This chapter examines the multifaceted role of madrasa education in rural Bangladesh through a robust mixed-methods design that integrates ethnographic fieldwork, household surveys, and in-depth interviews. In contexts characterized by low household incomes and limited access to formal secular education, madrasas function as both cost-effective educational alternatives and critical sites for the formation of religious and political identities. The study finds that early exposure through maktabs establishes a durable foundation of cultural capital, while the madrasa curriculum reinforces traditional norms and shapes gender roles, even as these institutions adapt to modern socioeconomic challenges. By linking localized micro-level insights with broader structural transformations, the chapter challenges the conventional binary of Islamization versus secularization and demonstrates that traditional Islamic pedagogical practices and modern socioeconomic imperatives are mutually constitutive. The findings have significant implications for rethinking educational policy in rural Bangladesh and contribute to ongoing debates on religious modernity and identity politics in South Asia.