“At a time when attention is riveted on unearthing the networks of 'Islamic terror,' wherever they might be found, there is much to be said about doing a historically nuanced study of madrassahs in the South Asian subcontinent. There has been no in-depth scholarly work tracing the social, political, and intellectual history of madrassahs in South Asia-until now."
-Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts University

"Riaz has done painstaking field work and surveyed much of the existing research to create Faithful Education, a book that addresses a very important lacuna in the literature on the growth of madrassahs in the Islamic world and their possible links with terror."
-Sumit Ganguly, Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations and Director of Research for the Center on American and Global Security, Indiana University, Bloomington

"Although there is a burgeoning literature on Islamic radicalism, fundamentalism, and terrorism, Faithful Education is distinguished by its detailed focus on madrassahs as a tool for the indoctrination and mobilization of Muslims for political and paramilitary action."
-Peter Bertocci, author of The Politics of Community and Culture in Bangladesh

"Instead of offering a simplistic equation that connects madrassah education with international terrorism, Faithful Education goes beyond a narrow security perspective to examine these schools within larger contexts, paying attention to international developments and specific socioeconomic and political dynamics in each country post-1947. Faithful Education offers a finely nuanced and in-depth historical analysis of madrassahs in South Asia. Riaz’s work serves as a reminder that the madrassahs constitute a complex phenomenon that warrants rigorous attention to the socioeconomic and political contexts in which they operate."-Comparative Education Review, 2009"

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, discussions on ties between Islamic religious education institutions, namely madrassahs, and transnational terrorist groups have featured prominently in the Western media. In the frenzied coverage of events, however, vital questions have been overlooked: What do we know about the madrassahs? Should Western policy-makers be alarmed by the recent increase in the number of these institutions in Muslim countries? Is there any connection between them and the "global jihad"? Ali Riaz responds to these questions through an in-depth examination of the madrassahs in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

The first book to examine these institutions and their roles in relation to current international politics, Faithful Education will be of interest to policy-makers, researchers, political analysts, and media-pundits. It will also be important reading for undergraduate and graduate students of political science, international affairs, history, South Asian studies, religious studies, and journalism.

Ali Riaz is a professor of politics and government at Illinois State University. Previously, he worked for the BBC World Service as a senior broadcast journalist.