Middle East Girls’ Schools

As Muslims in America grapple with big questions about how they fit into a society that sometimes treats them unfairly, law enforcement and journalists are following another question: How did San Bernardino mass shooter Tashfeen Malik become radicalized? Malik and her husband, Sayed Farook, killed 14 people and wounded more than 20 others last Wednesday. Part of the answer to how she became radicalized may lie in a chain of ultra-conservative schools for affluent girls and women in Pakistan. Malik attended an Al-Huda islamic institute for a period in 2013, and friends reported a marked change in her while she attended the school. We look into the genesis and practices of these kinds of schools.