Three decades of religious revival
with Ekrem Avdiu, Bekir Halimi & Justinian Topulli
Summary
In this special Prishtina Talks event, three hoxhas with long experience of the Islamic movement in the Albanian lands — Ekrem Avdiu, Bekir Halimi and Justinian Topulli — look back on three decades of effort towards improvement and religious revival.
The evening opens with a presentation by the organisers, JAP, on their mission and their projects. Each speaker brings a perspective of his own: hoxhë Ekrem Avdiu offers concrete memories of his beginning as an imam in 1988 and sets the state of things then against the state of things now; hoxhë Bekir Halimi makes a self-critical reflection on the internal mistakes that have weakened dawah and on the danger of the “one-man show”; while hoxhë Justinian Topulli analyses from a sociological angle why the expectations of the secularists were never met, and why a religious revival happened among Albanians. An honest conversation that ties memory to analysis, mistakes to lessons, and the past to the challenges of today.
Some of the points covered: 📌 Introducing JAP, and the mission of the organisation 📌 Memories of 1988: the first sermon, and Kosovo 35 years ago 📌 Faith as a trust laid on everyone, not only on the hoxhas 📌 Personal gain, and division between congregations 📌 Why the secularist thesis failed and religion revived 📌 The family as the keeper of identity under communism 📌 Large institutions against small, flexible groups 📌 “Walk slower, but walk surer” — unity over haste 📌 A question session and discussion with all three speakers
📍 Prishtina Talks
▶️ Hoxhë Ekrem Avdiu's part: https://youtu.be/okB6588aic0 ▶️ Hoxhë Bekir Halimi's part: https://youtu.be/T6DfA29KMsU ▶️ Hoxhë Justinian Topulli's part: https://youtu.be/3zfP48imyKY
⏱️ CHAPTERS