MERITS OF ARABIC LANGUAGE & ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGION
By: Dr. Issah Abeebllahi Obalowu
Arabic Language as the Best of all Languages
In the first place, the Arabic language derives its value from being the language of the last Prophet and last revelation. Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) who is the most beloved one to Allah came from among the Arabs. Likewise, the Qur’an which is the word of Allah and His last and most comprehensive divine message to the whole universe was revealed in the Arabic language. Indeed, Allah knows that the Arabic language is the richest language that is worthy of being the world language, and the most suitable one for conveying His last and eternal message to the whole world. Thus, Allah revealed the Qur’an in Arabic. Allah says: “Indeed, We have sent down the Qur’an in Arabic language, so that you may understand.” (Qur’an, Yusuf:2). Ibn Khathīr argues that the Qur’an is being revealed in the Arabic language because it is the most eloquent, fluent, and comprehensive language. Likewise, it is the best language that reveals the exact desired meanings of the words that can touch the souls and leave a great impact and reflection. So, Allah has revealed the best of His Books, in the best of His languages, to the best of His Apostles, through the best of His angels, in the best of His months, on the best place on the earth, during the best of His months. Thus, the honour revolves around the Qur’an from every angle.[1] (Ibn Khathir, 4/366). In another place in the Qur’an, “Allah says: It is a Quran that is revealed in Arabic without any oddity, so perhaps they will be conscious of Allah.” (Qur’an, al-Zumar:28).
Arabic Language as a Universal language
The revelation of the Qur’an in the Arabic language has given the language the feature of globality. Since the Prophet (p.b.u.h) is sent to the entire world with the message of the Qur’an, therefore, every Muslim around the world is required to know a certain amount of Arabic that will, at least, enable him/her fulfilling the right of worship. Allah says: “And We have not sent you [Muhammad] except to the entire mankind as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. But most of the people do not know.” (Qur’an, Sabai:28). Undoubtedly, every Muslim around the world must recite some parts of the Qur’an daily in the Arabic language in their five-times daily prayers and nawᾱfil as well. Likewise, some parts of the ḥajj rites must be performed in the Arabic language, such as al-Talbiyyah. More so, al-Adhᾱn, different types of adhkᾱr and other religious rites must be done in the Arabic language. Thus, the Arabic language is known everywhere across the universe and is being spoken in any corner of the world. So, the Arabic language is definitely found anywhere a single Muslim is found.
The Inevitability of Mastering Arabic Language for Proper Understanding of Religion
A simple understanding of the message of al-Qur’an requires a certain level of mastering Arabic grammar, let alone he who wants to become an Islamic scholar. Actually, the early generation of this ummah attained that high level of knowledge and understanding of al-Qur’an due to their vastness and firmness in Arabic grammar, as it was their mother language. Hence, as the level of grammatical competence diminishes in the later generations, the level of their understanding of the Qur’an diminishes as well. A typical example of this fact is obvious in the present situation of the Arabs; many Arabs of today cannot comprehend the message of the Qur’an, despite that it was revealed in their own language. The cause for this phenomenon is the prevalence of broken/pidgin Arabic across the Arab world today. If the common message of the Qur’an can be hardly understood without mastering Arabic grammar, hence, becoming a Mufassir of the Qur’an requires a high level of grammatical efficiency.
Categories of Knowledge in Islam
Knowledge and disciplines in Islam are categorized into two groups:
(1) The groups of knowledge that are considered to be the tools (علوم الآلة) (‘ulūm al-Ᾱlah). This category consists of all the subjects related to Arabic grammar, i.e., al-Naḥw, al-Ṣṣarf, al-Balᾱghah…
(2) The groups of knowledge that are considered to be the objectives (علوم المقاصد) (‘ulūm al-maqᾱṣid), i.e., ‘Aqidah, Tafsir, Hadith and Fiqh.
The first group that is considered to be the tool serves as the foundation that helps the students of knowledge to understand the objectives, such as Tafsir. According to the scholars of Islam that wrote about the etiquettes of seeking knowledge, it is highly recommended for the students of knowledge to start with the tools that serve as the mechanism for them to have a proper understanding of the objectives. Indeed, such a step is inevitable in this aspect. Iman al-Shawkᾱnī in his book “Adab al-Ṭalab wa Muntahᾱ al-Arib” categorized the students of knowledge into three groups as follows:
1. The students who wish to become the authorities in their field, teach people and write books. Such students are the scholars of the ummah, i.e., mufassir, mahadith, etc.
2. The students whose objective of seeking knowledge is to become independent in all that is related to their religion, whereby will have enough knowledge of what will enable them to fulfil the right of all kinds of ‘ibᾱdah that are required from them.
3. The type of students who aim to acquire the amount of knowledge that will enable them to standardize their pronunciation of the words of al-Qur’an and Arabic language, and strengthen their intellects to avoid misguidance. So, the major source of the verdicts on their religious matters depends on the scholars.
According to al-Shawkᾱnī, all these three categories of students are immensely required to start their journey of seeking knowledge with learning Arabic grammar. Actually, anyone that wants to become a schorlar of tafasir, hadith, fiqh etc., as decided to speak on behalf of Allah by expressing the aims and objectives of Allah in His words and His religion. Such a person falls under the first category of students of knowledge; therefore, he is required to be extremely vast in Arabic grammar. He asserts that he who intends to reach that stage must start the journey with ‘ilm al-Naḥw and al-Ṣṣarf; both disciplines that have to do with grammatical analysis in the Arabic language. He argues that no one can become vast in a discipline in Islamic knowledge except that he masters some specific books of Arabic grammar. According to him, after mastering Arabic grammar, he has to proceed with ‘ilm al-Balᾱgah, which also serves as a mechanism for the contextual analysis of the texts. Therefore, no one can have a proper understanding of the meaning of al-Qur’an and the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) without having sufficient knowledge of the aforementioned disciplines. He stated that the student is then eligible to start learning Tafsīr after acquiring sufficient Arabic grammar that serves as the tools.[2] In fact, there is no disagreement between the scholars of Islam on the fact that mastering all subjects that are related to grammatical analysis in the Arabic language is an essential requirement for the proper understanding of the texts and correct deduction of the lessons and verdicts from them.
[1] See: Abu al-Alfidᾱi Ismᾱ‘īl bin ‘Umar bin Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qur’an al-‘Aẓīm, )Dᾱr Ṭayyibah li al-Nnashr wa al-Tawzī’), vol.4: 366.
[2] See: Muhammad bin ‘Alī al-Shawkᾱnī, Adab al-Ṭalab wa Muntahᾱ al-Arib, (Bayrut: Dᾱr al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah), 145-181.
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