Language plays a pivotal role in any given society. Not only is it a means by which individuals communicate with each other, but it is the medium through which a society's core beliefs and values are expressed. It is these beliefs and values which subsequently lead to the establishment of its whole structure and from which solutions are derived for problems that arise in life's affairs. Among a number of other languages, Arabic is a principal world language. By virtue of being intrinsically linked to the Qur'an and Sunnah, it has had a huge impact on the lives of billions over the centuries.
Arabic Language
Although known as the language of Islam, the Arabic language predates the advent of Islam: it is an ancient Semitic language with roots in the sixth century B.C. with the Nabataeans, an Arab tribe that spoke Aramaic.
The language was thus coined by the Arabs and is not in any way a ‘revealed' language.
The Arabic alphabet (derived from the Aramaic script) has 28 letters.
The normal word order of a sentence in Arabic is verb/subject/object.
As for tenses, it only has two (perfect tense, imperfect tense or the present tense).
The words in Arabic are constructed from normally three letter "roots" which convey a basic idea.
A variety of new words can be formed from a single root such as the words book, office and library which can be formed by adding other letters to the root k-t-b (which conveys the idea of writing).
The verbs are marked for person (first, second, third), gender and number. These alterations in the basic meaning of a verb are made by adding to the root. Hence, the root k-t-b can produce forms such as kataba, "he broke", kutiba, "it was written" and yaktubu "he writes".
The Arabic language is largely a rule-governed language with a less number of exceptions to the rules as compared to some other languages such as English.
Before the coming of Islam, the Arabs took great pride in their linguistic skills. The huge amount of literature that exists from the pre-Islamic era is a testament to the significant role the Arabic language played at that time. As Ibn Rashiq (quoted in Islam, the Qur'an and the Arabic Literature by Omran, 1988) writes:
"Whenever a poet emerged in an Arab tribe, other tribes would come to congratulate, feasts would be prepared, the women would join together on lutes as they do at weddings and old and young men would all rejoice at the good news. The Arabs used to congratulate each other only on the birth of a child and when a poet rose among them."
Miracle
Indeed the miracle given to Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is fundamentally linked to this period in history. As with other prophets, Allah سبحانه وتعالى sent Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم a miracle (i.e. a phenomena that broke a universal law) that was most relevant to its time. That miracle was the Qur'an. The Qur'an, being an embodiment of linguistic and literary beauty, exceeds anything of human origin for the reason that it cannot be matched grammatically, linguistically, aesthetically or in composition. Its' style is universally recognized as being unique as it falls in none of the eighteen styles of writing that exist in the Arabic language (sixteen styles of poetry (al -Bihar), prose (sajj) and rhymed prose (mursal). The Qur'an is therefore, indisputably recognized as a unique genre - a genre that cannot be improved upon or even matched by any living being. As Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Qur'an:
قُل لَّئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الإِنسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى أَن يَأْتُواْ بِمِثْلِ هَـذَا الْقُرْآنِ لاَ يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا
"If the whole of mankind and the jinn were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed each other up." [Al-Israa, 17:88]
The disbelievers are also openly challenged in the Qur'an:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُواْ بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ
"And if you are in doubt as to what we have revealed, then produce a sura like unto it." [Al-Baqara, 2:23]
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِسُورَةٍ مِّثْلِهِ وَادْعُواْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
"Or do they say: 'He forged it'? Say: 'Bring then a sura like unto it and call [to your aid] anyone you can.'" [Yunus, 10:38]
This challenge of the Qur'an came at a time in which literary eloquence was at its peak. The Arabs who took great pride in their language and in precise and articulate speech had been truly humiliated, for despite having the same set of letters and grammatical rules at their disposal, they were unable to come anywhere near meeting the challenge. Since then, there have been many who have tried and failed miserably in this endeavor. Thus Allah سبحانه وتعالى used the Arabic language to convey His final message to mankind and to present to those in doubt of the Message and the prophet hood of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم an open challenge till the Day of Judgment.
Arabic and Legislation
The role of Arabic in Islam does not come to a halt with the revelation. Naturally a sound understanding of the Arabic language is required to understand its Message. The knowledge of Arabic language is also required to extract laws from the Qur'an and Sunnah - that is, to perform ijtihad. Ijtihad is defined as exerting one's utmost effort to extract rules from the legislative sources. The Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم are considered to be the primary legislative sources that have the ability to express new rulings from a single Ayah or Hadith. The other legislative sources that are derived from these primary sources are Ijma (consensus) and Qiyas (analogical deduction). When applied, the legislative sources enable a Mujtahid (a person qualified to perform ijtihad) to find a rule for any new situation faced at any period in time. In addition to having an in depth knowledge of the legislative sources, a Mujtahid would also need to acquire knowledge of the Arabic language since without understanding the rules of the Arabic language and their application, it would be impossible to comprehend the sources accurately. As an example, without being aware of the rules of Arabic grammar for interpreting the text of Quran and Sunnah, it would not be possible to find out if the command in the Ayah or Hadith for a certain action is Haram (forbidden) or Makruh (undesirable). As it is the Arabic language in its linguistic capacity that enables the Qur'an and the Sunnah to be applicable for all times, we find that Muslims in the past would acquire knowledge of the Arabic language in the same way as they would acquire knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Most of the Tabi'een (followers and companions of a specific Sahabi) for instance, were non-Arabs who learned the Arabic language and made great contributions to the field of Islamic law.
Understanding the inextricable link between the Arabic language and the Qur'an and Sunnah, the Muslims of the Arabian Peninsula took with them the Arabic language, in the same way as they took the Qur'an and Sunnah, to far-off lands. It is reported that ‘Umar ibn Yazeed wrote to Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari and said: "Learn the Sunnah and learn Arabic; learn the Qur'an in Arabic for it is Arabic."
It is therefore hardly surprising that, within a few centuries after the revelation of the Qur'an, Arabic became the common language of government, correspondence, business, and literary expression. Regions of Northern Africa and the Middle East were transformed into Arabic-speaking areas within a century of the coming of Islam. In later centuries, Arabic was spoken in parts of Europe and Asia as more lands came under the domain of Islam. The Arabic language was the tool with which Muslims implemented Islam over vast areas of land bringing peace, justice and tranquility to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.
As lands were conquered, words had to be given to items that Arabs came across. This was only made possible due to the unique quality of the Arabic language which only a few other languages possess. The Arabic language comprises of certain styles that enable it to express any new meaning. For one, its metaphorical nature enables it to create words according to meaning in a metaphorical sense. The qualities of derivation lead to coining of Arabic equivalents on the basis of the Arabic roots. In addition, arabisation makes possible the carving of foreign words and shaping them based on fixed rules that ensure consistency with the principles of arabisation that have already been set in the Arabic language. An example of this would be the word dirham - used to denote a silver coin- which was arabised from the Greek drachmē or drachma by following the standard Arabic noun structure fi'lal. In fact, by proceeding according to the principles of derivation, arabisation and metaphoric usage as well as the details and forms (awzaan) of the Arabic language that had been firmly established in the Arabic language, the Muslims were able to enrich the language and were able to express any new meaning that they came across. The nature of the Arabic language is as such that due to its ability to encompass new words, it is a language that is applicable and relevant for all times in all aspects of human affairs. This quality makes it extremely suitable for the carrying of the Islamic call.
The role of the Arabic language is therefore crucial in Islam for it is the language Allah سبحانه وتعالى has used to convey His final Message and to openly challenge those who disbelieve in its authenticity. Moreover, it is the Arabic language that enables Islam to be relevant and applicable for all times since it is a tool without which ijtihad cannot be performed. The closing of the doors of ijtihad from the seventh century Hijri had a devastating effect on the Muslim Ummah as it stunted its ability to solve emerging problems. Islam therefore became a set of rituals lacking in capacity to deal with new issues that arose. The closing of the doors of ijtihad also lead to the birth of erroneous philosophies as to how to deal with problems of the Ummah. Some began to use their own minds to solve newly occurring problems without any evidence from the Islamic sources, while others were quick to come up with answers without acquiring the necessary tools to perform ijtihad. This road to decline still exists as the Muslim Ummah continues to live in a state of decline in every sphere of life. The only way to come out of this darkness is to once again mix the capacity of the Arabic language with the capacity of Islam without which proper understanding and implementation of Islam cannot be achieved.
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abi jibreel
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Minor correction to last paragraph: "The closing of the doors of ijtihad from the seventh century Hijri had a devastating......" I believe the Ijtihad was closed or suspended in the 4th century Hijri by the Fatwa from a man called Al-Qaffal (The Closer), actually his name was Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn 'Ali al- Shashi; he died 976 CE. Nice though with all the references for further study. Jazakum Allahu Khayran. [---- Question: Is Shabina Khan related to 'Adnan Khan? ---- erase this and please answer to my email.] |
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Rizmie Ziard
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One of the tools used to destroy the Khilapah was nationlism by doing this what the british did was to seperate Arabic from muslims whose mother toungue is a different language. In the past as during the prophet Muhammed (PBUH) most sahabas embrased Islam merely by reading the Quran as the Quran became a tool once read by those who knew arabic knew it was a devine revelation. So by removing Arabic as the number one language and replacing it with Englsh was a planned stratergy by the British crusaders to prevent the muslim ummah reuniting and to reduce the non muslims from understanding the quran You might say that now we have the Englsih transaltion of the Quran but the structure of the quran in arabic could never be done through the English transaltion. These structure was what convinced the greatest poets that the quran was surely a devine revelation. So I believe that we should put more effort in teaching our children Arabic |
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mak
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Ability to speak is Divine (revealed). Quran is revealed in the language of the Prophet in a unique style ecompassing all the styles. To argue from where the alifabets come from is to decipher the origin of the universe, only Allah knows. The Contents and style and each word of QURAN is perfactyly placed and sometime our inability to comprehend does not make It imperfact. Imperfaction of man must continue to internalize The Perfaction of Quran. Light of Quran is for the man's darkness anyone refuse or fail to understand will be at loss because Divine Guidence is not for the errant let them read New york Times. Sumon bookmun umyun are out of the ambit of Mercy by their own choice. |
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Shabina Khan
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Useful quotations from A Hundred and One Rules ! A Short Reference for Arabic Syntactic, Morphological & Phonological Rules for Novice & Intermediate Levels of Proficiency, Mohammed Jiyad, Spring 2006. http://myopenletter.googlepage...ookPDF.pdf (Also contains a list of references) The Arabic language developed through the early centuries in the Arabian Peninsula in the era immediately preceding the appearance of Islam, when it acquired the form in which it is known today. Arab poets of the pre-Islamic period had developed a language of amazing richness and flexibility. For the most part, their poetry was transmitted and preserved orally. The Arabic language was then, as it is now, easily capable of creating new words and terminology in order to adapt to the demand of new scientific and artistic discoveries. As the new believers in the seventh century spread out from the Peninsula to create a vast empire, first with its capital in Damascus and later in Baghdad, Arabic became the administrative language of vast section of the Mediterranean world. It drew upon Byzantine and Persian terms and its own immense inner resources of vocabulary and grammatical flexibility. (1 Introduction)) The first rules of Arabic language, including its poetry metrical theory, and its syntax, morphology and phonology, were written in Iraq. This task was conducted both in Al-Basrah under Al-Khalil Ibn Ahmed Al-Farahidy and in Al-Kuufah under Abu al-Hasan Al-Kisaa'i. During the Middle Ages Al-Khalil in his book Kitab al ain and, his student, Siibawayh in Al Kitab concluded that task. (1 Introduction) The early attempt to write the Arabic grammar began as early as the time of the fourth Well-Guided Caliphs, Ali Ibn Abi Taalib, when he commissioned a man named Abu Al-Aswad Al-Du'ali for the task. In his book, Al-Anbari reports the following anecdote I came to The Leader of the Believers, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, and found that he was holding a note in his hand. I asked, "What is this, Oh Leader of the Faithful?" He said, "I have been thinking of the language of the Arabs, and I came to find out that it has been corrupted through contacts with these foreigners. Therefore, I have decided to put something that they (the Arabs) refer to and rely on." Then he gave me the note and on it he wrote: “Speech is made of nouns, verbs and particles. Nouns are names of things, verbs provide information, and particles complete the meaning." Then he said to me, "Follow this approach and add to it what comes to your mind." Al-Du'ali continued to say,I wrote two chapters on conjunctions and attributes then two chapters on exclamation and interrogatives. Then I wrote about Inna wa Ikhwatiha and I skipped لكنَّ . When I showed that to him (Peace be upon him), he ordered me to add لكنَّ. Therefore, every time I finish a chapter I showed it to him (May God be satisfied with him), until I covered what I thought to be enough. He said, "How beautiful is the approach you have taken!" From there the concept of grammar came to exist. (II and III) The framework of the Arab grammarians served exclusively for the analysis of Arabic and, therefore, has a special relevance for the study of the language. From the period between 750 and 1500 we know the names of more than 4000 grammarians who developed a truly comprehensive body of knowledge on their own language.(III) Siibawayh was the first grammarian to give an account of the entire language in what was probably the first publication in book form in Arabic prose. In his book, Al-Husary reported that Siibawayh used to have his work reviewed by another grammarian of his time named Al-Akhfash Al-Saghiir who said that, " Siibawayh showed me the grammar rules he came up with thinking that I knew better than him. In fact, he has better knowledge than me." Siibawayh's example set the trend for all subsequent generations of grammarians, who believed that their main task was to provide an explanation for every single phenomenon in Arabic. Consequently, they distinguished between what was transmitted and what was theoretically possible in language. In principle, they accepted everything from reliable resources, which included the language of the Qur'an, pre-Islamic poetry, and testimonies from trustworthy Bedouin informants. After the period of the Islamic conquests, the sedentary population of Mekka and Medina began to regard the free-roaming Bedouin, whose language preserved the purity of the pre-Islamic times, as the ideal type of Arab, and the term Kilaam al-Arab 'Language of the Arabs' came to denote the pure, unaffected language of the Bedouins. (III and IV) |
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Shabina Khan
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6.)“Another important Aramaic offshoot is the Nabataean script, which eventually evolved into the Arabic script, replacing older scripts of Arabia such as Sabaean and Thamudic. The Aramaic script was also the source of Middle Eastern scripts such as Syriac, Mandaic, Palmyrene, and Hatran.” http://www.ancientscripts.com/aramaic.html 7.)“Although Arabic inscriptions are most common after the birth of Islam (7th century CE), the origin of the Arabic alphabet lies deeper in time. The Nabataeans, which established a kingdom in what is modern-day Jordan from the 2nd century BCE, were Arabs. They wrote with a highly cursive Aramaic-derived alphabet that would eventually evolve into the Arabic alphabet.” http://www.ancientscripts.com/arabic.html 8.)“The Arabic alphabet evolved from the Nabataean script, which is a descendant of the Aramaic writing.” http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/...80153.html 9.)The Arabic alphabet derives from the Aramaic script (through Syriac and then Nabatean), to which it bears a loose resemblance like that of Coptic or Cyrillic script to Greek script. http://www.101languages.net/ar...ystem.html 10.) [Aramaic-derived scripts]…In general, the alphabets of the Mediterranean region (Anatolia, Greece, Italy) are classified as Phoenician-derived, adapted from around the 8th century BCE, while those of the east (the Levant, Persia, Central Asia and India) are considered Aramaic-derived, adapted from around the 6th century BCE from the "Imperial Aramaic" script of the Achaemenid Empire. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, the unity of the Imperial Aramaic script was lost, diversifying into a number of descendant cursives. While the Hebrew and Nabataean alphabets are little changed in style from the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, the development of cursive versions of Aramaic led to the creation of the Syriac, Palmyrenean and Mandaic alphabets. These scripts formed the basis of the Arabic, Sogdian, Orkhon and Mongolian alphabets. The Indian Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts, and by extension the Brahmic family of scripts, are also considered derivations from the Aramaic script. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_alphabet (Also contains a list of references) 11.)“It [in this article] was shown that the Arabic script originated from the Nabataean script as opposed to Luxenberg's syro-aramäische script.” From Alphonse Mingana To Christoph Luxenberg: Arabic Script & The Alleged Syriac Origins Of The Qur'an. M. S. M. Saifullah, Mohammad Ghoniem & Shibli Zaman. Islamic awareness. http://www.islamic- awareness.org/Quran/Text/Mss/vowel.html 12.) Arabs coined the language The Ummah’s Charter. Hizb ut-Tahrir |
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Shabina Khan
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Correction: The following sentence should have included the words "with its script having roots": Though known as the language of Islam, the Arabic language predates the advent of Islam: it is an ancient Semitic language with its script having roots in the sixth century B.C. with the Nabataeans, an Arab tribe that spoke Aramaic. Arabic alphabet has 28 letters (according to some 29: including hamza which isn’t written as a letter, but is an orthographic sign usually written over one of the ‘carrier’ letters alif, waaw or yaa’). References: Semitic language; Arabic and the Nabataeans; Aramaic alphabet a precursor of the Arabic script. 1.)Arabic: Ancient Semitic language whose dialects are spoken throughout the Middle East and North Africa. http://www.answers.com/topic/arabic-language 2.)“Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Syriac.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language 3.)The Arabic Language, 2001, by Kees Versteegh, C. H. M. Versteegh, chap 2 ‘Arabic as a Semitic Language’. 4.)“Classical Arabic [is] the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect group, attested in Pre- Islamic Arabic inscriptions dating back to the 4th century.” The Arabic Language, 1997, by Kees Versteegh, Edinburgh University Press . 5.)“Gradually, the Nabataean's variant of the Aramaic script evolved from the angular shape of the original to a more cursive style with ample use of ligatures to join the letters of words together. Despite living under Roman rule, the Nabataeans continued to write with their script well into the 4th century CE, at which time the language behind the script shifted from Aramaic to Arabic. Nabataean is therefore considered the direct precursor of the Arabic script. In fact, one of the earliest inscriptions in the Arabic language was written in the Nabataean alphabet, found in Namarah (modern Syria) and dated to 328 CE. This date is considered by many scholars to be the date that Nabataean script "became" the Arabic script, although in reality the transition from one to the other occurs gradually over centuries. “ http://www.ancientscripts.com/nabataean.html For full list of books, articles and websites from which ancientscripts.com has taken information see: http://www.ancientscripts.com/reference.html |
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Jamal
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"though known as the language of Islam, the Arabic language predates the advent of Islam: it is an ancient Semitic language with roots in the sixth century B.C. with the Nabataeans, an Arab tribe that spoke Aramaic." please could you give reference to where you got this information from. "The language was thus coined by the Arabs and is not in any way a ‘revealed' language." The strongest evidential belief in Islam is that it is a Tawqeefiyya (revealed) Language. "The Arabic alphabet (derived from the Aramaic script) has 28 letters." Could you also give me the reference to books from which you enacted this information. Jamal |
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Zeital
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quwatu l- 'insani fi aqlihi wa lisanihi Roughly translates to: The strength of a person is in his intelligence and his tongue - Arabic proverb A true slave is the man who cannot speak his mind - Ancient Greek proverb http://www.theinimitablequran.com/ http://www.hamzatzortzis.com/ |
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