Dear All,

18th November 2011 was 97th death anniversary of Allama Shibli Nomani, the great thinker, theologian and reformer.

A lot has been written about him and his work. But one thing which always bothered me was his supposedly contentions and disagreement with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. I failed to understand how Maulana Syed Sulaiman Nadvi sahab, who wrote Allama Shibli Nomani's biography, "Hayat-e-Shibli" draw this conclusion and put Allama Shibli Nomani as a competitor of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

In fact Allama Shibli was youngest member of Sir Syed's team and joined very late at a very young age but very soon got a special place in the life and circle of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The following article on him by another great man, Shaikh Abdullah gave me a boost to my understanding. Please read it its entirety and if not, please read the last paragraph. The article is published in the November issue of "Tahzeeb", monthly magazine of Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of Pakistan.

I think, time has come that the misconceptions about Allama Shibli and his relation with Sir Syed needs to be reviewed in true perspective with open eyes and mind.

Afzal Usmani
Austin Texas