Muslim Community of Albania
The Muslim Community of Albania ( Albanian Komuniteti Mysliman i Shqipërisë , KMSH for short ) is a private institution and religious community founded in 1923 that unites the institutions of the Sunni - Islamic population of the country. Since the 2010s she has been close to the Gülen movement of the spiritual leader Fethullah Gülen , who lives in the United States and which is banned as FETÖ in Turkey . Bujar Spahiu has been the chairman since 2019 . The seat is in the capital Tirana .
history
The beginnings of a uniform Muslim community in Albania can be dated back to 1921. At that time the Albanian section separated from the Ottoman Caliphate and founded its own independent organization to take care of the Muslims in Albania. In October 1923, the Zani Naltë newspaper began to be published ; however, it was discontinued in 1939. The newspaper Kultura Islame is published during the Second World War . With the appearance of the first Islamic newspaper, the first madrasa was opened in the capital Tirana (Alb. Medreseja e Tiranës ) in 1923 . The first chairman was H. Vehbi Dibra .
In 1967 all mosques and churches in Albania were closed, and any religious denomination or practice was prohibited. Albania declared itself the first atheist state in the world.
| No. | Surname | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haxhi Vehbi Dibra | 1923 | 1929 |
| 2 | Behexhet Shapati | 1929 | 1942 |
| 3 | Hafiz Sherif Lëngu | 1942 | 1945 |
| 4th | Hafiz Musa H. Ali Basha | 1945 | 1954 |
| 5 | Hafiz Sylejman Myrta | 1954 | 1966 |
| 6th | Esat Myftija | 1966 | 1967 |
| 7th | Haxhi Hafiz Sabri Koçi | 1990 | 2003 |
| 8th | Haxhi Selim Muça | 2004 | 2014 |
| 9 | Skënder Bruçaj | 2014 | 2019 |
| 9 | Bujar Spahiu | 2019 | officiating |
On November 16, 1990 - after the fall of communism in Albania - the institution in the lead mosque of Shkodra was re-established under Sabri Koçi and prayed publicly again for the first time. Since then, the newspaper Drita Islame has also appeared . Until 2003, most of the KMSH madrasas were financed by non-governmental organizations from Arab states. With the start of the US “ war on terror ”, most of these Arab NGOs were expelled from the country or had to limit their activities. The Arab organizations were replaced by Turkish ones , mostly from the circle of the preacher Fethullah Gülen , who lives in the USA .
The KMSH announced in 2010 that it wanted to set up an Islamic university in the capital, which would include the faculties of theology and philology . The lessons should have been in Albanian, Turkish, Arabic and partly in English. This did not materialize; instead, a co-educational university with a greater emphasis on the humanities was established.
tasks
The KMSh appoints the muftis , imams , chatibs and muezzins in the Islamic communities. The chairman of the KMSh served as Grand Mufti of Albania until Skender Brucaj's term of office :
Islamic universities
In Albania there is the Universiteti Bedër in Tirana , planned as an Islamic university , and seven madrasas . Five of the seven madrasas are said to be controlled by the Gülen movement .
- H. Mahmud Dashi in Tirana
- H. Sheh Shamia in Shkodra
- Mustafa Varoshi in Durrës
- Hafiz Ali Korça in Kavaja
- Liria in Elbasan
- Vexhi Buharaja in Berat
- Abdullah Zemblaku in Korça
Others
The community is a member of the Department of Interreligious Dialogue (alb. Departamenti i Dialogut Ndërfetar ).
Web links
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rreth nesh. In: Komuniteti Mysliman i Shqiperise. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012 ; Retrieved January 29, 2011 (Albanian).
- ↑ Oliver Scharbrodt, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibašić , Jørgen Nielsen, Egdunas Raciuss (eds.): Yearbook of Muslims in Europe . tape 7 . Brill, Leiden, Boston 2015, Albania, pp. 19 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 12, 2016]).
- ↑ Historiku i KMSH-së. In: Komuniteti Mysliman i Shqiperise. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012 ; Retrieved January 29, 2011 (Albanian).
- ↑ Olsi Jazexhi: Yearbook of Muslims in Europe . Ed .: Oliver Scharbrodt, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibašić, Jørgen Nielsen, Egdunas Raciuss. tape 6 . Brill, Leiden, Boston 2014, Albania, pp. 24 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 12, 2016]).
- ↑ Hapja e Universitetit Islam në Shqipëri. In: Komuniteti Mysliman i Shqiperise. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010 ; Retrieved January 29, 2011 (Albanian).