In the Albanian capital, Baba Mondi envisions a Vatican-like state for his Bektashi faith on a small piece 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 run by the Sufi sect of about 100,000 members.
“Our state will be a really small state, spiritual and administrative… but with a big heart,” the Bektashi leader told AFP in Tirana, dressed in a white tunic, green jacket and hat, his face hidden by a long beard, foreign media reported.
“The whole world will be able to see the light of the Bektashis,” Baba Mondi said.
The creation of a religious state in Albania would have been unthinkable during the four-decade communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who outlawed religion and persecuted clergy and priests.
Hundreds of clerics of 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 into 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 no police, no army, no taxes, it will be spiritual,” the Bektashi leader said.
“Its purpose will be to organize and protect the Bektashis worldwide,” he added.
The Bektashi state would also advocate for persecuted members living in countries where they are not allowed to practice their religion “like in Turkey or Iran,” according to its leader.
The future state would be located on land where a Bektashi temple already stands in Tirana and would occupy a very small area, making it the smallest country in the world.
The Vatican currently holds the title of the smallest state, with just 0.44 square kilometers of territory.
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 modern state’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the early 20th century.
Unlike more conservative Islamic beliefs, Bektashi believers, both men and women, worship together and alcohol consumption 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 brandy that is widely distributed throughout the Balkans.
The practice is part of an overall vision of tolerance and promoting harmony that is central to Bektashi thought, according to Baba Mondi.
“Wherever they are, Bektashis have always expressed love, generosity and respect for people as the most perfect creatures in this world,” he added.
“We are against conflicts caused by extremists, we are for peace and love.”
For Albania’s 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 full of possibilities.
“Bektashism has been and will remain a bridge between East and West,” Baba Mondi told AFP.
“We have always been a middle way in this world to show that we can live with love, peace and kindness.”
