Baba Faja Martaneshi

Baba Faja Martaneshi (1910 - 18 March 1947) was an Albanian Bektashi baba (Sufi) and a resistance leader during the National Liberation War of the Albanian People.

Baba Faja was born Mustafa Xhani in Luz i Madh, Kavajë and pursued religious studies to become a baba at the tekke of Martanesh, where he acquired the religious name he would become popularly known by. Following the Italian invasion of Albania he led one of the earliest guerrilla bands against the occupiers, denouncing Fascist Italy as anti-Islamic and establishing contacts with the Albanian communist movement, becoming one of the most wanted men in the country in the process. In his memoirs Enver Hoxha wrote that during the war the Baba was "one of those clergy men who wore the cap and the cloak of a dervish, but who had Albania in his heart and in his hand the rifle for its liberation. . . . [he] did not discard his clerical cap and robe, and he was quite right, because in this way he rendered even greater service to the line of the Party and the National Liberation Front for uniting everybody in the war without distinction as to region, or political and religious beliefs."David Smiley described Baba Faja as a likable "scoundrel," who "delighted in singing partisan songs in his deep bass voice, especially after consuming large quantities of raki."

He became a founding member of the National Liberation Front upon its establishment in September 1942, serving on its General Council alongside Enver Hoxha, Myslym Peza and other resistance fighters, and in July 1943 he became a member of the General Staff of the Albanian National Liberation Army. In May 1944 he was elected a Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council. After the war he served as a representative from Elbasan in the Constituent Assembly, subsequently becoming Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly.

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