ABSTRACT
As we have seen, madrasas and Islamic learning traditions are the embodiment of a variety of resistance patterns. On the one hand, they appear to be the local resistance forces arrayed against the universalizing and homogenizing notions of secular modernity as stipulated by the state from above. On the other hand, they are exposed to the challenges of homogenizing and globalizing notions of Islam emerging within the religious discourses, that is to say, from below. These forms of resistance do have the potential to evolve into some radicalism, as the resistance adapts itself to the political economy of madrasas. On the positive side, however, these forms also provide for creative alternatives allowing accommodation and appeasement from within. Both aspects can be traced in the ideas proliferated in and about madrasas and Islamic learning.
