In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011, 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 policymakers 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 madraassahs in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. In Faithful Education, he examines these institutions and their roles in relation to current international politics.

This innovative book analyses the growth of Deobandi Islam, a religious sect whose followers include extremist groups, through the frame of a counterculture in conflict with mainstream Muslim society. Due to its relationship with the Taliban, close links to al-Qaeda, and worldwide reach through the ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ (Proselytization Group), the Deoband Madrassah Movement has come to acquire global significance. In Pakistan, Deobandi schools have increasingly been associated with the rise of an intolerant and militant strain of Islam linked with terrorist activities.