Four years later, at the age of eighteen, he was initiated as a dervish, and served as rehber in the ceremonies that took place on the sacred premises of the Mother Tekke.

Between 1957 and 1967, Dede Reshat was placed under house arrest by the communist government along with Dedebaba Ahmed Myftar in a small tekke near Drizar, Mallakastra.

With the closure of all houses of worship and the prohibition of religion by the communists in 1967 (which lasted until 1990), Dede Reshat was forcibly assigned work on a state-run farm, where he was continually harassed, both psychologically and physically, by state security officers.

In February 1992, Dede Reshat travelled to the US to visit the Bektashi community of Detroit, where he was received by Baba Rexheb and senior clerics of other faiths.

Baba Rexheb was responsible for establishing the first Bektashi Tekke in America in 1954 and for keeping Bektashism alive during the dark days of communism.

In March 2001 Dede Reshat was invited to a special audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, where both men discussed their resistance to communism.

In February 2004 Dede Reshat also took part in the World Conference for Peace and Tolerance which was organized by Partiarkati Ekumenal and the Apel Ndërgjegjes Foundation.

On the occasion of the 7th World Bektashi Congress that was held in October 2005 in Tirana, Dede Reshat hosted the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Atilla Koç, as well as the mayors of the Turkish towns of Nevşehir and Hacıbektaş.

In May 2006, Dede Reshat received the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, at the Mother Tekke in Tirana.

Among other things the Cardinal said, “Your excellency is the Bektashi Pope!” In June 2006 Dede Reshat hosted Turkey's Parliament Speaker, Mr. Bülent Arınç at the Mother Tekke in Tirana.

Dede Reshat was decorated with the “Beacon of Democracy” medal and Golden Naim Frasheri award by the presidents of the Republic of Albania, and was an honorary resident of the cities of Tirana, Kruja, Kukës, Berat, Kavaja, Bulqiza, Gjirokastra, Mallakastra and others.