They are peacemakers, and derive considerable income as such, and as dispensers of the sharia or holy law of Islam. They are treated with veneration and respect and, after death, are frequently treated as saints. The other holy class is that of the descendants of the saints, for so they claim to be. Almost every village in the territory has its saints' tomb, a white rectangular building with one or more domes. Each shrine is maintained by public subscription, in the form of tolls on travelers and gifts to reinforce prayers.
Many shrines also own land or receive tithes from land.
They are guarded by families who use the title sheikh and who claim descent from the original saint. In most cases the saint is considered a miracle worker, and this power may descend upon the holy sheikhs as well. This fact in itself is sufficient to give the holy sheikhs considerable influence, and they inspire respect and fear. I would stress the question of fear, for it is important. The buried saint, and, to a certain degree, his supposed page 113 Sharifs and Seyyids descendants, are credited with the power of doing bodily and personal harm, such as depriving of sanity, striking with blindness, destruction of crops and the like.