Minangkabau ulamas of this generation is marked with the intellectual struggle between the traditionalists, who uphold the syncretic Islam fostered mainly through Naqshbandi worldview, and the modernists who are inspired by newly founded Islamic modernist movement which advocates for Sunnah, modern education and forsaking of non-orthodox traditions. Among the main contentions of the struggle are the allowance and the scope of ijtihad (independent thinking) and the aspects of hukum wasilah (rules of tawassul) deemed incompatible with Sunnah.[15]