After Adana, Ken’ân Rifâî was appointed “provincial director of education” in the province of Bitola, which is now in North Macedonia. When he took office in Monastir, he was also promoted based on his duties in Adana. In addition to his work as director of education, Rifâî also taught French and natural sciences in schools in the region.
Monastir was a cosmopolitan city in the Balkans, where various ethnic groups coexisted. As a transit zone between Central Europe and the Adriatic, it became one of the most important trade centers of the Ottoman Empire. However, the city was struggling with economic crises and natural disasters during the years Rifā’ī was in charge. Ken’ân Rifâî tried to counteract the negative effects of the difficulties in the region on education.
In addition to all this, Manastir was also in a delicate political situation due to the rising nationalist movements in the Balkans in the late 1800s.
Different ethnic communities used official and unofficial means to open schools and to conduct educational activities in existing schools to reinforce their own cultures.
During his tenure there, Ken’ân Rifâî primarily fought against irregular practices in schools belonging to ethnic groups. He made efforts to regulate the legal status of these schools. He focused on implementing the Ottoman government’s education policies and improving the quality of education in the region.
There is one more important detail we can relate from Ken’ân Rifâî’s monastic years:
When we talked about his years in Balıkesir, we mentioned that Filibeli Edhem Efendi started his education following the Qadiriyya tradition in his spiritual upbringing.
His Murshid Edhem Efendi also came to visit him when Ken’ân Rifâî served as the Director of Education in Monastir. This was their last meeting because Edhem Effendi died a few months after he returned to his hometown. Ken’an Rifai entered a new period in which he would continue his spiritual journey alone for a while.
