Madrassa Education in Pakistan and Bangladesh

Religion Radicalization

Modernization in the Islamic world has been characterized by an unusual tension which, if not the result, is at least the concomitant of the contradiction between the persistence of a highly institutionalized tradition and the emergence of vigorous reformist challenges from both within and outside Islam. In the context of South Asia, two interrelated features of modern Islam remain significantly relevant to the current debate on the role of Islam in public affairs. First of these is the inordinate regard in which traditional Islam is held—a regard that manifests itself in the continued social and political influence of the ulema and their madrassa system.