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Journal of Islamic Studies Advance Access first published online on July 16, 2006
This version published online on July 19, 2006
Journal of Islamic Studies, doi:10.1093/jis/etl043
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© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Original Papers

Beyond Politics: the Reality of a Deobandi Madrasa in Pakistan

Masooda Bano 1

1 St Antony's College


  Abstract

All of the key policy reports on madrasas in Pakistan since September 11, while acknowledging that only a minute fraction of madrasas promote militancy, recommend reforming the entire madrasa system and argue that even ordinary madrasas produce bigoted individuals. They question the quality of education at the madrasa, the socio-economic relevance of this education, and the basis of the authority of the head or imam. This paper, based on an ethnographic account of a Deobandi madrasa in Pakistan, shows that the madrasa system has its own hierarchy of knowledge, well-developed criteria for measuring knowledge, and its own socio-economic relevance. Further, it argues that the imam's authority is not absolute or uncontested; rather, the community bases its support for a madrasa on many rational calculations about his efficiency and personal commitment. The paper thus highlights the need for a thorough study of the madrasa system before embarking on any reform.


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