The Politics and Pedagogy of Islamic Religious Education in Bangladesh: An Overview

Despite being one of the most Muslim-inhabited countries in the world, Islam and Islamic religious education remain highly contested issues in both social and political spheres. At the secondary and higher secondary levels, there are three streams of education operative in the country. The Bengali-medium schools run with the government curricula and directives, while the English-medium schools follow different international curricula, and each stream adopts varying approaches to religion. Madrasas, or Islamic religious schools, do not adhere to a single curriculum or pedagogical approach. For instance, government-controlled Alia Madrasas include Islamic education under government oversight and incorporate government curricula, while privately-run Qawmi Madrasas focus exclusively on Islamic knowledge and jurisprudence. (Bano 2007).  Although mainstream public and private education institutions generally follow a secular curriculum, religious education remains a compulsory subject for all. At the same time, English medium schools replace religious education with moral education only for non-Muslim students.

The underlying philosophy of introducing Islamic religious education in Bangladesh is that citizens should be educated and trained to lead their lives by the teachings of Islam. (Bhuiyan 2020). The inclusion or exclusion of Islamic education throughout various political regimes has primarily been influenced by political motives —particularly for seeking legitimacy or gaining popular support—despite the ostensible emphasis on moral development. (Hashmi 2004, Islam and Islam 2018, Riaz 2008, 2014). In the aftermath of 2001, madrasas came to be seen as ‘incubators for violent extremism’ and ‘jihad factories’, imprisoning Muslim youth in backwardness and indoctrinating them with a hatred for the West that was considered to be the root cause of all that said to be wrong with Islam” (Noor, Sikand, and van Brunissen 2007: 11). Other lines of arguments take the view that many madrasas in South Asia provide localized social safety nets and alternative schooling for orphans and under-privileged children (Alam 2006, Malik 2008), along with the reality that now there are significant global connections (Malik 2008). Many scholars engaged themselves in revisiting madrasa education and the ulama (Islamic scholars) traditions in historical complexities (Hefner and Zaman 2007).  Due to the continuous interaction with the state system, modernizing programs, the advent of technological advancement and intense relationship with the global political situation, the religious education institutions which are commonly perceived as ‘traditional’ have undergone considerable changes. (Nelson 2007) Such major changes in basic religious or political perceptions often occur incrementally and are not perceived as significant at the time (Eickelman 1992: 644, Bano 2007).  However, the concern regarding radicalism preached in madrasas required reevaluation after the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attack, which revealed that the group of young men, allegedly involved with Al-Qaeda had no madrasa training, instead they were products of highly secular, elite English-medium schools. As such, public debate over religious and moral education was reignited, ultimately leading to the introduction of mandatory ethics courses even at the university level. Meanwhile, as the political dynamics evolved, Islamist activists emerged as powerful actors in making a substantial influence on the curriculum of mainstream Bengali-medium secondary and higher secondary education. Under their pressure in conjunction with the political strategies of the ruling parties, various curricular revisions and modifications have been implemented adopting a few Islamist prescriptions.

Following the student-led July Movement of 2024 and the subsequent change in government, Islamic political parties once again became vocal. They began advocating for a broad range of education-related reforms in alignment with their ideological agendas, which included significant curricular revisions. Along with the increasing visibility and popularity, their activities and moral authority have also gradually come under public scrutiny. One of the major concerns in this context is the potential rise and spread of radicalism influenced by Islamic religious education and the Madrasa system at the secondary and higher secondary levels, while others argue that Islamic education can guide young Muslims with the moral framework that secular education failed to offer.

In this context, with the recent emergence as a crucial political determinant and contributor to the political upheaval, the significance of Islamic religious education goes far beyond preaching spirituality and morality. The paper intends to examine the current state of religious education as taught in secondary and higher secondary schools, situating the analysis in the complex relationship of community, state and religion.

The key areas of focus in this paper are as follows:

1. A concise historical and political analysis of religious education in Bangladesh, with a particular focus on Islamic education.
2. An assessment of the current status of religious education, especially Islamic education, at the secondary and higher secondary levels—covering curriculum, pedagogy, and other relevant aspects. Based on a review of reading materials, analysis of pedagogical approaches and a number of key informant interviews, a comparative discussion on religious education will be presented among Bengali-medium, English-medium, and madrasa systems, particularly emphasizing pedagogical challenges and potentials in religious instruction.
3. An analysis of how institutional religious or Islamic education functions as a foundation for moral consciousness and as a guiding principle for social action among Muslim youths from different educational backgrounds and socio-economic contexts.

Drawing on ethnographic data, this paper illustrates how young individuals navigate multiple sources of knowledge, draw inferences, interpret, and engage with the world around them.