TEKKÉ ARABATI-BABA

This vast Ottoman-period tekké (Арабати Баба Теќе/Arabati Baba Teḱe, Teqeja e Baba Harabatit) belongs to the brotherhood of the bektashis, the most tolerant branch of Sufi Islam. The complex, which resembles a fortified camp, extends over 26,700 m². It boasts a magnificent garden, a dozen classical Ottoman-style buildings and around a hundred tombs of dervishes and followers of Bektashism. It was founded in 1538 by the Turkish dervish master Sersem Ali Baba. But it bears the name of his disciple and successor, Arabati Baba. It was he who undertook the expansion of the tekké after the death of his master in 1549. Out of humility, these two great theologians and poets adopted ridiculous sobriquets: in Turkish sersem means "madman" or "fool" and harabati is derived from the ancient Arabic arābātat, meaning "drunkard". It was from this tekké that the humanistic precepts of the bektashis spread to the Albanian-speaking populations of the Balkans. However, the complex took on its current appearance between 1799 and 1820 under Rexhep Pasha. An adept of Bektashism, this Albanian governor of the Tetovo region undertook major renovations.

Welcoming dervishes and intimidating bearded men. Rexhep Pacha's original intention was to house his daughter Fatima, who was suffering from tuberculosis, so that she could breathe the pure air of the Šar Mountains. Thanks to his patronage, the complex continued to flourish, attracting ever more dervishes, scholars, poets, pilgrims and donors. When the bektashis became too influential at the sultan's court and were expelled from present-day Turkey, the brotherhood transferred its headquarters to the Arabati-Baba tekké in 1826. When the Ottomans left in 1912, the headquarters were finally transferred to Tirana, Albania, where they remain today. Since 1912, the tekké has suffered a long decline. Closed down by the Yugoslav socialist authorities in 1945, it fell victim to arson in 1948, before being transformed into a tourist complex in the 1960s with a restaurant, hotel and even, for a time, a discotheque. After independence and another fire in 1992, it was finally returned to the Bektashis in 1994. But since 2002, part of the complex has been occupied by a group of Sunni Islamists who consider the Bektashis to be "heretics". Fortunately, a visit is still possible. But it can be a little strange, with welcoming, peaceful dervishes on one side, and sometimes intimidating fundamentalist bearded men on the other.