Muslim Schooling for Fundamentalists

Islamic education that is also radical Islamist for the poorest people in many Muslim countries is a real problem for the West, but one without a good solution. It would be as if every school in America were run by fundamentalist Christians who always voted for the most conservative Republicans. This article deals with such schools in Pakistan.

With public education in a shambles, Pakistan’s poorest families have
turned to madrasas, or Islamic schools, that feed and house the children while
pushing a more militant brand of Islam than was traditional here.

The concentration of madrasas here in southern Punjab has become an urgent
concern in the face of Pakistan’s expanding insurgency. The schools offer almost
no instruction beyond the memorizing of the
Koran, creating a widening pool of young minds that are sympathetic to
militancy.

In an analysis of the profiles of suicide bombers who have struck in
Punjab, the Punjab police said more than two-thirds had attended madrasas.

“We are at the beginning of a great storm that is about to sweep the
country,” said Ibn Abduh Rehman, who directs the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, an independent organization. “It’s red alert for Pakistan.”