deeply on such a project, carefully assessing its nature and possible implications. The same applies to us at the editorial team of “Swordless Jihād”, where we did not give due weight to the proposal until we received a prompt from a dear brother. May Allāh swt reward him, and may He guide us all to the “straight path” in discerning this matter.
At first glance, the idea of a “Bektashi state” did not necessarily appear negative to us: peace, dialogue, moderation in the name of Islām… why not? However, in an age of rampant marketing, stopping at slogans and proclamations is certainly not a beneficial method if one seeks deeper understanding. Indeed, upon closer analysis, our perspective has significantly changed.
If by “Bektashi” one means the removal of the hijab and the freedom to consume alcohol as practices permitted bythe Dīn of Muslims, the answer can only be a firm and unequivocal “NO”. A “NO” that would – miraculously – unite mainstream traditional Sufi currents with their major Salafi critics and the Muslim Brotherhood. Consequently, the emerging “mini-state” would immediately find itself in a condition of isolation within the Ummah, beginning with Albania itself, Alhamdulillāh.
If “inclusivity” means abandoning the objectives of the Daʿwah to dilute Islām into interreligious syncretism, another “NO” is certainly required. Muslims must not renounce their identity by wearing a garment that does not belong to them to appear more acceptable in the eyes of Europeans and Westerners.
Nor can Islām be “revised” in its contents to serve political instrumentalizations, bearing in mind that any initiative in contradiction with the revealed will of Allāh swt is destined, sooner or later, to fail.
These reflections arose spontaneously following a more careful examination of the project. Anyone with further observations is encouraged to share and comment.
To demonstrate its traditionally open and tolerant spirit, in opposition to extremism and the “misguided of jihād”, Albania does not need to abandon the path of Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamāʿa and embrace heresies.
Nor should Albania even contemplate doing so in exchange for entry into the European Union. On the contrary, our hope is that one day Albania will become a member the European Union while also asserting its Islamic positions within that context.
Long life to our Bektashi brothers and sisters, as well as to their sympathizers: we harbor no animosity toward them. But “Bektashism” – we state this clearly – has nothing to do with Islām, and it will never have it. If anyone wishes to elevate it to a state ideology, so be it. The Best of Judges – Alaysa Allāhu bi-ahkami al-hākimīn? – will then determine what is to be decreed.
Jihād senza Spada 