Introduction
Islam and education are tightly connected, and trying to separate one from the other makes both meaningless. Islam historically is committed to activities of propagation (da’wah) and acquiring Islamic knowledge (‘ilm). For Muslims, educational institutions are the medium for the transmission of ‘ilm.
Islamic knowledge covers a wide variety of disciplines, such as Qur’anic exegesis, Hadith, law, theology, Arabic language and poetry, literature, logic, and medicine. This wide range of knowledge is consistent with the character of Islam which envisions a comprehensive world view unified under God. The transmission of this knowledge takes place mainly via person-to-person interaction, and the location of transmission is the Islamic educational institution, popularly called the madrasah.
Unfortunately, Islamic educational institutions in Southeast Asia are increasingly being viewed as a source of Islamic radicalism. According to Zachy Abuza, Islamic educational institutions are a product of Islamic radicalism, and used as a recruiting ground for new, radical members: