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• History
of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet
Union, Communist influence
• Map
of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism
in Europe (1922-75)
• History
of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions
& ethnic groups in Russia
--MORE &
NON-ENGLISH--

• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional costumes/dress
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth
--MORE
& NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin
vs. Spain & El Cid
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Mussolini vs. Libyan Islamic fighters
• Qadafi: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars
--MORE
& NON-ENGLISH--

• Inside Albania, Europe's only Muslim culture (with rare pictures)
• History of Jihad in Chechnya & Caucasus vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Russia
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• History of Italy: from Roman rule to Germanic barbarian
• The cost & bloodshed of the Serb-Albanian conflict in Kosovo
• Inside Bulgaria, 1st Slavic nation, land of Thracian masters of gold
• Visual history of Yugoslavia
• Inside Muslim Turkey: right for the European Union?
--MORE
& NON-ENGLISH-- |
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A rare inside look
at Albania, Europe's only Muslim culture
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
Print
this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
This is a rare article on
the current cultural, ethnic, historical, religious, social,
and linguistic dimensions of Albania, Europe's sole Muslim
culture, complete with photos, from my rare 2007 vacation.
It is among the most politically and historically isolated
cultures on earth, and its people have acted as a major source
of conflict with surrounding Slavic nations. The article also
investigates the role of Islam in Europe, complete with history.
Albania -- Shqiperia


English name: Albania
Local name: Shqiperia (Sh-keep-aeria)
Population: 3,600,523
Religion: officially Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman
Catholic 10%
Language: Albanian (Shqip) with Greek and Italian commercial
resident minority
Ethnic groups: officially Albanian 95%, Greek 3%, other 2%
(Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Serb, Bulgarian)
Note that "Albanian" depicts the native nationals,
and not a homogeneous ethnicity
Average fertility/woman: 2.03 per woman
Migration rate: -4.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population [Albanians
are leaving]
Per capita average income: $5,700
Unemployment: officially 13.8%; in reality, employment problems
may exceed 60%
Population below poverty line: officially 25%; in reality,
well over 60%
Extant populations elsewhere of Albanians: Italy, Greece,
Macedonia, USA
Source: CIA World Factbook
Albania is one of the two poorest nations in Europe, second
only to Moldova, and is akin to walking through a surly slum
in Central America or even Africa outside of the capital of
Tiranë. Experiencing Albania inclines one to believe that
this small coastal hill country was a brutal warzone, despite
the fact that Albania has felt some of the least amounts of
violence of the 20th century due to its forced isolation.
It is also the sole Islamic culture of Europe, although Bosnia-Herzegovina
bears a roughly 40% Muslim Bosniak population. Azerbaijan
and Kazakhstan are sometimes considered part of Europe (both
Muslim countries), though they are both Asian and not European
in terms of geography, culture, languages, etc. There are
only two nations with a Muslim majority in Europe -- Albania
and the disputed Kosovo nation -- and both are populated by
the Albanian Muslim culture. It emerged from nearly five decades
of autarkic communist dictatorial rule under Enver Hoxha (Hod-ja)
into a struggling and corrupt democratic state by 1992. This
drastic transition of this relatively young geographically-European
nation is apparent in its depressing and deep poverty. It
and its ethnic group (Albanians) are seemingly hated all across
Europe as backward criminals who settle in other nations to
receive their social benefits. Their identity as Muslims also
fuels this clash, as Albania was the only state of Europe
to fully submit to the Jihad of the Turks during 400 years
of foreign rule (not including the thousands outside who were
forced to do so). Tourism to Albania is thus brand new --
our cruise was among the first to travel there commercially.
We landed at Sarandë, a growing coastal "resort city"
among Albania's largest.

Enver Hoxha, the communist dictator who ruled Albania for
decades
Upon arrival, the city is
relatively innocuous and plain. The backdrop is filled with
hills and relatively arid grounds. Fishermen adorn the coastline.
All buildings appear the same hue of tan or beige, mostly
two-storied with a great deal of construction all throughout
the city on the coast. No massive flagpole standards, no huge
cathedrals or churches. Only a relatively tall mosque with
a very plain blue-and-white minaret in the center of town.
This was the first mosque I had seen. But instead of hearing
the call to prayer throughout the day, church bells greeted
the coming ship. Was this secular, or an attempt to welcome
the majority-Christian/European visitors? The city has no
harbor, but rather a small dock to which the ship's passengers
were ferried via tender. Inside the city, it is apparent that
this country is in a depressing mess. A good 90% of buildings
are under "construction". By no means does this
imply that Albania is undergoing expansive growth; rather,
the buildings are half-finished, most with holes in the walls
or no doors or roofs at all. The buildings dispose of their
trash around their homes, a house can be entered by nearly
anyone due to the lack of doors or walls, and atop each first
story of a home is another layer of the building with only
the foundations. The reason for this is that other than their
horrific poverty, most Albanians have no work opportunity
in their own economy, so they build a portion of their home,
then emigrate to a wealthier European nation like Italy or
Greece (where they are hated almost universally, and generally
do little work there either) to expand their homes. This takes
many phases, so homes are constructed over long-term periods.
Nearly every home has a scarecrow made of a doll or other
toy out of both fun and to keep the birds from their homes;
the tactic fails. Albania is almost universally dependent
upon foreign labor elsewhere, subsistence agriculture, and
the desperate hope for growing tourism.

the city from above.

another photo of mine of the houses against the backdrop of
the lush valley.

a dilapidated housing tract.

a bored Albanian man near a broken-down house.

a traditional Albanian home.
Though Albania herself has
little history as a nation, it takes pride in other ancient
monuments of other cultures. The region of Albania's (or Illyria
to the Romans) history by majority consists of a number of
warring tribes (the Tosks and Ghegs primarily) warring against
local authorities like the Serbs, Bulgarians, and Byzantines,
until unifying as a Christian state under the warrior hero
Gjergj Skanderbeg to fight against the coming
Turkish Islamic Jihad. Albanian history emerged under this
period, when Skanderbeg reverted from Islam back to his Christian
heritage to rally his people against the Muslims. They ultimately
failed, and were ruled by the armies of Islam for some 400
years until being liberated by their Balkan Christian Slavic
neighbors (Bulgaria and Serbia dispute the successor). Albanians
believe themselves to descend from an ancient golden civilization
from the Roman period, the Illyrians and Epirs, though much
of this is nationalism with no or little evidence. But Albania
is ripe with foreign ancient monuments, including an ancient
Jewish synagogue built near the 3rd century before being obliterated
and burnt by the pre-Orthodox Slavic invaders from the 5th
century onward. Today, it is merely a series of ruins in a
deep sandy bed within 50 meters of the city's mosque. Near
the city's hinterlands, there are dozens and dozens of Roman
and Greek ruins, from a Christian baptistery to ancient pre-Christian
temples. The many churches of Albania were all burnt by the
Muslim Turks upon invasion to ensure the triumph of Islam.
Future Christian churches were all leveled by the Communists
in the so-called "first truly atheist state" of
Hoxha.

the town center over the destroyed synagogue from the Roman
period.

Skanderbeg, Albania's Christian defender against the Jihad

one of Albania's few churches after the Turkish Jihad and
Communist periods.
The influence of the Turkish
Muslims is blatant after nearly four centuries of foreign
conquest, making "Albanian" culture very conflicting
and marred in its identity. Is an Albanian to be proud of
his bizarre and exclusive language and proud defense against
the Jihad under Skanderbeg, or is one to be proud of an ethnic
group whose culture is a blend of Communist rebellion, Islam,
isolation, and desperate subsistence for the family? Is an
Albanian a white European Christian like every other nation
of Europe, or is he a unique vanguard of Islam in a continent
that rejects it? Firstly, subtle elements are present that
are borrowed from the Islamic rulers. Albanians generally
shake the head vertically to signify "no", and horizontally
to signify "yes". In Europe and North America, the
head is nodded to affirm, and shaken left to right to reject.
The Albanian method is present in both Turkey and, in part,
in Bulgaria, which also felt the brutality of the Islamic
Jihad. Albanian Muslim is so Islamic- and Turkish-influenced
it is even difficult to distinguish between the two. Zitars,
drums, chants, and the familiar throat-bellowing of women
can be heard in many songs. Albania, however, is easily the
most liberal of Islamic peoples. The veil is seldom worn due
to their distancing from Turkey as well as their history of
atheistic Communist rule. However, many older women can be
seen in the streets with full veils and, occasionally, a full
Afghani/Taliban-style blue burqa. Men do not dress conservatively,
and the younger Albanians tend to dress promiscuously even.
Islam bears quite a nominal rule after the Communist period,
as the call to prayer that greeted the city at noon during
our visit had virtually no reaction from the locals. But upon
carefully gazing into a mosque, I could see that the mosque
was full, with some 30 pairs of shoes outside the door. The
inhabitants by majority appeared of Turkish race rather than
Slavic or "Illyric". Albania's ethnic distribution,
officially cited as being homogeneously Albanian, is actually
quite diverse as I came to find obvious. Their ethnic heritage
is a source of debate as per whether they are Slavic, Greek,
Turkic, Thracian, or a mix thereof. They are probably Slavic
since the Slavic migration period, having developed a separate
language and culture due to isolation and the Turkish Jihad's
affect on the local population. Their culture is a syncretism
of the native Slavic tribes Tosk and Gheg, blended with the
Turkish conquest as well as early Greek influences. Virtually
most of Albanians have Turkish, Arab, or "Muslim"
names, including Muhammad, Ali, Rashid, and Mustafa. The toilets
are sunken into the ground for squatting of both man and woman,
as common in older Turkey. Though in post-war academia the
Albanians are cited as being entirely a unique race of no
common link, they are probably a Slavic ethnic group with
a bizarre and unique language that developed out of isolation
and foreign influence. Without common links to the local Byzantines,
Bulgarians, Serbs, Germans, or other Slavs so far away, it
is logical that these various tribes of the mountains and
hills of Albania developed an isolate group from a common
Slavic racial origin. This uniqueness of culture and heritage
(not ethnicity) is a source of extreme pride and nationalism
for Albanians then and now. One source of racism used by Europeans
of Albanians is their alleged liberal sexuality, whether logical
or not.

an Afghani or fundamentalist full-body burqa

the town's sole notable mosque. Sunni and quite plain.
Further inspection of Albania
made it clear that Albania is a total mess. The roads are
unpaved dirt. Dust pounds against cars and visitors' pants.
Ledges to deep pits are not cordoned off at all; at night,
one could easily slip off a uniform ledge to fractures or
even death with only the prestigious Albanian doctors to trust.
Trash and sewers are dumped into the streets. Potholes in
the street are covered in dirt and plastic wrap. It is virtual
feudalism. Pickpockets and thieves are everywhere. Local children
rob visitors, many ordered by their own families to do so.
Gypsies and Turks perform the same. The locals are very simply
clothed with white tank-tops, sandals, some torn clothes,
some no shirts at all. Women wear high heels and short tops.
The older women wear headscarves. Men are seldom shaven, which
may simply be a relic of Turkish Muslim rule instead of uncleanliness.
Virtually every building is abandoned it seems. Ancient sites
even crucial to Albanian heritage (like that of Turkish Muslim
rule or the defense against the Jihad) were demolished for
quarry for the desperately poor citizens. Mats are laid in
the middle of the street with old fruits, clothes, and wares
to be sold; Albania's economy seems largely informal. Geos,
Fiats, Yugos, and Renaults seem to be all that are available
or purchased here, each some 20 years old, each with paint
peeling or scratches all over the vehicles. At the same time,
Audis and Mercedes roll through the city with "I",
"DE", and "GR" proudly adhered to their
rears. These are the work force and entrepreneurial business
owners of Albania -- the Italian, Germans, and Greek minority.
They own nearly all of the businesses and have virtually all
of the wealth. The Albanians recognize this, which is a source
of mutual racism and social conflict. Grafitti in the city
often reads "F*ck Italia" or other terms rejecting
Greece, Germany, the EU, or Russia, all of which are aiding
their sluggish economy that the Albanians consider imperialists
instead. There is little grafitti however, thus rejecting
the notion that men who have little to do resort to bad behavior.
This can also be because of the lack of television and connection
to American street culture during the isolationist Communist
period. Almost no English is spoken. Greek is spoken commonly
to interface with the business and bank owners. The Leke,
the currency of Albania, is virtually worthless, and is adorned
with some of Albania's newer statesmen.

the Albanian sunken toilet, Turkish-inspired.

dilapidated Albanian housing.

The Albanian Leke
Outside of the city proper,
however, Albania is quite beautiful and unique. The hills
and mountains are covered in yellow grain fields and subsistence
crops. Military bunkers and pillboxes cover virtually every
few meters of the distance. During the period of Hoxha's leadership,
thousands and thousands of small "family" pillboxes
were built in order to rally military defense against perceived
invaders, theoretically the Jugoslav state of Jozip Broz Tito
after World War II. The pillboxes oddly do not face the coastal
approach; they point inland towards the other Balkan states
of the Jugoslav federation. Nearly one pillbox was built per
square mile. During the late 1990s, most pillboxes were covered
in spraypaint and other mediums to promote "art"
by local artists, but ends up looking like a few orange marks
on the concrete. Cows, sheep, donkeys, and goats walk through
the street with right-of-way to the next farm crop along the
dirt roads. Some 30 minutes outside the city up a long mountain
road, the beauty of Albania is fully present. The world-renowned
"Blue Eye" pool is reached via a winding dirt road
for full-size bus tours who virtually drive over the edge
due to the lack of security. The main attraction in Albania,
the Blue Eye, is in the middle of a lovely and bizarre forest
with hollowed trees and tall grasses and bushes. A flowing
river (to which waste and sewage are freely disposed) meets
its source deep within the earth in a bright-blue glowing
water hole. A deep and cool water source is so rich in minerals
that it is virtually iridescent, and has such a powerful current
that any size rock thrown into the source will return to the
surface. A diving attempt was foiled because the divers could
not reach the bottom. After the experience, a strong and huge
local beer (Kaon) can be enjoyed along with traditional Islamic
Albanian music at a bar. Albania has its share of beautiful
sights.

an Albanian "family" pillbox bunker.

the beautiful Blue Eye spring.
The role of criminals, pickpockets,
or terrorists is a frightening and bizarre one many visitors
experience. Not only do children and adults alike rob many
of the visitors, but many young men seem to drive around together
in cars staring at parts of the city or at the tourists. Cars
filled with 3-5 men all staring in one direction -- often
not at the locals even, confused many of the ship's passengers
as to their intentions. After about 10 minutes, the many cars
returned again to perform the same act. Many interpreted this
behavior as a search for lone visitors to rob or even rape,
whilst others (also disturbed by the sighting of full Taliban-esque
burqas in the city nearby) were struck by fear of terrorism
plots against them, the ship, the buses, or even local Albanian
buildings. This made everyone a bit uncomfortable, as ethnic
Albanians are a source of the majority of crime by proportion
wherever they tend to settle, including Greece, Macedonia,
and Serbia (as far as it is often interpreted). They are also
a source of global Islamic terrorism, as was one of the reasons
for Jugoslavija's massacre of ethnic Albanian Islamic rebels
who fought against the government and civilian Slavic Christians
for independence, which led to the US-NATO destruction of
the Yugoslav state and the support for the same Albanian Kosovo
that is viewed by the locals as terrorists. It must be acknowledged
that most Albanians, because of the role of Hoxha's communism,
are quite secular, and the argument can be made that the image
many Europeans have of Albanians as petty thieves can be blamed
upon their dire poverty (nearly the worst in Europe).

clothes hanging to dry atop a broken and ruined home.
Despite today's portrayal
by the liberal West of Communist dictator Enver Hoxha as a
brutal and corrupt dictator, he is still mythified as a heroic
figure in Albanian culture who unified the Albanians so ripe
to foreign rule (including that of Stalin's USSR, Tito's Jugoslavija,
Hitler's Germany, Axis Horthy's Hungary, or Axis Antonescu's
Romania) into an upright united state with food in every mouth
and on every table, all defended by a well-defended nation
built collectively by the people. His regime today is disliked
for its placement of power in the hands of few, but is praised
for its power of a state which historically had almost no
importance in European history ever. Equally so, the success
of Communism on poverty and starvation problems (or success
by their interpretation that is) encourages the desperately
poor Albanians to appeal to the left. Albanians' greatest
cultural hero, Skanderbeg, who unified Albanian tribes in
war against Islam's Jihad, is mythified in the same fashion
as the founder of Albania's proud statehood.
It was fascinating to experience
such a unique and wickedly poor part of the world, as well
as to investigate the strange language and ethnic origins
of a people caught between their European Christian heritage
and the wake of the mighty Jihad of the Ottomans. Today, Muslim
Albania, whose people are such a source of conflict with the
local European states, is already approaching membership in
the EU. It is popularly deemed a drain on Europe that will
open the gates to more Albanian immigrants.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is the owner
and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working
for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic
and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures,
ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical
evolution in relation to and against each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
None used for this article
(personal experience).
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