Recently, I wrote two articles here on the importance of Arabic language. In the first article titled “Expatriates and the Arabic language,” I expressed my surprise and astonishment why expatriates living in Arab countries do not seize the opportunity to learn the Arabic language. The most surprising fact is that even some expatriates' children, born and brought up in an Arab country and completed their education up to secondary level in international schools there, cannot speak Arabic. In the article, I put the blame firstly on Arabs who do not make efforts to offer an opportunity to expatriates who want to learn the Arabic language. I also criticized the expatriates, especially parents of children born and raised in Arab countries. In reaction to the article, I received several calls from expatriates themselves, most of whom supported my viewpoint. But I also received a call from an Arab diplomat criticizing my viewpoint. The diplomat, a friend of mine, said that expatriates or their children would not benefit from learning the Arabic language. This point of view prompted me to write another article titled “Arabs and the Arabic language.” In this article, I explained the importance of the Arabic language as an international language spoken by people of 22 member countries of the United Nations, apart from being one of the official languages of several international organizations. I also mentioned about the injustice being done to the Arabic language by Arabs themselves for their lack of care in preserving and propagating it. Some Arabs are not only reluctant to open opportunities for non-Arab expatriates to learn the language, there are also those who distance themselves from speaking Arabic with expatriates who are fluent in the language. Many Arabs are keen on speaking with non-Arab expatriates in other languages even though their proficiency in foreign languages is worse that the proficiency of non-Arabs in Arabic. The second article also drew tremendous responses, with many people calling me to express their desire to learn Arabic in order to understand the Holy Qur'an. Reactions to the two articles gave me an impetus to write this article. As it is well known, Arabic is the language of the Qur'an and is used in worship. Performing the obligatory prayer of a Muslim is not possible without reciting some verses from the Qur'an and in pronouncing some supplications in the Arabic language. It is also not possible to understand the magnificence and miracles of the Qur'an without learning Arabic. I was impressed by the renowned scholar Abi Mansour Al-Thaalabi Al-Nisapuri who says in the preface of his wonderful book on philology: “If anyone loves the Almighty Allah, he should love His messenger (peace be upon him). If anybody loves His messenger, he should love Arabs. If anyone loves Arabs, he should love the Arabic language in which the best one among the divine books was revealed...” The leading Muslim scientist, physician, and astronomer Al-Biruni is well-known for his love of Arabic. He said: “By God, calumny in Arabic is dearer to me than eulogy in Persian.” The responsibility of Arabs toward Arabic and its propagation is not only a national duty but a religious duty as well. It comes as a surprise to me to see that the activities of the Qur'an memorization charity societies and the Qur'an memorization circles (halaga) at the mosques are concentrated on memorizing the Holy Book rather than explaining the meaning and rules of the Qur'anic verses to both Arab and non-Arab students. Hence, I suggest to these charity societies to set up special Qur'an circles at mosques for the non-Arab children to learn both the Qur'an and the Arabic language at the same time. I also propose to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance to entrust the imams to organize Arabic learning halaga at the mosques and ask Arab worshippers to conduct voluntary classes for non-Arabs, who are interested to learn Arabic, for two to three hours a week. Even though I have not specialized in this field, I have had an experience in this. Forty years ago, while serving as a diplomat in Karachi, Inamullah Khan, secretary-general of the World Muslim Congress, which was headed by Haj Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini as president, asked me to conduct voluntary classes on Arabic language. I held classes for several months until I was transferred to Japan. A Palestinian student continued the classes after I left Pakistan. I still recall that those who attended the classes were not regular students. Among them were teachers, lawyers, businessmen and even housewives. These students — there were more than 20 of them — organized a farewell party for me during which they gave me a memento. That left a great impact on me. During this Ramadan, I had two experiences that made me extremely happy. Firstly, I went to a non-Arab doctor and spoke with him only in Arabic. Both of us did not speak any word in a non-Arabic language. Secondly, I had an interview with the consul general of a major Asian country. We spoke for nearly an hour in Arabic and did not utter even a single non-Arabic word. In closing, I urge Arabs and Muslims to give utmost importance to the language of the Holy Qur'an.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdy is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
