Dede Ahmet Ahmataj, great-grandfather of Bektashi, passed away. He was born in Brataj, Vlora, in 1916. He completed the city school in the years 1924-1929. In 1937, he went to the Dibra district as a soldier and after being released, he wore the cloak of a Bektashi cleric in the tekke of Bllaca, at father Zeneli’s, until 1939. Then he served in the tekke of Elbasan, Turan, Tepelena, Vlora, until 1942. From this year until May 1944, with a gun in hand, he fought in the ranks of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Army and was included in the XVIII Assault Brigade. He was in the partisan battalions of Martanesh, Elbasan and Peza. In 1943, he was interned in Porto Romano of Durrës. The spring of 1945 finds him in the position of District Commander, in Martanesh. On October 2, 1945, he received the title “baba” and served full of devotion in the tekke of Hamit Baba, Elbasan, as well as Kuzum Baba in Vlora. On June 2, 1948, the General Council of the Bektashi Community elected him the World Grandfather. In the years 1948-1958, he organized religious education and dozens of books on Bektashism were translated into Albanian under his supervision. He became a factor of religious harmony among the traditional religious communities in Albania. He assigned various duties within the Albanian Bektashi Community with Bektashis worldwide. He participated in several International Peace Conferences. In 1958, Dede Ahmet Myftari, as a result of pressure from the party-state, was forced to leave the important post and spend the difficult years of exile in Drizё of Mallakastra. Under these conditions, the Drizë Tekke became the Holy Seat of the World Bektashi Community. (In the photo: Dede Ahmet Ahmataj)
Text: World Bektashi Patriarchate, Tirana.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Myftar
Graphic processing: AHCF
