This paper revisits the relationship between Pakistani religious schools and terrorism. While much of the literature informs the enduring perception that madrassahs breed terror, some recent studies have begun to question the extent to which religious schools drive militancy. The analysis below balances these ostensibly incompatible positions – alarm and skepticism are equally misplaced. With a focus on evidence, and warranted and unwarranted conclusions provided by the literature, this paper seeks to establish what we do and do not know about the madrassah-terrorism relationship. In the process, it renders a preliminary mechanism linking the madrassah to the terroristic incident.