Abdyl Aziz Vehbi Dibra Agolli (12 March 186724 March 1937) was an Albanian Islamic scholar and politician. He served as the first

grand mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

of the

Muslim Community of Albania The Muslim Community of Albania (KMSH; ) is an independent religious organisation of Muslims in Albania existing since February 24, 1923. The headquarters of the community are located in Tirana and the current Grand Mufti () is Bujar Spahiu. H ...

. He was a delegate of Dibër at the

Albanian Declaration of Independence The Albanian Declaration of Independence (Albanian language, Albanian: ''Deklarata e Pavarësisë'') was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six da ...

. He was elected as chairman of the Elderly Assembly, the precursor to what is today the

Parliament of Albania The Parliament of Albania () or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the b ...

and the first

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

of the

from 1920 to 1929. Vehbi Dibra will also be remembered as the main organizer of the

Congress of Dibra A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

Life

Vehbi Agolli was born in the city of Dibra on 12 March 1867 to Ahmet

Effendi Effendi or effendy ( ; ; originally from ) is a title of nobility meaning '' sir'', ''lord'' or '' master'', especially in the Ottoman Empire and the Caucasus''.'' The title itself and its other forms are originally derived from Medieval Gree ...

Agolli, mufti of Upper Debre. He studied Islamic theology, law and philosophy and was appointed

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

of Dibër. In 1909, he was elected chairman of the Congress of Dibër, a precursor assembly of the Albanian Revolt of 1910. In November 1912, he participated as a delegate of Dibër in the

Assembly of Vlorë The Assembly of Vlorë () was an Albanian assembly constituted during the All-Albanian Congress in Vlorë, on November 28, 1912. Background The All-Albanian Congress or ''Albanian National Congress'' or ''Albanian Independence Congress'' w ...

, in which the independence of Albania was declared and a national congress was formed. The deputies of the national congress also elected eighteen delegates of the assembly to form the Albanian Senate, of which Vehbi Dibra was the first chairman. In order to favourably influence the part of the Sunni community that based its view towards the declaration of independence of Albania on the clergy, he presented a

fatwā A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a '' mufti'' ...

and saluted the declaration as ''God's gift''. A member of the reformist faction of the Sunni community of Albania, in 1920 he was elected to head it as

. During his tenure which lasted until 1929, the

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

properties were documented and registered, the administration was centralized and the religious services reached normalization. Dibra also began the publication of the weekly journal ''Zani i Naltë'' and introduced the use of Albanian in religious ceremonies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibra, Vehbi 19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians Grand Muftis of Albania Signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence 1867 births 1937 deaths Albanian publishers (people) People from Debar People from Scutari vilayet People from Manastir vilayet All-Albanian Congress delegates Congress of Dibër delegates