Nuredin Rexhep Voka (1847 - 1917) was an Albanian

alim Alim (''ʿAlīm'' , also anglicized as ''Aleem'') is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "''All-knowing one''". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "''Servant of the All-Knowing''": Given name * Alim ad-Din A ...

mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

, writer and a prominent activist of the

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 ...

Biography

Rexhep Voka was born in 1847 in the village of Şipkovica,

Tetovo Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...

. In 1868, Voka undertook religious studies in Istanbul where he worked as a professor after completing his education. Voka returned to Kalkandelen in 1895 where he became involved in the Albanian National Renaissance. In 1903, Voka was appointed

Mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

of the Manastir Vilayet and founded the first Albanian theological college in Üsküb (today

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

).Rexhep Voka
/ref> In Monastir, before the Young Turk revolution, Voka started learning Albanian in Latin characters from Albanian Protestant missionaries. In 1905, Voka attended the Pan-Albanian Congress organized in Bucharest. Headed by

Albert Ghica Albert Ghica was a Romanian writer and socialite. He was a member of the Ghica noble family. Later in life he changed his name to the Albanian form ''Gjika'', for more credentials in his quest for the Albanian throne.Paul Cernovodeanu et al., ''El ...

, attended by

Ismail Qemali Ismail Qemal bey Vlora, mostly known as Ismail Qemali (; 16 January 184426 January 1919), was an Albanian diplomat, politician, rilindas, statesman and the Founding Father of modern Albania, and one of the most famous Southern Albanian person. Th ...

and deliberated with Bucharest's Albanian community, the congress discussed the Albanian issue. Rexhep Voka was a member of ''Bashkimi'' (Unity) at the time of the Young Turk revolution. He printed an Albanian alphabet in Arabic script comprising forty-four letters, called

Elifbaja shqip The Elifba alphabet ( sq, Elifbaja, from ota, الفبا, Elifbâ) was the main writing system for the Albanian language during the time of the Ottoman Empire from 14th century to 1911. This Albanian variant of the Abjad Ottoman was used to writ ...

. Tiranli Fazli then used this script to publish a thirty-two page grammar. Only one Albanian newspaper at the time ever appeared in Arabic script, and it lasted a brief period. Regardless of what script appeared, such material raised Albanian national consciousness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voka, Rexhep People from Tetovo Municipality People from Kosovo vilayet Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Albanians in North Macedonia