Tahir Efendi Gjakova (1770–1850 or 1835), also known as Tahir Efendi Boshnjaku or The Great Efendi (), was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

religious leader Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the Yakova region in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, as well as one of the most known Albanian

bejtexhi A bejtexhi (, , a compound of Arabic ] and

rom Turkish , occupational suffix Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...

plural: bejtexhinj ) was a popular bard of the Muslim tradition in Ottoman Albania. The genre of literature created by bejtexhinj in the 18th century prevailed in d ...

nj. He lived and served as a clergyman in Yakova. The best known work from him, ''Emni Vehbije'' (The Offering) was published with

Arabic alphabet The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicase, unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1835. A reprint of it with

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

was done in 1907 in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

.Tahir Efendi Gjakova (in Albanian), 06 June 2014

Life

Tahir Efendi is also referred as Tahir Efendi Boshnjaku (the

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

) because of his birthplace, the village of Lukare near

Yeni Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inhabitants. The city is the c ...

, back then part of the

Sanjak of Novi Pazar The Sanjak of Novi Pazar (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Novopazarski sandžak, Новопазарски санџак; ) was an Ottoman sanjak (second-level administrative unit) that was created in 1865. It was reorganized in 1880 and 1902. The Ottoman rule ...

of the

Bosnia Eyalet The Eyalet of Bosnia (; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; ), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, Sandzak region (modern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

). He was a scion of the Saraçi clan, part of the Kastrati tribe. He is also known as the Great Efendi because he was the first

müderris Müderris is a term that described the religious scholar, professor or faculty member in Seljuk Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire.Cambridge University Press, History of Turkey Vol. 3, The Later Ottoman Empire 1603-1839 (2006), s.216 In Arabic, the ...

of the Small

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

of Gjakova, located in the "Mahmud Pasha" neighbourhood. He started the position right after finishing his studies in

in 1807. He also served as

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

, poet, missionary, and educator.
Tahir Efendi was also a

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

of the Bayramiye (

: Bajramije) order of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Poetry

His most known poetic work ''Emni Vehbije'', written in Northwestern

Gheg Albanian Gheg or Geg (Gheg Albanian: ''gegnisht'', Standard ) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Alba ...

. It contains advises and reminders in the context of the Islamic moral laws. It was finished and published initially in 1835 in Istanbul. Seventy-two years later (1907), it was published with the

, adapted by müderris Ismail Haxhi Tahir Gjakova. It was publisher by the "Bashkimi" society and printed in the "Mbrothësia" publishing house of the Albanian activist Kristo Luarasi. Tahir Efendi wrote poetry also in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

.
He prefaced his verses with Arabic meters: a form of ''Raml'' (''Failatun, failatun, failat''), followed by the ''

basmala The (; also known by its opening words ; , "In the name of God in Islam, God") is the titular name of the Islamic phrase “In the name of God in Islam, God, Rahman (name), the Most Gracious, Rahim, the Most Merciful” (, ). It is one of ...

'', '' hamdala'', and the "Praise of the Prophet" (''Peygamber''). A lot of citations from the

Quranic The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

verses and the Prophet's ''

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

'' are invoked as well, providing various effects. A number of his works are lost, while some of the Arabic or Persian verses are discovered in the late decades. One recently found work of his is ''Hyda Rabbem'' (God is my Lord), written in lyrics, in

Ottoman language Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. Ot ...

and it dates to 1832. It is kept only in three copies, two of which were copied by Bajram Jusuf Doli, whereas one by Muhamed Tahir Jaka, also from Gjakova. Also of particular interest is the Gjakovar dialect of the

Gheg Gheg or Geg (Gheg Albanian: ''gegnisht'', Standard ) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Alba ...

Albanian language he used.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Efendi Jakova, Tahir 18th-century Albanian people 19th-century Albanian people Albanian Sufis Albanian-language poets Turkish-language poets 19th-century Persian-language poets Albanian Arabic-language poets 1770 births 1850 deaths People from Novi Pazar People from Gjakova Albanian religious leaders Albanian imams Kosovo Albanians Bayramiye order Divan poets from the Ottoman Empire Albanians in Serbia 18th-century Albanian poets 19th-century Albanian poets Bejtexhinj