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Sultan Nevruz
Nevruz Day is celebrated annually in Albania on 22 March as Sultan Nevruz. In Albania, the festival commemorates the birthday of Ali ibn Abi Talib (died 661 CE) and simultaneously the advent of spring. Declared a public holiday in 1996, it is prominent amongst the nations' Bektashis (because of their Shia affiliations), but adherents of Sunnism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy also "share in the Nevruz festival to respect the ecumenical spirit of Albania". Amongst these three non-Bektashis, the Sunni community of Albania appears to be greatest supporter of Nevruz. The "League of Imams in Albania" is opposed to the festivity, and they call it a pagan festival with pagan origins; they believe that only the festivals of Eid al-Fitr and the Eid al-Adha should be celebrated. Proselytism funded by Wahhabis and Saudis contributed to the spreading of this Islamic interpretation, which, although not necessarily fundamentalist, "strongly dissaproves of Baktāshi rituals and practices considered ali ...
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Nowruz
Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, uz, Navro'z is the Persian-language term for the day of the Iranian New Year, also known as the Persian New Year. It begins on the spring equinox and marks the beginning of Farvardin, the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar (an Iranian calendar used officially in Iran and Afghanistan). The day is celebrated worldwide by various ethnolinguistic groups and falls on or around the date of 21 March on the Gregorian calendar. The day of Nowruz has its origins in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism and is thus rooted in the traditions of the Iranian peoples; however, it has been celebrated by diverse communities for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia. Presently, ...
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Kryegjyshata
The World Headquarters of the Bektashi or Bektashi World Center ( sq, Kryegjyshata Botërore Bektashiane; often simply known in Albanian as the Kryegjyshata) is the international headquarters of the Bektashi Order, a Sufi order. It is located on Dhimitër Kamarda Street at the eastern edge of Tirana city, Albania. It serves as the centre of the Albanian Bektashi Order. The headquarters also has a museum, library, and archives. History Before the secularization of Turkey in 1925, the Haji Bektash Veli Complex in Hacıbektaş, Turkey was home to the ''pir evi'' (Turkish for " pir's house") of Haji Bektash Veli, which served as the international headquarters of the Bektashi Order. Atatürk's 1925 ban on all dervish orders caused the exodus of the Bektashi Order to Albania in 1925, and the complex was closed for religious use. As a result, the administrative seat of the Bektashi Order was shifted to the World Headquarters of the Bektashi in Tirana, Albania in 1930. In 1930, Sali ...
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Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish Straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala, , in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria. The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. The term ''Balkan Peninsula'' was a synonym for Rumelia in the 19th century, the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire. It had a ge ...
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Alevism
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who is supposed to have taught the teachings of Ali and the Twelve Imams. Differing from Sunnism and other Twelver Shia, Alevis have no binding religious dogmas, and teachings are passed on by a spiritual leader. They acknowledge the six articles of faith of Islam, but may differ regarding their interpretation. Adherents of Alevism are found primarily in Turkey and estimates of the percentage of Turkey's population that are Alevi include between 4% and 15%. Etymology "Alevi" () is generally explained as referring to Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. The name represents a Turkish form of the word ''‘Alawi'' ( ar, علوي) "of or pertaining to Ali". A minority viewpoint is that of the Ishikists, who assert, "Alevi" was de ...
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Ashura
Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the death of Husayn ibn Ali (a grandson of Muhammad), who was beheaded during the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. Among Sunni Muslims, Ashura is observed through celebratory fasting as it marks the day of salvation for Moses and the Israelites, who successfully escaped from Biblical Egypt (where they were enslaved and persecuted) after Moses called upon God's power to part the Red Sea. While Husayn's death is also regarded as a great tragedy by Sunnis, open displays of mourning are either discouraged or outright prohibited, depending on the specific act. In Shia communities, Ashura observances are typically carried out in group processions and are accompanied by a variety of rituals ranging from weeping and shrine pilgrimages to the more con ...
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Baba (honorific)
Baba "father, grandfather, wise old man, sir";Platts, John T. (John Thompson). A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English. London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1884.) is an honorific term, of Persian origin, used in several West Asian and South Asian cultures. It is used as a mark of respect to refer to Hindu and Sikh ascetics (sannyasis) and is used as a suffix or prefix to their names, e.g. Sai Baba, Baba Ramdevji, etc. ''Baba'' is also a title accorded to Alevi and sunni religious leader and the head of certain Sufi orders, as in Baba Bulleh Shah and Rehman Baba. ''Baba'' is also the title used for the Israeli mystical rabbis of the Abuhatzeira family, descendants of Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, originally from Morocco, who was called the Baba Sali and his brother Isaac Abuhatzeira, the Baba Chaki. The term was also adopted in Malaysia as an honorific of respect to address Chinese people born in British Straits Settlement.''Baba'' in ''Baba'' is also the familiar word fo ...
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Albanian National Awakening
The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian people gathered strength to establish an independent cultural and political life as well as the country of Albania. Prior to the rise of nationalism, Albania remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries and the Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of national unity or national conscience by the Albanian people. There is some debate among experts regarding when the Albanian nationalist movement should be considered to have started. Some sources attribute its origins to the revolts against centralisation in the 1830s, others to the publication of the first attempt by Naum Veqilharxhi at a standardized alphabet for Albanian in 1844,Zhelyazkova, Antonina (2000). "Albanian Identities". Sofia: ...
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Naim Frashëri
Naim bey Frashëri, more commonly Naim Frashëri (; ; 25 May 184620 October 1900), was an Albanian historian, journalist, poet, rilindas and translator who was proclaimed as the national poet of Albania. He is regarded as the pioneer of modern Albanian literature and one of the most influential Albanian cultural icons of the 19th century. Naim and his brothers Abdyl and Sami were born and raised in the village of Frashër at the southern slopes of the Tomorr Mountains. He became acquainted with numerous cultures and languages such as Arabic, Ancient and Modern Greek, French, Italian, Ottoman Turkish and Persian. He was one of the few men to whom the literary culture of the Occident and Orient was equally familiar and valuable. Upon the death of his father, he and his family settled to Ioannina where he earned initial inspiration for his future poetries written in the lyric and romantic style. After he suffered a severe lung infection, due to his congenital tuberculosis, ...
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Mother Teresa
Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was born in Skopjeat the time, part of the Ottoman Empire. After eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived most of her life. Saint Teresa of Calcutta; was canonised on 4 September 2016. The anniversary of her death is her feast day. After Mother Teresa founded her religious congregation, it grew to have over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries . The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis. The congregation also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counselling programmes, as well as orphanages and schools. Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and also profess a fourth vow: to give "wholehearted free ser ...
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Communist Albania
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 until 1976 and the Republic of Albania from 1991 until its dissolution in 1992). From 1944 to 1946, the state of Albania was known as the Democratic Government of Albania. During this time period, the country was ruled by Enver Hoxha and the Party of Labour of Albania. They ruled Albania by establishing a Albanian stalinist style of state administration and adhering to policies which stressed national unity and self-reliance. Travel and visa restrictions made Albania one of the most difficult countries to visit or travel from. Former President Ilir Meta called it the "North Korea of Europe" during an interview with Euronews. Being Europe's only Muslim-majority country, it declared itself the world's first ath ...
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Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. Due to its location at the Plain of Tirana and the close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, the city is particularly influenced by a Mediterranean seasonal climate. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year. Tirana was founded as a city in 1614 by the Ottoman Albanian general Sylejman Pasha Bargjini and flourished by then around the Old Mosque and the ''türbe''. The area that today corresponds to the city's territory has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age. It was inhabited by Illyrians, and was most likely the core of the Illyrian Kingdom of the Taulantii, which in Classical Antiquity was centred in the hinterland of Epidamnus. Following the Illyrian Wars it wa ...
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Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Arab world, and the largest in Western Asia and the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. Bahrain is an island country off the east coast. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. Its capital and largest city is Riyadh. The country is home to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam. Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern-day Saudi Ar ...
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