Peoples' Perceptions about Visiting Sufi Shrine in Pakistan

Abstract Sufi shrines hold great importance in Pakistani society. Followers of the shrines consider it sacred place and they perform different rituals there. The role of Sufis has been considered as intermediary who lead towards the path of God and success. Present study deployed qualitative research technique whereby data was drawn from 19 in-depth interviews at the Hazrat Mian Mir's Shrine in Lahore. Findings of the study revealed that majority of the people have strong belief upon the blessings of Sufis and they visit shrine to fulfill their social, economic, physical, and spiritual needs. They believed that the late Sufis of shrine could listen, correspond and help them in multiple ways. However, some people thought otherwise. They believed the Sufi of shrine as pious ones but they did not believe upon the intermediary role of Sufis between human beings and Allah. Perceptions about myths and superstitions varied with regard to gender and level of education but majority of visitors did not believe in myths and superstitions