Arabati Baba Tekke

The Arabati Baba Tekke is a tekke located in Tetovo, Republic of Macedonia. The tekke was originally built in 1538 around the turbe of Sersem Ali Baba, an Ottoman dervish. [ [http://the-macedonian-tendency.blogspot.com/2007/12/bulgarians-about-travel-in-tetovo.html The Macedonian Tendency: Bulgarians About Travel in Tetovo, Macedonia ] ] In 1799, a waqf provided by Rexhep Pasha established the current grounds of the tekke. [http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=15739E41-EC52-4C58-BF4D-0C21AA2B4A7F]

History

According to legend, [ [http://www.balkantravellers.com/en/read/article/211 Balkan Travellers - Tito, Teto and Some Troubled Tourism Await You in Tetovo, Macedonia ] ] Ali was a vizier to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who had a dream which inspired him to leave the services of the Sultan and to apply himself to the Sufi path. Upon hearing this, the Sultan replied "If you will be a "sersem" (fool), then go." Subsequently, Ali became known as Sersem Ali Baba.

Sersem Ali eventually came to settle in Tetovo, then a back-water of the Ottoman Empire, and attracted a following. He attracted a following of like-minded mystics; one of these, Harabati Baba, built a turbe on the site of the current tekke after noticing the presence of a candle, a symbolic image in Bektashi thought, where there had not been one before. [ [http://www.culture.org.mk/eNARRASK.HTM narodnoto predanie za Ali Baba Sersem ] ]

Arabati Baba controversy

In 2002, a group of armed members of the Islamic Community of Macedonia (ICM), the legally recognized organization which claims to represent all Muslims in Macedonia, invaded the Arabati Baba Tekke in an attempt to reclaim the tekke as a mosque, although the facility has never functioned as such. Subsequently the Bektashi community of Macedonia has sued the Macedonian government for failing to restore the tekke to the Bektashi community, pursuant to a law passed in the early 1990s returning previously nationalized under the Yugoslav government. The law, however, deals with restitution to private citizens, rather than religious communities.http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/cedime-se-macedonia-muslims.PDF] The ICM claim to the tekke is based upon their contention to represent all Muslims in Macedonia; and indeed, they are one of two Muslim organizations recognized by the government, both Sunni. The (Shi'i) Bektashi community filed for recognition as a separate religious community with the Macedonian government in 1993, but the Macedonian government has refused to recognize them.

In March 2008, there were reports that the ICM members squatting on the facility grounds have taken control of additional buildings, have been intimidating visitors to the "tekke", and have discharged their weapons on the grounds. [ [http://www.islamicpluralism.org/wahhabiwatch/ww2007.htm#31 WahhabiWatch ] ]

ee also

*Bektashi
*Tetovo
*Tekke
*Dervish
*Alevi

External links

* [http://sersem-ali.blogspot.com Free Sersem Ali: News on the Ongoing Controversy at the Harabati Baba Tekke]
* [http://www.bektashi.net The Bektashi order of Sufis]
* [http://www.bektashi.net/tekkes-lelic.html A Visit to the Harabati Baba Tekke]
* [http://www.komunitetibektashi.org Bektashi World Headquarters (in Albanian)]

Notes