Public Value Provision Under State Absorption or Full Autonomy: Islamic Public Administration in Sufi Darbars

ABSTRACT The article traces the implications of a dichotomy in contemporary Islamic institutions, co‐existence with the state versus without the state in Sufi Darbars of Pakistan. These Darbars, with their centuries old history, function as contemporary faith‐based institutions and serve people economically, socially and spiritually. While the state intervened and took control over most Darbars and their properties in Pakistan, only a small number of darbars could maintain their autonomy and operate through the leadership of their traditional care‐takers of Sufi lineage. Our research, using qualitative field‐based methods, found that public value provision in darbars goes beyond the measurable, and that these institutions maintain their traditional role of providing value to the society with or without the state although the procedures of value provision vary with the level of stateness. These two distinct modes of interaction between state and non‐Western institutions rooted in Islamic traditions adds to the understanding of IPA and NWPA.