| Arabati Baba Tekke | |
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Location | Tetovo, Macedonia |
| Affiliation | Bektashi |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Harabati Baba |
| Architectural type | Tekke |
| Architectural style | Ottoman architecture |
| Completed | 1538 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stones & Kalkan |
The Arabati Baba Teḱe is a tekke located in Tetovo, Republic of Macedonia. The tekke was originally built in 1538 around the türbe of Sersem Ali Baba, an Ottoman dervish.[1] In 1799, a waqf provided by Rexhep Pasha established the current grounds of the tekke.[2]
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According to legend,[3] 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 türbe 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.[4]
In September 2010, it was announced that part of a €53,000 grant by the US government for restoring and conserving landmarks all over Macedonia would go to the Arabati Baba Teḱe.[5]
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.[6] 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.[6]
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.[7]