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From Living Faith: Inside the Muslim World of Southeast Asia, by Steve Raymer

 Boys in Kota Bharu await their Koran reading class, where they learn that Islam's supreme religious text has played an important role in the development of Arabic grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. In addition to state-sponsored religious schools, hundreds of austere and unregulated sekolah pondok, literally small hut schools, have grown up around Malaysia to satisfy a demand for grass-roots Islamic education. But officials worry that pondok may also fuel Muslim fundamentalism and antigovernment sentiments.