Masooda Bano
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450440
- eISBN:
- 9780801463860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450440.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter develops a theory of religious hierarchy. Islam, unlike Christianity, does not provide for formal religious authority. The emphasis is on establishing a direct link to God. Yet closer ...
More
This chapter develops a theory of religious hierarchy. Islam, unlike Christianity, does not provide for formal religious authority. The emphasis is on establishing a direct link to God. Yet closer examination of the madrasa system reveals the existence of a clear formal hierarchy, in which subsystems have some formal reporting requirements, as well as an informal hierarchy, in which they do not. The chapter draws on empirical data to provide a clear idea of the number of madrasas in Pakistan, their variations, and geographical spread. In doing so, it records the existence of both a formal and an informal religious hierarchy. It describes how madrasas in Pakistan are formally organized via five wafaqs, which are three-tiered hierarchical structures in which the authority to make decisions depends on the tier to which any given madrasa belongs. Wafaq membership is voluntary, yet most madrasas choose to join. The chapter explores what motivates madrasas from all three tiers to join the hierarchical structure. This is especially interesting in the case of the smaller madrasas which, due to their low rank, bind themselves to the decisions of the few big madrasas that control the top tier of the wafaq.Less
This chapter develops a theory of religious hierarchy. Islam, unlike Christianity, does not provide for formal religious authority. The emphasis is on establishing a direct link to God. Yet closer examination of the madrasa system reveals the existence of a clear formal hierarchy, in which subsystems have some formal reporting requirements, as well as an informal hierarchy, in which they do not. The chapter draws on empirical data to provide a clear idea of the number of madrasas in Pakistan, their variations, and geographical spread. In doing so, it records the existence of both a formal and an informal religious hierarchy. It describes how madrasas in Pakistan are formally organized via five wafaqs, which are three-tiered hierarchical structures in which the authority to make decisions depends on the tier to which any given madrasa belongs. Wafaq membership is voluntary, yet most madrasas choose to join. The chapter explores what motivates madrasas from all three tiers to join the hierarchical structure. This is especially interesting in the case of the smaller madrasas which, due to their low rank, bind themselves to the decisions of the few big madrasas that control the top tier of the wafaq.
Masooda Bano
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450440
- eISBN:
- 9780801463860
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450440.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Islamic schools, or madrasas, have been accused of radicalizing Muslims and participating, either actively or passively, in terrorist networks since the events of 9/11. In Pakistan, the 2007 siege by ...
More
Islamic schools, or madrasas, have been accused of radicalizing Muslims and participating, either actively or passively, in terrorist networks since the events of 9/11. In Pakistan, the 2007 siege by government forces of Islamabad's Red Mosque and its madrasa complex, whose imam and students staged an armed resistance against the state for its support of the “war on terror,” reinforced concerns about madrasas' role in regional and global jihad. By 2006 madrasas registered with Pakistan's five regulatory boards for religious schools enrolled over one million male and 200,000 female students. This book explores the network of Pakistani madrasas. It maps the choices and decisions confronted by students, teachers, parents, and clerics and explains why available choices make participation in jihad appear at times a viable course of action. The book shows that beliefs are rational and that religious believers look to maximize utility in ways not captured by classical rational choice. The book applies analytical tools from the New Institutional Economics to explain apparent contradictions in the madrasa system—for example, how thousands of young Pakistani women now demand the national adoption of traditional sharia law, despite its highly restrictive limits on female agency, and do so from their location in Islamic schools for girls that were founded only a generation ago.Less
Islamic schools, or madrasas, have been accused of radicalizing Muslims and participating, either actively or passively, in terrorist networks since the events of 9/11. In Pakistan, the 2007 siege by government forces of Islamabad's Red Mosque and its madrasa complex, whose imam and students staged an armed resistance against the state for its support of the “war on terror,” reinforced concerns about madrasas' role in regional and global jihad. By 2006 madrasas registered with Pakistan's five regulatory boards for religious schools enrolled over one million male and 200,000 female students. This book explores the network of Pakistani madrasas. It maps the choices and decisions confronted by students, teachers, parents, and clerics and explains why available choices make participation in jihad appear at times a viable course of action. The book shows that beliefs are rational and that religious believers look to maximize utility in ways not captured by classical rational choice. The book applies analytical tools from the New Institutional Economics to explain apparent contradictions in the madrasa system—for example, how thousands of young Pakistani women now demand the national adoption of traditional sharia law, despite its highly restrictive limits on female agency, and do so from their location in Islamic schools for girls that were founded only a generation ago.
