ABSTRACT
Dealing with Islamic society and its educational institutions, the importance of the role of the state is ineluctable, since it is the state that has had a major impact on society in general and on traditional institutions in particular. This is especially true with regard to traditional Muslim education as it has developed, both in content and form, during the last few decades. In this framework, an enduring struggle can be observed between reform-Islam as perceived by state authorities and Muslim avant-gardists and Islamists, on the one hand, and the upholders of Islamic traditions and targets of change, for example the religious scholars, the ‘ulamā and mashāyikh, on the other.
