Relevance of Shibli's educational philosophy

Shibli Nu'mani, a late 19th century scholar, advocated a balanced educational philosophy for the Muslims in India. While most of his contemporaries wanted to teach traditional education to make Muslims retain their religious identity in the changed political situation, others stressed on modern science and learning to face the challenges of modernity. Traditional Islamic education aimed at the attainment of virtues while pursuing knowledge as an obligation and produced scientists and philosophers but these promoters of traditional education were ignorant of the demands of their time, whereas the modernist group considered traditional education unnecessary. Shibli used history and kalam to teach Muslims the unique characteristics of Islamic education and stressed that both groups need to make the Qur'n their main guide and urged the 'ulama' to take the lead.