Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand: Tradition and Transformation

Preface

xvii PREFACE Islamic education in southern Thailand has not been the subject of much scholarly attention and analysis as few have gone to print on it — whether in the English, Malay, or Thai languages. Currently, Hasan Madmarn’s work on Islamic schools in Pattani, The Pondok and Madrasah in Pattani, stands out as the only book-length investigation of this phenomenon published in the English language. For that reason alone it remains a path-breaking study and a valuable contribution to our understanding of a very dynamic, yet reclusive, social-religious institution. The value of Madmarn’s contribution is undoubtedly augmented by the fact that he himself was a product of the traditional pondok (Islamic school), an institution that remains the heartbeat of Thai Malay-Muslim culture and identity, even in this age of globalization. Madmarn’s book provides important historical information about the development of the pondok in southern Thailand, as well as its gradual ascent to a position of eminence as a bastion of Islamic scholarship in Muslim Southeast Asia. While it provides insight into the traditional curriculum in Islamic schools, Madmarn’s laudable effort is by and large descriptive in nature. Little attempt is made to analyse and interrogate the much-vaunted legacy of traditional Islamic education in southernThailand against the political context in which it is located, or to uncover the tensions and antinomies inherent in southern Thailand’s dynamic Muslim society, which I suggest have both framed and been framed by Islamic education. By skirting these more complex issues, Muslim society is inadvertently portrayed as a somewhat monolithic entity when in fact it is deeply divided between forces of tradition, reform, and modernity. To be fair, Madmarn does hint at these cleavages when he 00 IslamEdu&Reform Prelims 4/23/09, 2:30 PM 17 xviii Preface introduces the madrasah as an alternative to the traditional pondok, but ultimately, the implications of its emergence on the overall landscape of Islamic education in the South is skirted. Aside from Madmarn’s work, broader studies on Muslim society, particularly of the Malay-Muslim southern provinces have touched on various aspects of Islamic education. The work of Michel Gilquin, Wan Kadir Che Man, Surin Pitsuwan, Uthai Dulyakasem, and Raymond Scupin come immediately to mind, as does a Ph.D. dissertation written in English by Ibrahim Narongraksakhet, available in the libraries of Universiti Malaya and Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani Campus. With the exception of Scupin and Narongraksakhet, who provide a great deal of detail about Islamic education institutions themselves, the attention given to education issues in these studies are usually addressed along any of the following three themes: (1) the revered status of Islamic education institutions, in particular the pondok, in Malay-Muslim society, (2) the role of Islamic education institutions in the broader ethno-nationalist and separatist struggle, and (3) state policies towards Islamic education. Thus far, no article or book-length study has attempted to explore the structure of Islamic education in terms of the types of schools, enrolment or funding trends, or issues of translocality. Nor has any effort been made to pry open the “black box” of Islamic education by dissecting the curriculum in Islamic schools, either through interviewing teachers and students or by interrogating key texts and ideas that circulate in these schools. This book hopes to fill this lacuna. On top of a careful scrutiny of existing literature, the methods of inquiry adopted in this study revolve around in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation, and textual analysis. Fieldwork for this book was conducted on numerous occasions beginning in April 2004. This included visits to Islamic schools and religious institutions in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. Over the course of these visits, extensive interviews were conducted by the author and his research assistants with religious teachers, alim, academics, students, and community leaders. Where possible, interviews were also conducted with Thai government and security officials in order to ascertain how the state views Islamic education and its overall place in Thai society against the backdrop of conflict in southern Thailand. Field researchers also provided further assistance in the form of critical follow-up interviews. During these field visits, I also had the opportunity to spend some time at various Islamic schools observing religious and vocational classes. This allowed me the opportunity not only to witness firsthand the conduct of lessons, but also to observe the relationship between religious teachers and their students. 00 IslamEdu&Reform Prelims 4/23/09, 2:30 PM 18 [3.128...