LETTER FROM THE BALKANS

It was barely 10 am on Thursday, October 31, but after serving coffee, the young dervish in a white tunic inevitably asked: "Would you also like a raki?" Tirana's Bektashis may claim to be Muslims, but they follow the very Balkan tradition of offering guests this traditional plum or grape brandy.

Ever since Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama made the surprise announcement in the New York Times on September 21, and at the UN the following day, that he intended to give sovereign state status to the world headquarters of this Sufi movement to make it "a center of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence," Albanians have been wondering whether their government leader, known for his love of making headlines, is really serious.

Perched high in the hills above Tirana, the Bektashis' headquarters used to be rather discreet. The large, light-filled temple, called "The Odeon," is surrounded by a few hectares of greenery, making it an island of calm compared to the bustle of the Albanian capital. The estate is intended to become an independent state with all its attributes, such as a seat at the United Nations and a leader, in this case Baba Mondi, the current Bektashis' spiritual leader.

"Who else do you want it to be?" said the rotund 65-year-old, raising his arms to the sky as he greeted guests in one of his reception rooms, decorated with large, colorful, mystical paintings. Edmond Brahimaj, his real name, wears a taj hat, a full beard and the white and green tunic of the kryegjysh, the spiritual guides of this brotherhood which settled in Albania in the 1920s after being expelled from Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938).

As with the great majority of Sufi movements, it claims mysticism and values of "pacifism, tolerance and coexistence." Women may not be members of the clergy, but they do not wear the veil. Alcohol consumption is tolerated. In the small museum built beneath the large prayer hall, they like to show visiting French visitors the photograph of Baba Mondi and all the Albanian religious representatives united behind their prime minister during a visit to Paris to pay tribute to the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015.

"The Prophet says you have to adapt to the times," Baba Mondi said about his vision of Islam. But why become a state? "This status will allow us to exist better on a global level," he explained, adding that he has been fighting for years to be better recognized in the "33 countries" in the world where "150 million Bektashis" are said to live. The number seems to be greatly overestimated, given that even in Albania, they represent barely 5% of the population, with around 135,000 people.

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