Explaining the Stickiness
Explaining the Stickiness
State-Madrasa Engagement in South Asia
This chapter explores the factors contributing to the stability of religious ideas. It describes how South Asian 'ulama have resisted pressures for the reinterpretation of core Islamic precepts. It examines how religious ideas have persisted and thereby illuminate the factors shaping institutional stability through the study of state-led madrasa reform programs in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. As early as the 1950s, the states in these three countries have offered financial incentives to encourage 'ulama to complement the teaching of religious texts with secular subjects, in part due to the desire to produce a new class of 'ulama capable of interpreting texts in line with the demands of modernity. The reform programs met with different levels of acceptance, but a common outcome is that they failed to displace the traditional religious elite; the power to interpret Islam remains in the hands of orthodox 'ulama. In attempting to explain the madrasas' ability to resist state-led reforms and to preserve a traditional interpretation of text, the chapter considers the importance of informal networks among the elites of formal and informal institutions, the scale of financial incentives involved, the nature of the institution (i.e. Islam), and path dependence.
Keywords: religious ideas, madrasas, Islamic schools, Islam, 'ulama, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, madrasa reform
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