Through the fact that some of the practices of certain religious devotees, especially of India, appear to be quite fictitious, clever trickery, the word fakir is sometimes considered to be merely another spelling of faker.
It isn’t; it’s an Arabic term and, strictly speaking, it should be applied only to those followers of Mohammed who, with him, can truly say, “Poverty is my pride,” el fakr fakhri.
However in India the Hindu fakir is likely to be an expert juggler, adept in sleight of hand, in hypnotism, in ventriloquism, and in producing illusions.
