
Bektashi believers celebrate Sultan Nowruz Day today, the birthday of the great Imam Ali at the Kaaba, on which, according to legend, everything is revived, hope and resurrection are born for humanity. It is a new day, when everyone hopes for a better future.
Prime Minister Edi Rama congratulated the Bektashi believers with some views from "the Helvetic tekke, in Berat, among the most beautiful in the Balkans, where tranquility and harmony are faith."
The word "Nevruz" means "New Day" (from Persian) and 'Sultan' is a high title. This day has its origins early. In Albania, it began to be celebrated when Bektashism spread in the 14th century. Sultan Nevruz Day coincides with the birthday of Imam Ali.
For this holiday, our poet Naim Frashëri said: “Today is a new day that repeats the weather, Summer is born, warmth is born, Ali is born, God himself is born”. This day also commemorates the birthday of Imam Ali, which is associated with the resurrection of life and the hope for better days. This day has a special meaning for all believers. It is the day of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, who was the right hand of the Prophet.
Therefore, this holiday, for the Bektashis, represents a significant and blessed day of the year. He was born on March 22 and is one of the greatest saints of all time and the first of the twelve imams. Imam Ali is one of the great imams, endowed with extraordinary knowledge. The Prophet Muhammad says: “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate” or “There is no braver than Ali, there is no other sword like Zulfikar Ali. Whoever loves Ali, has loved me, whoever hates Ali, has hated me”. Therefore, he was rightly called the leader of the Arab believers, the Arab scholars who created a golden age and who gave light to all humanity. He was the man of the struggle for human progress. He used the word beautifully for human sorrow and salvation. He left behind three principles: The scale of thinking, human unity and justice. Therefore, he remained a permanent symbol.
How is Sultan Nevruzi celebrated?
On this holiday, a glass of milk is drunk, which symbolizes the birth of a new day. March 22 is considered a holy day by Bektashi believers. Today, this day, coincides with the 31st anniversary of the reopening of the Bektashi World Patriarchate, an event attended by Mother Teresa.
Preparations for the Sultan Nowruz holiday
On this occasion, the Bektashis cook their characteristic food, which is a pie with 12 different types of herbs (spinach, sorrel, parsley, cabbage leaves, fennel, leek leaves, yams, onions, rice, etc.). The plants of the earth symbolize the new life that blooms in spring and prosperity, and a metal coin is also placed inside the pie. After the pie is baked, the housewife divides it into parts and then gives one part to each of the family members. The one who finds the coin in his part is lucky. He will have a prosperous and prosperous year. It is cooked with chicken or lamb, roasted lamb, sultiash is the characteristic dessert of this day, because it consists of milk, which is a symbol of mother's milk, rice that symbolizes grains, abundance, and sherbet that is taken while singing in the tekke. Also, in some cases, kabuni is also cooked (with rice, meat sauce, sugar, raisins, and nuts).