Pilgrimage to the tomb of Abbas Ali on the top of Mt. Tomor, Albania
Muslim Pilgrimage in Southeastern Europe
Ethnographic fieldwork in August 2019 | Outcome: 1 public talk and 1 peer-reviewed journal article [forthcoming]
Around 250,000 people make the annual pilgrimage every August to Mt. Tomor (2,400 m), south of the town of Berat in southern Albania. Known as Baba Tomor (Father Tomor), according to central Albanian popular belief the mountain is considered to be divine and to serve as the home of the gods. Local residents today still consider swearing a solemn oath by Father Tomor (“për Baba Tomor”) to be more efficacious than one made on the Bible or the Qurʾan.
Before the socialist period, Christians used to climb Mt. Tomor in honor of the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, while the Bektashi honor the legendary figure Abbas Ali (Alb. Abaz Aliu). Since the 1990s, the pilgrimage has been redefined and the holy mountain mainly associated with Abbas Ali, the mythical son of Ali and step-brother of Hasan and Hüseyin, who was martyred in Kerbala. According to one legend, Abbas Ali – known locally as Abaz Aliu Tomori – came to Albania from Arabia on a white horse to save the country from the barbarians. He then spent five days on Mt. Tomor before departing to Mt. Olympus. Every year the saint is said to return to Mt. Tomor in the second half of August.
During the annual pilgrimage from 20 to 25 August, visitors first pay their respects to the shrine with the hoof print of Abbas Ali’s horse, then proceed to the Kulmak tekke (built 1916) of the Bektashi Order of dervishes, which comprises an extensive place for ritual sacrifices (kurban). Over 5,000 such propitiatory animal sacrifices are said to be made each year during those five days in August. Pilgrims then climb up to the southern peak of Mt. Tomor to pray and light candles at the tomb (Alb. tyrbe) of Abbas Ali (built 1880), said to have been erected on the site of an ancient shrine. Many visitors pitch tents in the vicinity of the tekke to stay for several days, during which they slaughter yet more sheep and perform rituals believed to bring further divine blessings and healing such as marking their foreheads with the sacrificial blood in honor of Abbas Ali.
