Aimen Riaz is an MPhil Scholar in Public Policy and Governance at the Pakistan Institute of
Development Economics (PIDE).
In Pakistan, faith is not confined to the mosque or the inner conscience. It seeps into hospitals, legal courts, polling stations, and homes. Spiritual intervention is not a substitute belief system for millions of people, but rather a first recourse in the face of disease, misfortune, infertility, family turmoil, or mental stress. This reliance is not irrational or even Pakistani; it is partly due to different belief systems prevalent in the country, and partly due to the result of flaws in the current welfare state, healthcare, and trust in the governmental structure. However, if there is no control of this alleged ‘spiritual power’, accountability, or checks and balances in place, in some cases, the belief may serve as a bridge to abuse.
Although the precise number of shrines in Pakistan is unknown, it is thought to be over 3,400, with Punjab and Sindh having the biggest concentration. They are surrounded by a well-established ‘piri-muridi‘ system that is formalized by “Bayah” or “Bayt”, a loyalty pledge that requires the murids to submit to the Pir. In this article, the focus will wholly remain on the pseudo spiritual healers or the faux “Pirs” that claim to be divinely blessed — and use this narrative to exploit/mislead their followers, gain wealth and power, and amass all kinds of personal gains.
In this faux pir system, disciples are indoctrinated to believe that the pir possesses “Ilm-ul-ghaib”, or knowledge of the unseen, and that obedience in all matters—even in nonreligious matters—is spiritually rewarded. This tension destroys individualism, and there is very little to no room for dissent, complaining, or saying no.
The degree of reliance on faith healers emphasizes the relevance of the power imbalance. According to a Karachi-based psychiatric study, around 32% of the patients had (at some point in life) visited a faith healer in their lifetime. Another research found that roughly 45% of their patients sought faith healers. Rural Pakistan is even more defined: according to a poll in rural Punjab, more than 70% of the population seeks treatment from traditional or spiritual healers as their first point of contact. In anarchy, the faux pir serves as medic, judge, and protector—above the law.
Abuse often occurs in this vacuum, as one would expect. One of the most common themes is sexual assault disguised as spiritual purification. In Punjab and Sindh, there have been multiple reports of young women being drugged or secluded during claimed exorcisms, as well as being raped by pirs who believe that physical surrender is the only way to cast out jinn or cure infertility. One of the prominent cases where a woman named Sangeeta, who was brutally tortured and beaten with a stick over three days by so-called faith healers, and eventually died, who claimed the exercise of exorcism of an evil spirit. In Faisalabad, a fake spiritual healer, Baba Jalal Masih, attempted to rape women; he took her in separate room under the guise of giving spiritual therapy for a cure. Her family was first reluctant to disclose the rape because of the societal pressure. The acts do not occur in a vacuum, but are a part of a scripture that sacramentalizes suffering and considers resistance to be some form of spiritual rebellion.
Economic exploitation is associated with physical abuse. Shrine economies are contribution-based. They are made either of fear or hope of a cure, to safeguard oneself against misfortune, or pass an exam or an election. The already existing families living on subsistence are emotionally blackmailed to ‘donate’ their animals, land, jewellery or money. Women, especially the non-wealthy or the minorities, are disadvantaged twice: their bodies are objects of spiritual exploration and monetary exploitation.
This system still lives on since it is not politically threatened. The custodians of the shrine, called sajjada-nashin, are normally hereditary brokers of power in the form of land, labor, and votes. The sajjada-nashine of some famous shrines participate directly in elections or nominate favored candidates. Politicians are pursuing them not due to religion but to numbers, as blocks of constituent followers.
This connection isn’t new. In colonization, the British established the position of the pir by giving land concessions, income, and legal assurances. In 1900, the Punjab Land Alienation Act made shrine households agricultural castes, thus enabling them to gather land compared to other castes. The incapacity of custodians did not even hinder the Court of Wards in handing shrines to successive generations.
Pakistan still used this architectural design after gaining independence. The West Pakistan Waqf Properties Ordinance established a bureaucratic association to manage the shrines rather than transforming them into a section of the Auqaf in 1959. Faux pirs mastered the art of this system, whereby they acquired political authority through selling religious legitimacy. The memoirs of Ayub Khan reveal that Abdul Majed of Dewal Sharif, who had been the organiser of pirs against Fatima Jinnah in 1965, freely bargained for privileges in the state in exchange for the support he offered in elections.
Modern politics remain heavily intertwined. A 2017 investigation in Oxford found approximately 60 political activism shrines in Punjab alone. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister, is one of the main pirs who controls some of the key shrines in Multan. The followers of Sindhi Pir of Pagaro are leaders of a massive population – allegedly including a militia. The Potohar area is allegedly influenced by some individuals at Golra Sharif to control the results of the elections. Relationships between houses within the government and parties persist.
The cost of this deal is transferred to the victims. In cases of sexual abuse or torture claims, the police take ages to make FIRs, the prosecutors seek compromise, and the families are forced to go silent. Even the already low rates of convictions of perpetrators of sexual crimes in Pakistan are worsened by the situation in which the criminals are ‘religious‘. The state is unable to act because it makes calculated decisions – not because it is ignorant. This policy has failed, hence the crisis.
These faux faith healers in Pakistan have no form of regulatory framework, licensing, protection, or accountability set up. It is a crime that is not subject to legal loopholes, as it is a ritual abuse and not a criminal act. In the meantime, Pakistan is among the states having the lowest result on the Global Gender Gap Index, and the issue of violence against women is not addressed appropriately.
No outcry can culminate this loop. This kind of spiritual healing needs to be controlled, and injuries need to be reported, and the separation of body and belief should be formalized. The shrines that are controlled by the state are supposed to be audited publicly, and the political parties are not supposed to use religious influence to secure votes. Most importantly, the victims (especially women and girls) should be safeguarded by using Witness protection, expedited prosecution, and social programs as an alternative to anonymity.
Faith is not what is needed to destroy accountability. But with the state giving ‘belief immunity’, the most critical role of the state is ignored. The law is not restricted to the law of these fake pirs by the divine edict. They have been shielded by the political system, which has prioritized expediency over justice, and until that is overturned, the abuse will remain under the guise of ‘holiness’.
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