This article aims to analyse recent researches, debates and reform attempts regarding madrasas in Pakistan. After 9/11, considerable increase has been observed in the studies related to Pakistan's madrasas. There is a high level of interest in these institutions because of their educational function as bases of the radical groups such as al Qaida and Taliban. The issue has gained international dimension as an element of international security. In this context madrassa reforms in Pakistan as an important subject of the global security and stability moved to the agenda of international education policies. A number of critical reports on Pakistan's madrasas and their curriculum have been produced, by international observers and agencies. By comparison with policy reports, academic analysis of the Pakistan's madrasas is limited. In the policy reports it is claimed that education in the Pakistan's madrasas are active in training the extremists and they highlights the ideology of jihad. The number of madrasas and students have alarmingly grown. Their curricu lum and textbooks promote hatred against other religions, India and motivate young to engage in jihad against the West. In addition madrasas in Pakistan are accused of being ground for the internal confusion, the instability and secterian conflicts in Pakistan society. Most of the reports present a negative image of the madrasa system as a whole, although only a small number of madrasas are link with militant groups. They argue that madrasa education should be reformed and replaced by modern education. They make strong claims about education in the madrasas, but the data gathering method on which the claims are based is very limited.Pakistan's madrasas are part of a modern South Asian madrasa tradition developed in the Indian subcontinent under Islamic thought. They mirrors the religious landscape of Pakistan: all main Islamic denominations and sub-groups have their own madrasas. Since the late 1950s, the madrasas have organized themselves in madrasa boards (wafaq). There are five boards: Ahl-i Hadith, Barelvi, Deobandi, Jama'at-i Islam and Shia. The boards determine the curriculum of the madrasas registered with them, provide examination questions, grade examinations, and issue graduation certificates and diplomas. Approximately, 70 percent are Deobandi, 16 perccnt are Barelwi, 5 percent are Jama'at-i Islam, 4 percent Ahl-i Hadith, and 3 percent Shia of the total madrasas in Pakistan. The majority of Pakistan's madrasas are community-based institutions. They respond to the demand for religious education in the communities where they exist, and on which they are dependent for financial support. In many localities in Pakistan, no public school exists and the madrasas offer parents the only possibility of educating their children.Specially after 9/11, Pakistan's madrasas were conceived as a international security threat by Western governments, particularly the United States, have mainly placed pressure on Pakistan to reform the madrasas. Therefore a new initiative to reform Pakistan's madrasas was undertaken by President Musharraf in early 2001. The Pakistan's Madrasa Education Ordinance, 2001, and the Dini Madrasa Ordinance, 2002, proposed to reform and regulate madrasas. The madrasa reform was primarily focused on registering the madrasas with the government and on reforming the curriculum by introducing secular subjects such as English, Pakistan Studies, general science and computer sciences.The government and the madrasas generally agree on the need for reform; however, both the starting point and the objective of the reform process are qualitatively different. The madrasas want reform to enhance the quality of the religious education in the schools. The Government of Pakistan wants reform that introduces more contemporary subjects, regulates what is taught in the schools and makes madrasa education more relevant to society today, while also moderating potential radical influences. However, the reform has so far been deemed a failure, among both government and madrasa representatives. A recent agreement between the government and the madrasa leadership signed in October 2010, is a promising step.