Hajji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

Hafiz Sherif Ahmeti ( Guvno Selo,

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, 1920 – April 14, 1998) was a teacher,

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, and commentator and translator of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

into

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

Early life

He was born in 1920 in Guvno Selo ( sq, Gunmasellë), the son of Bahtir and Aisha. His family came as Muhaxhirs from Toplica in the

Sanjak of Niš The Sanjak of Niš ( Turkish: Niş Sancağı; Serbian: Нишки санџак, romanized: ''Niški Sandžak''; Albanian: Sanxhaku i Nishit; Bulgarian: Нишки санджак, romanized: ''Nishki sandzhak'') was one of the sanjaks of the Ott ...

. He attended

kuttab A kuttab ( ar, كُتَّاب ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab ( ar, مَكْتَب) is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, ...

with Mullah Aziz in the village of Bandulić ( sq, Banulla) and then with Ahmet Gremja in

Ferizaj Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District. Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by t ...

, where he studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

or ''sarf''. He continued his language studies at the madrasa in

Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...

, where he learned its syntax (''auam''), and later one in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, from whence he graduated in May 1944 with his spiritual diploma ( sq, ixhazetnamenë) from Ahmet Mardoqi. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he helped open an Albanian-language school in

Lipjan Lipjan ( sq-definite, Lipjani) or Lipljan ( sr-Cyrl, Липљан) is a town and municipality located in the Pristina District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Lipjan has 6,870 inhabitants, while the municipality has 57,605 i ...

, Kosovo, and he was appointed teacher in the primary school in Bandulić on December 19, 1949. In 1950, he attended a teacher training course in

Peja Peja ( Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mount ...

, earning a post as director of an elementary school in Sllovi where he served until 1955. In 1956, he left the school to become imam of the mosque in Glogovce near Lipjan, soon becoming president of the local Islamic community. In 1965, he became a teacher at Alauddin Madrasa, a secondary institution in Pristina.

Later life and work

Like many other Kosovar intellectuals of his era, Ahmeti worked under difficult conditions to promote linguistic and faith traditions that were intertwined, both in his promotion of them and in their persecution by the government under which he labored. From 1970 to 1984, he was principal of Alauddin Madrasa, but in 1985 he 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 Pristina, a post he held until his retirement at the age of 70 in 1990. Since the opening of the Department of Theology at the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the K ...

, he has also been teaching

aqidah ''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology. ''Aqidah'' go beyond concise state ...

there. He also published prolifically. From 1968 to 1983, he was the editor-in-chief of the religious magazine, ''Buletini'', later renamed ''Edukatës Islame''. Ahmeti is also a noted translator. In 1987, after having already published an Albanian translation of the

surah A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

Ya-Sin Yā SīnGeorge Sale translates Y. S. (also Yaseen; ar, يٰسٓ, ; the letters 'Yodh#Arabic yāʼ, Yāʼ' and 'Shin (letter)#Arabic šīn/sīn, Sīn') is the 36th sūrah, chapter of the Quran (''sūrah''). It has 83 verses (''āyāt''). It is ...

, he published a complete Albanian Quran with commentary of which 50,000 copies were printed in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, 30,000 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, and a million in

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

. Ahmeti also wrote ''Komente dhe mendime islame'' (“Islamic Comments and Thoughts”), a 400-page volume published in Pristina in 1995 that served to reintroduce the tenets of the faith to a local audience using scholarship partially suppressed during the years of state-backed atheism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmeti, Sherif Albanian imams 1920 births 1998 deaths Translators of the Quran into Albanian