IIUM JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, 2:2 (2014) 98-106 Copyright © IIUM Press ISSN: 2289-8085 Thinking Creatively about Muslim Education: Exploring Yusef Waghid’s Maximalist- Minimalist Frame Muhammed Haron * Abstract: The South African Muslim scholar, Yusef Waghid,conceptualized Islamic education by creatively using the maximalist-minimalist theoretical frame. Waghid brought into the discussion numerous interrelated concepts and terms that helped to construct his conceptualization. In response to this process and application to this genre of education, this essay review evaluates Waghid’s text. Keywords: Islamic Education, Conceptualization, Maximalist, Minimalist, Theoretical Frame Introduction Of late American/European think tanks and foundations seemed to have become obsessed with their focus upon the state of Muslim educational institutions in and outside the Muslim heartlands. The reason for their fixation was based on the problematic notion that Muslim educational institutions such as the Darul-‘Ulum (i.e. Muslim theological seminaries) and madaris (i.e. Muslim schools) have been effectively contributing towards the training and graduation of Muslim extremists/radicals. And as a consequence of their negative perceptions of these Muslim institutions, they have persuaded Muslim nation- states such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to implement radical educational reform. The reports produced by, among others, the Brussels based International Crisis Group titled Pakistan: Madrasas, Extremism and the Military (2005), the CRS Report for Congress titled Islamic Religious Schools, Madrasas: Background (2006), and Jeanne *University of Botswana & University of Johannesburg