Sali Njazi

Salih Nijazi (15 March 187628 November 1941) was Dedebaba of the Bektashians from 1930 until his death in 1941. He was the last Dedebaba of Turkey and the first Dedebaba of Albania.

Biography Early life Salih Nijazi was born on 5 March 1876 in Starja, a village in the Kolonja region of southeastern Albania, which was then in the Ottoman Empire. He and his family emigrated to Istanbul when he was young. He received a Bektashi education at the pir evi of Haji Bektash Veli in Hacıbektaş (Hacıbektaşköy), central Turkey.

Religious leadership In 1897, Salih Nijazi served as a muhib under Fejzi Dede of Maricaj. In 1908, he rose to the rank of baba, and was then sent to serve in Albania. When he returned to the pir evi of Haji Bektash Veli, he was appointed as a gjysh (dede). Salih Nijazi established the World Headquarters of the Bektashi movement in Tirana. Nijazi himself became dedebaba reportedly on 20 March 1930. The construction of the headquarters was finished in 1941 during the Italian occupation of Albania.

In Albania, he introduced major Bektashi ceremonies that were traditionally held at well-known tekkes in places such as Hacıbektaş in central Turkey, Dimetoka (Didymoteicho) in Thrace (Greece), Karbala in Iraq, and also Göztepe, Kadıköy in Istanbul.

Death

On 28 November 1941, Salih Nijazi Dede was murdered by unknown people. His murder remains unsolved, with Albanians claiming that he was murdered by Italian fascists as part of a terror campaign against the Albanian National Liberation Movement, while Italians claimed that he was murdered by brigands (see also World War II in Albania).