Albania to set up Sufi Muslim Bektashi microstate

When announcing his plan to create a sovereign state for the Shia Sufi Bektashi Order in the Albanian capital, Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama chose to paraphrase the late ethnic Albanian nun and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mother Teresa: "Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love," he said.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Sunday, Rama said that the sovereign enclave, which will be along the lines of the Vatican City, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, will be "a new center of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence."

Founded in the Ottoman Empire in the thirteenth century as an offshoot of Sufism, the Bektashi Order has had its headquarters — the Bektashi World Center — in Albania since 1929.

The Albanian government plans to turn 27 acres of land in eastern Tirana into a microstate called the Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order, which will have its own borders, passports and administration.

Order welcomes 'extraordinary initiative'

The news came after the publication on Saturday of an article in the New York Times about Rama's plans to create a new Muslim state in the capital.

The prime minister officially announced the move at the UN the following day.

For the leader of the Bektashi, Edmond Brahimaj, who is known to his followers as Baba Mondi, this is an "extraordinary initiative" that will herald a new era for world religious tolerance and peace promotion.

"The Bektashi Order, which is known for its message of peace, tolerance and religious harmony, will gain Vatican-like sovereignty, allowing us to govern autonomously from a religious and administrative point of view," the order said in a statement.

An 'unprecedented' move

As often happens in Albania, many experts and the public were completely in the dark about the details of the government's plan. For most, the decision came entirely out of the blue.

Besnik Sinani, a research fellow at the Center for Muslim Theology at Tübingen University, and co-founder of the Tirana-based Konak Institute, says that the idea is "an unprecedented case of contemporary religious engineering."

"The weak comparison to the case of the Vatican City, an arrangement imposed on the Papal state in 1929 by Benito Mussolini, does not stand historical scrutiny," he told DW. "Currently, the Albanian government has not offered a single convincing argument to justify such a move."

Parliament must endorse the plan

Albert Rakipi, chairman of the Albanian Institute for International Studies, argues that this isn't just a random issue for the government to decide on.

"Although it is not about establishing a state in the classical sense — with a given population, with a certain territory, with respective institutions such as an army, police, bureaucracy, courts, a tax office and other details related to internal sovereignty — the decision will be in the hands of the parliament," he said.

Rakipi went on to say that a number of important aspects relating to external sovereignty have yet to be clarified. Indeed, there is a uncertainty about how the sovereignty of the enclave will be recognized.

Article 1(2) of the Albanian Constitution states that "The Republic of Albania is a unitary and indivisible state." To change this would require an amendment of the constitution, which would need to be approved by a majority of 94 votes, or two-thirds of all lawmakers in parliament.

Impact on religious harmony?

Albania has long been regarded as a country of religious harmony and tolerance. Mosques and churches often stand in close proximity to each other, and interfaith marriages are well accepted within Albanian society.

According to the 2023 census, about 50% of Albania's 2.4 million inhabitants are Muslim. Most are Sunni Muslims, with about 10% of Muslims belonging to the Bektashi community. Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians make up most of the rest of the population.

So, how will the plan affect the religious balance of the country?

Rakipi does not think it will have an adverse effect on the balance, understanding and harmony between the religious communities in Albania because the Bektashi community has historically served as a bridge of unity and cooperation between Muslims and Christians.

"I think it is a good initiative, especially for promoting tolerance, a culture of cooperation and coexistence, in the context of dramatic developments such as conflict in the Middle East," he told DW.

Not all are in favor

But unlike Rakipi, the Muslim Community of Albania has said that it considers the initiative "a dangerous precedent for the future of the country" and stressed that it is the only official representative of Islam in Albania.

"This initiative, which we learned of through the media, has not been discussed with the religious communities, which set up a special institution, praised by all Western countries, for such cases, namely the Interreligious Council of Albania."

Besnik Sinani feels that the plan will affect the relationship between the religions in Albania, because, he says, there is no current situation in the country that would even remotely justify such a decision.

 "Arguing that this assumed Bektashi state will impact positively a climate of tolerance in the region, therefore, is unfounded," he told DW. "If realized, it will likely disrupt the historical arrangements of the relationship between religion and state in Albania, which has been established upon the vision of the founding fathers of Albanian statehood, many of whom were Bektashis."

'Not an Islamic state'

A number of experts are concerned that the move could lead to the country being labeled an "Islamic state."

But Albert Rakipi, who is an expert in international relations, stresses that Albania is not planning to establish an Islamic state in its capital.

"An Islamic state is a different reality from the theoretical and practical point of view," he said. "Not all states whose populations are Muslim, are Islamic states. In an Islamic state, the organizing ideology for the state is religion — in this case Islam — and in most cases, Islam also serves as the organizing ideology of society."

The timing of and motivation for Rama's plan are unknown, and many questions remain.

"One cannot but remember that the Albanian government has been involved in various global-scale, religious-based, political tensions," said Sinani. "Albania is currently hosting an organization that was formerly designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which is committed to overthrowing the Iranian government. It is hosting members of the Gulen Movement, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, or former Guantanamo Bay prisoners the US government could not send to their home countries."

The World Bektashi Order insists that despite the skepticism, "the new state will have no goal other than spiritual leadership."

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan