Islamic education in Indonesia and Malaysia: shaping minds, saving souls

Despite their close geographic and cultural ties, Indonesia and Malaysia have dramatically different Islamic education, with that in Indonesia being relatively decentralized and discursively diverse, while that in Malaysia is centralized and discursively restricted.

This book explores the nature of the Islamic education systems in Indonesia and Malaysia and the different approaches taken by these states in managing these systems.

It argues that the post-colonial state in Malaysia has been more successful in centralising its control over Islamic education, and more concerned with promoting a restrictive orthodoxy, compared to the post-colonial state in Indonesia.