Ibrahim Dalliu (1878 – 25 May 1952) was an Albanian Islamic scholar, educationist and writer. [1] [2] He is remembered as one of the best mufassirs in Albania.
Ibrahim Dalliu was born in
Tirana in 1878, in a middle class
Muslim family, son of Mustafa Dalliu. He had two brothers, Hysni and Ali, both bearing titles
hafiz and
hadji. Ibrahim was an early childhood friend of Seremedin and
Murat Toptani, with whom he kept close ties for the rest of hist life.
[3] He studied
theology in
Istanbul. There he came in contact with the activists of the
Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights. He returned to Tirana where he started working as a teacher in 1901. At the same time he was a member of the local branch of the Bashkimi (Unity) Club, one of the many of that time throughout all Albanian populated areas. He participated in the
Congress of Elbasan, during 2–9 September 1909, as part of the Tirana delegation.
[3] One of the Congress's main achievement was the establishment of the
Normal School of Elbasan which would prepare teachers for supporting the spread of
Albanian education. He was imprisoned by the
Ottoman authorities during 1909-1911 due to his nationalist activity.
[1] On 26 November 1912, Dalliu was an active participant in the ceremony of raising the Albanian flag in Tirana, 2 days before the
National Declaration of Independence. At the same time he drafted a letter-protest which was sent to the
Serbian army approaching from the north.
[3]
From April 25 to May 3, 1921, he took part in the Congress for National Unity in
Vlora, together with Musa Maçi as representatives of the society "Lidhja Kombëtare" (National League),
Qazim Mulleti of Tirana's society "Vllaznia-Zgjimi" (Brotherhood - Awakening), and
Avni Rustemi for the society "Bashkimi" (Union). During the
interbellum period, Dalliu focused on teaching, writing, and translation. He is remembered in Albanian as one of the few high rank clerics who were devoted to the national cause as well as to religion. He taught for many years at the
Madrasa of Tirana and wrote many work and studies on
Islam. He also wrote
satirical poetry,
[4] and published the newspaper Dajti (
Dajt).
[5]
He was part of the
National Assembly in 1943.
[6] With the rise of the communists in power in 1944, he was arrested and imprisoned due to his engagement in politics and some sharp anti-communist poetry he had written.
[1] Dalliu died in jail on 25 May 1952, and was annihilated by the communist historiography.
...one of the most famous Albanian ulamas, Hafiz Ibrahim Dalliu who was officially in charge of the translation and commentary of the Qur'an in Albanian...
A political satirist of the twenties and thirties was Ibrahim Dalliu from Tirana.