The Need for Reform in the Religious Education System of India: An Analytical Study of Shibli's Ideas

Abstract

The debate over the reform in madrasas in the Indian subcontinent has been around for almost last one and a half centuries. In this respect, Shibli's name after Sir Syed is very significant in the sense that his views are very moderate and comprehensive. On the one hand, he emphasizes the need to reform the madrassa curriculum, and on the other, he does not want its Islamic and Eastern identity to be affected. He thinks that a curriculum must be formulated which, according to him, has one part Eastern and the other Western. This paper is an analytical study of Shibli's thought regarding madrasa curriculum reform and will try to see what its rationality and significance are in the present time. The first part of the article examines Shibli's ideas regarding the curriculum of the madrasa system. While in the second part, their detailed features have been discussed, which are inclusion of modern subjects in the curriculum, reforms in teaching methods and other aspects.