Confronting an existential crisis

Her brave attempt to work up enthusiasm for madrasas was ultimately frustrated by the reality she encountered on the ground

The last book I read on madrasas  (Hem Borker’s Madrasas and the Making of Islamic Womanhood ) argued that for all their flaws they offer a route to educational mobility for Muslim girls from conservative families, particularly from rural areas. These girls find madrasas empowering and a potential stepping stone to mainstream higher education, even a career. Some told her madrasas had transformed their lives. 

Yet, her description of the life inside a typical madrasa (Borker spent some time at a Delhi women’s madrasa as part of her research) showed an institution mired in a culture of exclusion, with  girls living