In a large family in the “Rus I Vogël” neighborhood of Shkodra, was born Hafiz Ymer Bakalli, a senior Muslim cleric and teacher. He completed his primary education at the Ruzhdije school, in Fushë Çelë. He started religious high school in Istanbul in 1889. After finishing it, he enrolled in the theology faculty, graduating in 1903. There he also received the title “Hafiz”. After that, he completed the Faculty of Philosophy, Logic and Psychology at the University of Istanbul. He was employed in Istanbul, where the press described him as one of the most excellent interpreters of Islamic legislation. In 1918, he returned to Shkodër. After returning, he became active in the civic and political life. This activity peaked with his participation in the ranks of the forces for the defense of Shkodra from the Montenegrins and in the mobilization of citizens in the war of Koplik (1920). After the failure of this movement, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, but with the intervention of the religious and civil authorities under the government of Ahmet Zogu, he was released. Active as always, until 1929, he devoted himself entirely to the Islamic call as a teacher of the Madrasah in Shkodër. Later, he was appointed a preacher in the mosque of “Rus i Vogël” and imam in the mosque of Fushë Çela. During the years of the Second World War, he ordered his believers and fellow citizens to beware of communism. In 1951, he was arrested and exiled to Tepelena. But since he was 81 years old, sick and completely harmless, he was released after a while. He passed away on May 2, 1953. (In the photo: Hafiz Ymer Bakalli)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. I , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2012, page 144.
Photo: © http://myftinia-shkoder.org/
Graphic processing: AHCF
