The Cult of Saints (Awliya) and Pilgrims in Social Networks (Based on the Materials of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia)

The article analyses the practice of pilgrimages to the graves of awliya (Islamic saints) in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The authors propose that pilgrims should be studied as a distinct socio-cultural group using the methods of online research. In the course of the research, digital netnography methods were applied by scientists to study the internet group “Sufi RB”, created and moderated by the followers of the Naqshbandiyya Haqqani Tariqah. The results of the study of pilgrims as a socio-cultural group using digital netnography methods, supplemented with the results of field surveys, indicate that this approach is effective and provide a basis for its use in scientific research.