The Rufais originated in Iraq as the "Rifa'is", from the teachings of the jurist Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Rifa'i. Little is known about how they spread to the Balkans, but in the Balkans they became known as the "howling dervishes" because of ritual practices including piercing of lips and cheeks, eating of glass and burning of skin. Most of these practices have ceased but they still occur in Prizren, in Kosovo. In the late 19th century there was a flourishing Rufai community around Gjakova, in Kosovo, which helped spread the sect in various parts of Albania. During the early years of the 20th century some Rufai tekkes became Bektashi. At the same time, in the same period the order spread to Tropoja, Tirana, Petrela and parts of Southern Albania. In Albania all of their tekkes were closed due to the banning of religion under Communism, but in Yugoslavia the order continued to operate major tekkes in Gjakova, Mitrovica, Skopje, Peja, Rahovec and Prizren. After the fall of Communism, the order reconstituted itself in Albania and opened a tekke in Tirana in 1998.