This article uses Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish to examine how de-radicalization programmes in the War on Terror transform power–knowledge relations, mental discipline and punishment by attempting to instil self-governance through non-violence. By asking questions on the nature of knowledge, practice, state involvement and recidivism of de-radicalization, it contends that many programmes may be ultimately limited by a disproportionate focus on religious rehabilitation. It concludes that scholarship has questioned the efficacy of counterterrorism models that overlook here-and-now political and economic grievances of Islamists who supposedly act in favour of otherworldly rewards. In his view, these models perpetuate cultural and religious stereotypes against Muslims even as it misses chances to enter into dialogues about the causes of violence. By extension, the article also identifies new questions for future research: which components of de-radicalization programmes embody local knowledge and practice and which components can be applied cross-culturally.