The Revival of Religion in Albania

A Comparison of Cham, Kosovar and Bosniak Attitudes toward Proselytization and De-Sunnification

Abstract

This paper examines the recent history of religious development in Albania during the post-communist period. Second, it identifies patterns in the differentiated development of material and spiritual religious life among the region’s religions, and the institutional and political reasons behind them. Third, it analyses the positions of Albanian Cham, Albanian Kosovar and Bosniak Sunni communities as they confront the post-communist pressures of proselytisation and de-Sunnification. Through historical and discourse analysis and unstructured interviews with individuals of different religious, ethnic and local affiliation, the paper reveals that religious, ethnic and local feelings are strong among all three communities. Attitudes toward proselytization attempts among Bosniaks, Cham and Kosovar Albanians, however, are more resilient than those of local Sunnis toward de-Sunnification. The weakening of religiosity among local Sunnis is in conjunction with an organised movement to construct a distinct Bektashi identity, although most Bektashis still identify as Muslim.