Overview

This study sets out to explain and understand the worldview of students at Female madrasas (FeM) in Pakistan. Beginning as an indigenous informal institute for female education at home, FeM has evolved to country-wide formal theological seminaries that award women graduate degrees in Islamic studies. Since the 1970s, state intervention and social engagement have influenced not only the structure of FeMs but their locations. Attendance is from all socio-economic strata of society. A recent development, especially in urban centers, is the teaching of the state curriculum to enable young students to access mainstream education. Public opinion is divided about the role of FeMs in society. Some believe that FeMs confine women into the domestic realm; others view FeMs as a move forward into modernity, as they educate the least educated sectors of society. The author uses the lens of language and gender to explore why such divergent views exist about FeMs. Specifically, language and vocabulary has served as a powerful factor for restricting women to their traditional roles. Madrasas have a profound effect on Pakistani society at large, as they respond to the immediate socio-political and economic needs of the community. In the last two decades many books were produced about male madrasas in Pakistan. However, one focusing on women's madrasas exclusively was needed, because currently the number of female students enrolled in madrasas is higher than the male students. This unique book is rooted in the authors experience of studying at an FeM. She entered a madrasa with a yearning to be closer to God, to know the book revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, and to learn what he said and did. A constant throughout her studies was the recognition that acquiring knowledge is one of the highest acts of righteousness according to the Prophet Muhammad.

Full Product Details

9781789762006

Table of Contents

Reviews

‘Overall, the book is timely and relevant on multiple counts. For example, in the wake of the rise in radicalisation in Pakistan, it is a helpful resource for understanding the curriculum, routines and pedagogies used at FeMs since many studies correlate madrasa education and radicalisation.’ Abida Bano, International Quarterly for Asian Studies

Author Information

Faiza Muhammad Din is a Post-doctoral Fellow, Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Germany. The author was a Fellow at Madrasa Discourses, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Currently she is the project coordinator of the research project, Womens Pathways to Professionalization in Muslim Asia: Reconfiguring Religious Knowledge, Gender, and Connectivity. Prior, she taught Islamic studies at Jinnah College for Women, University of Peshawar (20102014).

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