religion and patronage

1. Religion and patronage
Presented by:
nimra mumtaz
hina baseer saighal

2. Religion and patronage
• Islam of the masses in south Asia is syncretic
blend of Arabian Islam and Hinduism and its
offshoot
• There can be no question that ritual and belief
among south Asian Muslims is influenced by
Hinduism
• Within south Asia however there are different
Islamic traditions and different practices in
different region and among different groups

3. • One could look at the activities of the state
ministry the auqaf responsible for managing
religious shrines or role of maulvi in the mosque
• One could study the different sects ,Shi'a shunni
ismaeli and other to look at the ways that middle
eastern islam has been appropriated and
syncrectised with different beliefs

4. • Best example of patronage and hierarchy in
south asian islam is the relationship
individuals and groups have with sufi sanits
,pirs
• The relationship between a person and his,
her pirs is arguably far more symbolically and
materially powerfull than that between
people and their maulvi

5. • In this chapter Lyon examine the role of pirs
maulvis in rural areas
• The represent different aspects of islam and
illustrate the importance of human resource
network in different ways
• The pir is the master of establishing and
maintaining human resource networks
• He became easily integrated part of the
Punjab

6. • The maulvi on the other hand stand out these
human resource network at least in so far as his
office is concerned
• This result in the marginalization of the maulvi
within the communities in which they work ,and
the elevation of pirs in those same communities
• pirs manipulation situations and people in ways
that reflect landlords but it is not direct parallel

7. • Land lords and pirs establish their credentials
through group connections both claim some
degree of approval from GOD
• Both are seen to be responsible for well being
of their supporters
• Landlords do not require the love of their
supporters
• While pirs atleast base their relationship on
love

8. • The followers of pirs speaks lovingly of their
holy man and he in turn will talk about his
love for all of them
• Land lord in general have few presences about
being love by the villagers is not required nor
necessarily desired
• What is required is respect ,a little fear and
obedience

9. • So my surrounding pirs and landlord differs
• Each category is said to have different sources
for their power and authority
• In truth there is a great deal of overlap in their
observable behavior and the mechanism for
manipulation available to each

10. • Pirs are perceived as a potential thread to the
authority of the secular authorities
• Ayub khan government in the 1960 went to great
lengths to disempower pirs with large following
[Ewing 1990]
• Z.A bhutto government continued also attempted
to capture the symbolic power of the pirs for
himself [Ewing 1988: 11]

11. • The political parties lead by the ulema havre
historically done poorly at elections
[ Talbot 1999:407-408;Nasr 1995;272]
Rather than challenging secular authority the
role of parties as jamaat-i-islami has been to
legitimate state power structure

12. • Few outsider are able to live in punjabi village
and became integral part of village but he or she
not real role in village life
• Maulvi differ from this pattern in very significant
way
• The office of maulvi although a traditional one
contains some of the elements of weberain
modernity which potentially might undermine
the hierarchical patron/client relationship which
are fundamentals to others aspects of punjabi
culture

13. Sufis pirs and Gurus

14. Sufis pirs and Gurus
• Westerners are taught that
Islam was spread by the
sword
• Muslim hordes invaded
quiet peace loving
populations and gave them
the choice of accepting
Islam or losing their heads
• Pakistani muslim deny this
• From the beginning of
muslims contact in south
asia sufi orders were
instrumentals in attracting
converts

15. Sufis pirs and Gurus
There are histories of Sufi leaders like this across
the Punjab and northern south Asia
These are stories of men who brought Islam to
the people not by force but persuasion and
miracles

16. Baba farid shakr Ganj: A punjabi sufi
pirs
• The man who is given
credit for bringing islam
to lahore was not a
oldier but Data Ganj
baksh his shrine is one
of the largest in punjab
• Data is not reported to
have been man of the
sword but rather very
skilful story teller ,talker
man who could perfoms
miracles

17. Chishti sufi
• Chishti sufi order are one of the oldest in south
asia
• Long before mughals and even before mahmud
ghazna dominated he politics of the indus plains
the chishti sufis were spreading the influence of
islam and gaining converts ……………
• In effect the sufis of south asia developed a
syncretic version of islam

18. • Much has been written of the importance of
charisma among sufi orders it is necessary to rely
on these arguments to explain the success of
many sufi pirs
• Cultivating human resources networks is an
important for pirs as it is for heads of house hold,
employers landlords or politicians
• Pirs bring togethers a range of individuals who
are from different qaum ,caste,biraderi economic
status and social status

19. • Successful pirs are successful favours brokers
• Landlords and politician claim their status
from very material sources while pirs claim
amore metaphysical sources
• But both must engage in the same strategies
of patronage to consolidate their claim and to
enhance their position

20. Visiting the urs of chishti pir

21. Visiting the urs of chishti pir
• Urs celebrations
commenorate either
the birth of death pirs
• Biffernt urs are
associatedwith different
themes
• This urs associatedd
with camel it take place
in a rawalpindidivision
village mulpur sharif

22. GURU NANEK

23. Guru Nanek
• Punjabi understand and
repects the power of
sacred sites of saints
regardless of the saint’s
theological affiliation
• while there are
movements to destory
hindu and sikh shrines in
punjab
• There are also indications
that these sites are
respected by local
muslims

24. • Lyon believe that this hierarchically based
patron/client style relationship is the key to
understanding all significant relationship of
the punjab

25. THE ECONOMY OF PIR WORSHIP
 Pirs sit at the centre of human resource networks.
 For some this represents a vast assortment(collection
of people) men and women from different socio
economic groups, qaum and caste groups, families and
so on.
 The role which they attempt to project is based on that
of ‘perpetual giver’ and not receive [Werbner 1998:
107].

26.  The massive langar( a communal free kitchen and
food suppliers), is a action of the pir’s role as a
provider.
 While this can be justified in symbolic terms
since the things supplied to the shrine and the
langar are not gifts to the pir directly, this is an
exchange of goods, in a good faith economy’
[Werbner 1998: 111].

27. • The pir is to capitalize on relationship to resolve problems within his
group.
 Like the men in Qaumism organizations who negotiate relationships
from among the members of their qaum, the pir can bring different
people together who are able to solve each other’s problems.
 Some of the acts of a pir are meant to bring individuals the benefit
of God’s power.
 The spiritual healing in the form of talismans or prayers, is
a direct intervention on the part of the pir, on behalf of an
individual.

28. • I have been told that one task pirs or their
closest devotees perform, is helping people
find work. (Lyon).
• The explanation of the solution may be
metaphysical, but that does not deny the role
of a telephone call to an appropriate devotee
who may be in need of an employee.

29. Maulvis: Case for rational-legal
and religious authority

30. Mosques in Bhalot
• Four mosques in bhalot.
• Mosque inhabited by members of qazi qaum.
• Community run.
• Mosque constructed in the honour of deceased
son of landlord.
• Jumma Masjid

31. Maulvi’s job
• To say the azan
• call to prayers, pray
• Be moral and rest unobtrusive.

32. Maulvis and religious authority:
• Maulvis hold religious authority.
• They also hold a kind of ambiguous authority of the independent
person.
• They are not tied to particular qaum or families.
• Barth [1959] and Gellner [1963] have described the ways in which
saints stand outside of the normal expectations imposed on men.
• Maulvis similarly stand outside some of the ‘rules’ partly because
of their religious position, but also, notably because of their lack of
connection to local kin and qaum networks.

33. • Maulvis are one of the very few groups in rural Punjab
who would not lose everything if the system of human
resource networks built upon hierarchical patron/client
relationships were to disappear.
• In the 1970’s, Tapper describes maulvis as being
viewed as little more than literate (sometimes) beggars.
• They were not respected as men, they had no
connections in the villages and they remained
vulnerable to the capriciousness of the communities in
which they worked.

34. Ullama dependent on landlords
• Dependent on villagers and landlords for
livelihood.
• ONE MECHANISM OF CONTROL:-
The mechanism of exclusion from other
villagers.

35. CONCLUSION
• Islam, as practiced in both rural and urban areas,
is an instantiation(evidence) of the more basic
social roles evidenced throughout the society.
• Pirs and shrines constitute one of the points of
reference for most Muslims. While the Islam of
the Quran may invoke equality between men and
a direct relation to Allah, the reality of South
Asia, and Pakistan in particular, revolves around
inequality and patronage.

36. • The ullama of Pakistan stand in a unique position
to challenge this basic relationship but they are
limited for various reasons.
• They are not able to stand completely outside the
State or the culture, so they cannot achieve the
kind of independence which might allow them to
truly establish a kind of rational-legal authority in
which their office holds the power rather than
themselves.

37. • They cannot effectively compete with the sufi
orders who are able to manipulate categories
and networks in ways which are already
familiar to Pakistanis, perhaps especially
Punjabis.

38. Thank you