Abdyl Aziz Vehbi Dibra Agolli (12 March 186724 March 1937) was an Albanian Islamic scholar and politician. He served as the first grand mufti of the

Muslim Community of Albania The Muslim Community of Albania (KMSH; sq, Komuniteti Mysliman i Shqipërisë) is an independent religious organisation of Muslims in Albania existing since February 24, 1923. The headquarters of the community are located in Tirana and the curre ...

. He was a delegate of Dibër at the

Albanian Declaration of Independence The Albanian Declaration of Independence ( Albanian: ''Deklarata e Pavarësisë'') was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six days later the Assem ...

. He was elected as chairman of the Elderly Assembly, the precursor to what is today the Parliament of Albania and the first Grand Mufti of the

from 1920 to 1929. Vehbi Dibra will also be remembered as the main organizer of the Congress of Dibra.

Life

Vehbi Agolli was born in the city of Dibra on 12 March 1867 to Ahmet

Effendi Effendi or effendy ( tr, efendi ; ota, افندی, efendi; originally from grc-x-medieval, αφέντης ) is a title of nobility meaning ''sir'', ''lord'' or ''master'', especially in the Ottoman Empire and the Caucasus''.'' The title it ...

Agolli, mufti of Upper Debre. He studied Islamic theology, law and philosophy and was appointed mufti of Dibër. In 1909, he was elected chairman of the Congress of Dibër, a precursor assembly of the Albanian Revolt of 1910. In November 1912, he participated as a delegate of Dibër in the

Assembly of Vlorë The Assembly of Vlorë ( sq, Kuvendi i Vlorës) was an Albanian assembly constituted during the All-Albanian Congress in Vlorë, on November 28, 1912. Background The All-Albanian Congress or ''Albanian National Congress'' or ''Albanian Ind ...

, in which the independence of Albania was declared and a national congress was formed. The deputies of the national congress also elected eighteen delegates of the assembly to form the Albanian Senate, of which Vehbi Dibra was the first chairman. In order to favourably influence the part of the Sunni community that based its view towards the declaration of independence of Albania on the clergy, he presented a fatwā and saluted the declaration as ''God's gift''. A member of the reformist faction of the Sunni community of Albania, in 1920 he was elected to head it as Grand Mufti. During his tenure which lasted until 1929, the

waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...

properties were documented and registered, the administration was centralized and the religious services reached normalization. Dibra also began the publication of the weekly journal ''Zani i Naltë'' and introduced the use of Albanian in religious ceremonies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibra, Vehbi 19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians Grand Muftis of Albania Signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence 1867 births 1937 deaths Albanian publishers (people) People from Debar People from Scutari vilayet People from Manastir vilayet All-Albanian Congress delegates Congress of Dibër delegates