Experiential Religiosity between Pir (Patron) and Murid (Client): Access of Patron-Client Relationship to Public Organization

Abstract

The present research highlights the experiential religiosity between patron-client relation relationships and how murid’s access to the public organization is leverage of such relations. It mainly focuses on how they (both) use experiential religiosity and patron-client relation as a strategy for their benefit. Pir helps their murids with their religiosity to establish physical, social, and psychological contact with them. Reciprocally a Murid respects the Pirs taking them as a spiritual guide. Due to this honor, Pir normally gets the status of power and authority over his Murids. The main objective of the study is to investigate the application of experiential religiosity among patron-client (pir and murid) relationships in the locality of Golrha Sharif Islamabad. For this, a qualitative research methodology will be used in the present study. Data will be collected by using face-to-face interviews and the sample size will be kept between 20 respondents which include 17 murids and 3 pirs. The results of the study indicated that the patron-client relationship is an unchallenging and parent-like relationship for followers of pir sahib. The experiential religiosity of patron-client helps both to make their relationship stronger. The same values and ethics experiential religious beliefs and religious, social practices, the ways of social exchanges, indebtedness benefits, and fictive relations were founded in the results of the present research which matches the old researchers on golra sharif. The researcher found the patriarchal nature in the system of the shrine because female respondents have more practices and experiential religiosity as compared to men, but they can talk for only a few seconds. But this patriarchal nature was only founded in the shrine of pir sahib, not in the house of pir sahib. Moreover, they provide benefits to each other with this social relation like clients (muridain) get different kinds of help and access to public spheres and patrons (pir) they make better management and effective social reputation in the system of the shrine. So, these values and practices of patron-client relationship and the applications of experiential religiosities are unchallenging, but they were reinforced in the system of Golra sharif Islamabad. Key words: experiential religiosity, patron-client relationship, pir and murid, power.