Baba Rexheb was born as Rexheb Beqiri, on 18 August 1901, into a family with strong Bektashi ties in Gjirokastër, southern Albania, at a time when Albania was still part of the Ottoman Empire. His father, Refat Beqiri, was a local mullah in the old mahale of Dunavat. His mother was from Elbasan in central Albania as was his murshid, his spiritual guide, Selim Baba Elbasani.
Refat’s family had originally migrated to southern Albania from the Kosovar town of Gjakova. A year later, he took an additional vow as a mücerred (celibate) dervish. During the World World War II, Dervish Rexheb followed the guidance of his murshid and went from village to village, telling the people that the communists "Din yok, vatan yok," that is, "They have no religion, they have no homeland." Because of this he was forced to flee in 1944 when the communists under Enver Hoxha came to power.
He spent four years in a displaced persons camps in Italy.
He stayed there for four years until his number for the United States finally came up. There were always many people at the long kitchen table for the main midday meal of the day.
People gathered outside in the garden and many came days early for the holidays. Later he was asked by Baba Qamil of Gjakova in Kosova to translate into Albanian Fuzuli"s "Hadikat-i Su"ada," a classic 16th century work in Ottoman Turkish, parts of which are read aloud at the holiday of Muharrem.
Indeed, he was the only one in the world with the depth of Islamic learning and linguistic skills to do this.
Baba was fluent in Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, modern Turkish, Greek, and Italian. He had passed the tests for the ulemma back in Albania, but more important, he had studied Arabic and Persian texts with Selim Baba Elbasani for twenty years. Baba Rexheb taught in Turkish an American student, Frances Trix, who learned Albanian, for over twenty years.
His prayers were sought by people of all backgrounds.
Baba Rexheb died on August 10, 1995 (Rabi" ul-Awwal 12, 1416 Hijrah). His türbe (mausoleum) is located on the tekke grounds and is open for pilgrims and truth-seekers of all walks.
