Madrassa, Education, Pakistan, Bangladesh 

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. The second feature
is the so far very limited legitimacy achieved by most attempts to
re-think and re-state Islam—as opposed to attempts to reform society
by simply neglecting Islam 

15 p.; illus.; 21 cm