The previous chapters have demonstrated how Islamic education has become the frontline in the battle for influence and adherence between traditionalist and reformist Muslim scholars and community leaders in southern Thailand. By way of the Kaum Tua–Kaum Muda intellectual and theological contestation of the past, the book has discussed the intellectual underpinnings of the newly emergent reformist movement, which has taken a decidedly Salafist doctrinal and epistemological bent. Not only do traditionalists have to face the increasingly formidable challenge presented by the reformists, including proponents of literalist constructions of Islam, but they also have to contend with other representations of the faith that have emerged on southern Thailand's socio-religious landscape over the past few years, These are not only gaining popularity, but also jostling for legitimacy, authenticity, and influence. Two in particular warrant mention — the Jemaat Tabligh and Shi'a Islam.

Though the Jemaat Tabligh and Shi'a Islam had established a presence in the southern provinces by the mid-twentieth century, their activism accelerated considerably between 1980 and 1996 as a result of two factors. First, the early 1980s witnessed the intensification of a global Islamic awakening that rode the waves of the Iranian Revolution and the Mujahideen struggle against Soviet imperialism in Afghanistan in 1979. The Revolution represented the triumph of Islam over a superpower-backed authoritarian regime and the creation of a modern Islamic polity, signalling the emergence of an authentic Islamic ideology that could challenge the hegemony and dominance of Western conceptualizations of statehood. Needless to say, southern Thailand was not immune as the psychological impact of the Revolution rippled across the Muslim world. Describing the impact of the Revolution on Muslims in southern Thailand, Surin Pitsuwan remarked: