[1] 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.

[2] 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.

"[3] 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.

[8] In May 1945 he presided over the Fourth Congress of the Bektashi Community, which formally severed relations between the sect and the rest of the Islamic world.