The peer faqeer syndrome

[madz124]

Re: The peer faqeer syndrome

This thread reminded me of two things:
1- The song “meri daachi de gal vich taliyan, ve main peer manauwan challi aan, peera ho”
2- The book Peer-e-Kamil by Umera Ahmed. When someone first recommended the novel to me, I was slightly turned off, thinking it’s about some peer fakeers. Little did I know, it was about Prophet Muhammad PBUH - the final and most complete/perfect peer of all time.

@Niksik

So why is it that it’s mostly women lining up at bayans and halaqas of the peer-faqeers to get one-on-one mashawaras and “bayts” and wazeefah recommendations? Is it because it’s mostly women who are victims of kalaa jadoo and buri nazar? :halo:

Or is it because it is so much easier to blame your misfortunes and bad decisions on kaala jadoo and buri nazar, and then get these lengthy wazeefahs so you can compete with the women in your community about who’s got the hardest wazeefah?

I think this is mostly prevalent in areas where women are mainly housewives / men are the main breadwinners, and joint family system is common. So pretty much in Pakistan and India. These women spend a lot of time dealing with drama associated with saas-susr/bhabhi/nand/jithani/etc. Their daily lives are hectic and their problems are centered around their families. Compared to that, their husbands/brothers/fathers are busy earning for the khandaan, so they have little time to worry about micro problems like why saas gives preferential treatment to bahu#3 and how to woo the MIL so she will finally acknowledge all my efforts towards this family.

Apart from the nature of problems each gender faces, I think lack of higher education among these women is another big factor, as men provide for the family so it’s imp they are well educated to succeed in their respective careers (not so imp to send women to college/university). So if someone is having difficulty conceiving a child, their first thought is not to consult the doctor but to find out from the peers if perhaps jithani sahiba is doing jaadu tona (because hey, I did find that extra roll of hair under my pillow the other day that didn’t belong to me and we all know, jithani has her eyes set on inheritance money belonging to first child to be born in the family).

Very rarely, we do find highly educated and resourceful women from upper class who also turn to these peer fakeers. I think they do so out of desperation. Sort of as a last resort to find a quick fix to their problems. Being a socialite and an elitist, they were probably never too close to religion to begin with and their lifestyle didn’t allow for much time to nurture their family and home. So when trouble knocks on the door, they don’t know whom to turn to. A person is easier to talk to (much like therapy sessions with a psychiatrist); it’s harder to “get answers” from Allah when you’re not accustomed to doing so.