Wikipedia

Draft:Islam and Arabic language

Part of a series on
Islam
Beliefs
Practices
History
Culture and society
Related topics

The Arabic language in Islam, specifically Classical Arabic, which is called Quranic Arabic (like Biblical Hebrew), is the standard liturgical language and is generally given a special role in education and worship. Many Muslims see the Quran as divine revelation — it is believed to be the direct word of God as revealed to Muhammad in Arabic.[1][2] Translations of the Quran into other languages are therefore not treated as the Quran itself; rather, they are seen as interpretive texts, which attempt to communicate a translation of the Quran's message.[3][4] Regardless, they are generally accepted by Islamic religious authorities as interpretive guides for non-Arabic-speakers, despite their illegitimacy for religious practice.[5] Scholars of Islam must learn and interpret the Quran in classical Arabic. According to the four accepted Sunni schools of jurisprudence, it is a requirement for the khutbah to be delivered completely in classical Arabic.[6][better source needed]

The historical source of Islam's focus on Arabic may have been from the pre-Islamic tradition of Arabic poetry, in which the literate poets believed the language had an exceptional poetic quality that was untranslatable.[7] This tradition survives today in the belief that Classical Arabic as spoken by Muhammad was "pure" and "undefiled."[8]

Muslims believe in a command to pray five times per day, known as salah, which often consists partially of recitation of passages from the Quran. The vast majority of Muslims, however, do not speak Arabic natively and so many believe in the necessity to learn the language to participate in daily prayer.[9] Almost all Muslims believe that the Quran in Arabic is an exact duplication of the transcript that Muhammad received by dictation from God by way of the angelic messenger Gabriel and found in Heaven at Miraj.[10] However, this belief is not universal to all Muslims and has only emerged over time through the development of Islam.[11]

Classical Quranic Arabic edit

 
Verses from the Quran vocalized in a reading tradition considered normative Classical Arabic, written in the cursive Arabic.

Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic (Arabic: العربية الفصحى التراثية, romanized: al-ʻArabīyah al-Fuṣḥā at-Turāthīyah, lit. 'the most eloquent classic Arabic') is the liturgical language of Islam,[12][13] which is the standardized literary form of Arabic found in Quran and Hadith texts and also used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad and Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, elevated prose and oratory. Classical Arabic is, furthermore, the register of the Arabic language. In addition to various early sources, Classical Arabic is considered to be of most venerated genesis of Arabic.[14]

 
Distribution of Arabic dialects before the Rashidun Islamic conquests.[15]

The earliest forms of Arabic are known as Old Arabic and survive in inscriptions in Ancient North Arabian scripts as well as fragments of pre-Islamic poetry preserved in the classical literature. By the late 6th century AD, it is hypothesized that a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koiné", a synthetic language distinct from the spoken vernaculars, had developed with conservative, as well as innovative, features, including the case endings known as ʾiʿrab.[16] It is uncertain to what degree the spoken vernaculars corresponded to the literary style, however, as many surviving inscriptions in the region seem to indicate simplification or absence of the inflectional morphology of Classical Arabic. It is often said that the Bedouin dialects of Najd were probably the most conservative (or at least resembled the elevated intertribal idiom morphologically and lexically more than the other contemporary vernaculars), a view possibly supported by the romanticization of the "purity" of the language of the desert-dwellers (as opposed to the "corrupted" dialects of the city-dwellers) expressed in many medieval Arabic works, especially those on grammar, though some argue that all the spoken vernaculars probably deviated greatly from the supraregional literary norm to different degrees, while others, such as Joshua Blau, believe that "the differences between the classical and spoken language were not too far-reaching".[17]

The Arabic script is generally believed to have evolved from local cursive varieties of the Aramaic script, which have been adopted to write Arabic, though some, such as Jean Starcky, have postulated that it instead derives directly from the Syriac script since, unlike Aramaic, the scripts of Arabic and Syriac are both cursive. Indigenous speculations concerning the history of the script sometimes ascribe the origins of the script, and oftentimes the language itself also, to one of the ancient major figures in Islam, such as Adam or Ishmael, though others mention that it was introduced to Arabia from afar.[16] In the 7th century AD, the distinctive features of Old Hijazi, such as loss of final short vowels, loss of hamza, lenition of final /-at/ to /-ah/, and lack of nunation, influenced the consonantal text (or rasm) of the Qur'an (and many of its readings also) and the later normalized orthography of Classical Arabic as a standard literary register in the 8th century.[18]

By the 2nd century AH (9th century AD/CE), the language had been standardized by Arabic grammarians and knowledge of Classical Arabic became an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world, as it was the lingua franca across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa, and thus, the region eventually developed into a widespread state of diglossia. Consequently, the classical language, as well as the Arabic script, became the subject of much mythicization and was eventually associated with religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts, such as the rise of many groups traditionally categorized under the broad label of al-Shu'ibiyya (roughly meaning "those of the nations", as opposed to Arab tribes), who, despite the remarkable differences in their views, generally rejected the stressed and often dogmatized belief that the Arabs, as well as their language, were far superior to all other races and ethnicities,[note 1] and so the term later came to be applied pejoratively to such groups by their rivals.[note 2] Moreover, many Arabic grammarians strove to attribute as many words as possible to a "pure Arabic origin", especially those in the Qur'an. Thus, exegetes, theologians, and grammarians who entertained the idea of the presence of "impurities" (for example, naturalized loanwords) in the Qur'an were severely criticized and their proposed etymologies denounced in most cases.[note 3] Nonetheless, the belief in the racial and ethnic supremacy of the Arabs and the belief in the linguistic supremacy of Arabic did not seem to be necessary entailments of each other.[note 4]

Poems and sayings attributed to Arabic-speaking personages who lived before the standardization of the Classical idiom, which are preserved mainly in far later manuscripts, contain traces of elements in morphology and syntax that began to be regarded as chiefly poetic or characteristically regional or dialectal. Despite this, these, along with the Qur'an, were perceived as the principal foundation upon which grammatical inquiry, theorizing, and reasoning were to be based. They also formed the literary ideal to be followed, quoted, and imitated in solemn texts and speeches. Lexically, Classical Arabic may retain one or more of the dialectal forms of a given word as variants of the standardized forms, albeit often with much less currency and use.[16]

Use of the word "Allah" edit

 
A calligraphic rendition of the Bismillah

Hamid Nadim Rafiabadi claimed the word "Allah" as untranslatable as a "good" or "God." It is distinct from all names and cannot be derivated. According to Abdul Majid Daryabadi the English word "God" is a common German word to refer any superhuman figures from pagan mythologies who possess authority over both nature and humans, as an object of worship, but the word Allah is totally unique to it.[19]

Allah, originally al-ilah, is derived from alaha (we worshiped) or aliha (he was bewildered). Al-ilah means al-Matuh, the object of worship or the object of confusion for minds. The verb aliha signifies looking for safety, support, and sanctuary in order to survive, saving, rescuing, or delivering from evil. Adding the definite article "al" results in the word "Allah." According to Abdullah Ibn Abbas, Allah is the One Everyone takes as its god and worships, possessing the attributes of divinity and being worshiped. Alaha means to worship, it gives rise to the verbal noun ilaha.[19]

There is a disagreement on the etymological aspect of the Islamic Quranic word "Allah," including its origin, origin, and usage. Some scholars believe it originates from the term Ilahia in Chaldean and Syriac, which became Allah in Arabic later on. Others believe it is a Hebrew word, Iloha, used by Jews and Christians. The original form of the word was LAHA, which later evolved into Gabriel, Michael, Ismael, and Israel. When Arabicized, the final Alif was left out and replaced with LAM, making the sound of Lam more prominent. In Hebrew, words like "Eli" and "Elah" are conspicuous, indicating that God is exalted, and the words "Eliyahu" and "Eliyahu" signify worship of the deity. The Arabicization of these words has led to a debate on its origin and meaning.[19]

Marmaduke Pickthall notes that since the word Allah is neither feminine nor plural and has only ever been used to refer to the unfathomable supreme being, there is no equivalent term for Allah in English. The word "God" was used in old English, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, and German, but from a monotheistic viewpoint, it represents the supreme being, all-powerful, omniscient, eternal, infinite spirit, and creator and ruler of the universe, whom humans worship. The word can also be found with the small letter "g," which indicates a male who is considered to be immortal and endowed with supernatural abilities. It also refers to anything or anyone who has been the subject of extreme or unrestrained devotion; the old English word for this is godship. These characteristics of the term "god" or "God" are not appropriate for "Al-lah" because they are associated with the polytheistic, Trinitarian, or dualistic nature of the deity.[19]

The concept of Allah and related terms are discussed in Fakhruddin Razi's Tafsir, wherein it is argued that the word Allah is a proper noun rather than a derivative. La ilaha illallah, in his opinion, suggests the total unity of God and rejects identification with numerous other gods. Since Allah is a proper name that captures the essence of Allah uniquely, derivatives are not appropriate. His well-known statements shed important light on the idea of God's distinct essence.[19]

The term "Allah" is more appropriate than the term "God," which is frequently linked to aspects of polytheism, trinitarianism, and dualistic thinking. According to the Quran, there is only one God, and anyone who believes that Allah has partners will not be allowed to enter paradise and will not have any support. There is only one God, thus the Quran forbids disbelieving that Allah is the third of three gods. The pagan Arabs also referred to their gods as "Allah," allocating a portion of their altruistic duties to both Allah and their gods. According to Hamiduddin Farahi, the Arabic word "Al" (the) is used specifically for "Allah," and it is only used for Allah, the one who created the earth, the heavens, and all living things. This word has the same meaning among the Arabs.[19]

Derived from the root Rahmat, the terms Rahman and Rahim mean tenderness and love. Rahman is the forerunner of feailan, signifying the utmost significance in divine Mercy, while the latter utilizes the everlasting supply of mercy from the Divine Being. Both Rahman and Rahim are active participle nouns with distinct paradigms; Rahman represents the highest form of Arabic verb, while Rahim expresses how that grace manifests itself in and affects his creation.[19]

Rahman is described as a forgiving being who desires goodness and the betterment of all creatures in the Tafsir al-Jalalayn. On the other hand, Rahim is a common term but lexically specific, whereas Rahman is specific in meaning but common in literal sense. Al-Rahman is the universal kindness that Allah bestows on all beings, good and bad, believers and unbelievers alike. The limitless benefits of life are bestowed upon all people, and they provide them with sustenance in abundance. Ar-Rahim, on the other hand, speaks exclusively of the special mercy given to believers and submissive servants. Although Rahim is indeed occasionally used with this same the meaning of an endless kind of mercy, Rahman focused in the Quran meaning.[19]

Language of Quran and Hadith edit

 
Al-Jami al-Sahih 14th century Marinid Morocco manuscript, the most prominent of the hadith literature, the acts and teachings of Muhammad, which also compiled in contemporary classical Arabic language.

The Arabic language is considered a part of Islam's religion, and learning it is not just an educational goal to muslims but also an essential means for understanding and knowledge of Islamic sources to them.[20] Classical muslim scholars and intelligentsia recognized its importance, with Omar Ibn Al-Khattab stating it is essential for understanding the Quran.[20] Ibn Al-Jawzi asserts that Arabic grammar and language are integral to Islamic sciences, providing a clear understanding of the Quran's meaning. Ibn Jinni argues weak Arabic knowledge leads to deviation from Islamic Sharia. Ibn Taymiya considers Arabic knowledge a religious obligatory must for understanding the Quran and Sunnah.[20]

Arabic linguistics has its roots in the Quran and pre-Islamic poetry, with the first reliable book of Arabic grammar "Sibawayh" appearing by the end of the second century of Hijra. Before the advent of Islam, Arabic tradition was mainly oral, with the writing tradition beginning with the Quran. This written tradition was inspired by the religious challenges of the new era, pen and book. Despite the shortcomings of the pre-Islamic Arabs in documenting their oral tradition, the Islamic written recovery of this oral tradition allows us to appreciate the linguistic supremacy of the Arabs before Islam. The Quran challenged the linguistic shrewdness of the first Muslim generations, as it was revealed in the language of the Arabs, allowing them to understand and know its meanings both in vocabulary and syntax. Narratives often show Muhammad giving an exegesis of verses or words that were not clear enough for their companions or had an allegorical meaning.[20]

Quran has significantly influenced the bond between Islam and the Arabic language, leading to the development of various Islamic sciences, particularly in Arabic literature and literature. Muslim scholars like Fazlur Rahman Malik claim that all non-secular sciences in Islam owe their origin to the Quran. The doctrine of 'inimitability' of the Quran is common across Muslim schools and has been a key factor in Arabic literature.[20]

John Penrice emphasizes the nature of the Quran's language calling it "miraculous" as a standard for Arabic literature. He believes that a competent knowledge of the Koran is essential for understanding Arabic literature, even without belief in its divine origin. He states, Quran contains transcendent excellencies and poetic ideas, with rich and appropriate language that transcends translation.[20]

During the early years of Islam, Arabic was crucial in its Quranic level. As Islam expanded, the dangers of misreading and misunderstanding the Quran's text increased. Ibn Khaldoun discussed the importance of Arabic in the Muslim world and the mixing of Arabic with non-Arabic languages due to foreign invasions. Quranic sciences emerged, leading to the establishment of tafsir-schools in Mecca, Medina, and Iraq. The emergence of a tafsir methodology in Islam aimed to protect the "divine word" from human language variability. The diachrony of Arabic language remained a significant factor in human interaction with the Quranic text.[20]

Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali explains how Islamic terms like salah, hajj, sawm, and zakat evolved from their original linguistic meanings. Islam added religious preconditions to these terms, including kinetic activities like kneeling and prostrating, and incorporating religious practices like circling the Kaba and standing on the Arafa mount.[20]

Art and literature edit

Main articles: Islamic art, Islamic literature, and Islamic calligraphy
 
The Surah "Al-Isra'" copied by the 13th century calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta'simi in Muhaqqaq script with Kufic incidentals.[21]

For many centuries, Arabic served as the linguistic vehicle through which many of Islamic civilization's religious, cultural, and intellectual achievements were articulated and refined. Recitation of the Quran is an artistic tradition similar to that of opera singing, where a singer (known as a qāriʾ) is expected to have mastery of vocal skills.[22] Outside daily prayer, recitations of the Quran in Arabic play a large role in major rituals such as marriage or funerary rites.[23]

The Muslim world is known for a tradition of calligraphy, where handwritten copies of the Quran are revered or preserved as museum pieces.[24] The visual tradition of depicting Muhammad, in particular, is to represent his name in calligraphy rather than depict him visually as a human figure.

Nationalism and Islamization edit

Arabic alphabet
Arabic script
See also: Spread of Islam, Islam and nationalism, List of countries and territories where Arabic is an official language, Arabic script, Islamization, Arabization, and Arabic alphabet

Arabic's role in Islam has been a major contributing factor to nationalist projects, both within and without the Arab world. Arab nationalists have supported the development of Modern Standard Arabic as an official state language in the Arab world, often making a direct connection between the language and the Islamic faith.[25] Nationalist projects in individual Arab nations often seek to implement the local vernacular dialect as the official language, but are met with religious opposition for "separating the Arabs from their one divine language."[26][27]

Arabic script was first used to write texts in Arabic, most notably the Quran, the holy book of Islam. With the religion's spread, it came to be used as the primary script for many language families, leading to the addition of new letters and other symbols. Such languages still using it are: Persian (Farsi and Dari), Malay (Jawi), Cham (Akhar Srak),[28] Uyghur, Kurdish, Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Sindhi, Balti, Balochi, Pashto, Lurish, Urdu, Kashmiri, Rohingya, Somali, Mandinka, and Mooré, among others.[29] Until the 16th century, it was also used for some Spanish texts, and—prior to the script reform in 1928—it was the writing system of Turkish.[30]

Algeria edit

Modern Standard Arabic, as the Quran's language, has been widely used in Algeria due to its opposition to neocolonial language and religion. Algerian nationalists' enthusiasm for Islam and Arabic, and rejection of French-associated language and culture, has led to sociolinguistic chaos, with many Algerian speakers lacking proper command of either language.[31]

Egypt edit

The Islamization of Egypt occurred after the 7th century Arab conquest of Egypt, in which the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate seized control of Egypt from the Christian Byzantine Empire. Egypt and other conquered territories in the Middle East underwent a large scale gradual conversion from Christianity to Islam, accompanied by jizya for those who refused to convert.[32] Islam became the dominant faith by the 10th to 12th centuries, and Arabic replaced Coptic as the vernacular language and Greek as the official language.[33]

Iran edit

The Islamization of Iran was the spread of Islam in formerly Sassanid Iran as a result of the Muslim conquest of the empire in 633–654. It was a long process by which Islam, though initially rejected, eventually spread among the population on the Iranian Plateau. Iranian peoples have maintained certain pre-Islamic traditions, including their language and culture, and adapted them with Arabian Islamic codes, specially using Arabic script in Farsi language. These two customs and traditions merged as the "Iranian Islamic" identity.[34]

Pakistan edit

Main articles: Islamization in Pakistan, History of Hindustani language, and Persian language in the Indian subcontinent

In Pakistan, where Arabic is not a native language of the country's ethnic groups, Arabic has still held a role in the state's religious nationalist project.[35] Arabic is mentioned in the constitution of Pakistan. It declares in article 31 No. 2 that "The State shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan (a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language ..."[36]

The Senate of Pakistan passed the Compulsory Teaching of the Arabic Language Bill on February 1, 2021, making Arabic teaching compulsory in Islamabad's primary and secondary schools.[37]

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947 during East Pakistani language movement, many advocated to Muhammad Ali Jinnah[38] making Arabic the state language of Pakistan as a Muslim nationalist country, which was later supported and reiterated by many, but the proposal ultimately did not gain popular support and popularity.[39][40][41] These proposals to make Arabic the state language failed to gain substantial support in any part of Pakistan.[42] However, as this demand is linked to the question of the development of Islamic culture, it indirectly reinforced the demand for the introduction of Arabic script in the state language Urdu and Bengali (Dobhashi) in some quarters.[42]

Turkey edit

See also: Islam in Turkey and Islam in the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Turkish (Ottoman Turkish: لِسانِ عُثمانى, romanized: Lisân-ı Osmânî, Turkish pronunciation: [liˈsaːnɯ osˈmaːniː]; Turkish: Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Islamic Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. During the peak of Ottoman power (c. 16th century CE), words of foreign origin mostly from Arabic and Persian, heavily outnumbered native Turkish words in Turkish literature in the Ottoman Empire,[43] with Arabic and Persian vocabulary accounting for up to 88% of the Ottoman vocabulary in some texts.[44]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Ernst 2013, p. 62: "It is commonplace to hear Muslim authors assert that the Qur'an is the literal word of God. This statement should probably be taken as an assertion that the words of God as revealed to Muhammad are indeed the words of God. That is, the Arabic text of the Qur'an is regarded as divine speech."
  2. ^ Suleiman 2003, p. 43: "The Qur'an puts Arabic in a favoured position as the communicative medium for expressing God's universal truths"
  3. ^ Boulaouali 2021, p. 124: "The consensus among Muslim scholars that the Quran translation is not a Quran, but rather an explanation of its meanings in the target language"
  4. ^ Renard 2014, p. 100: "The Arabic text of the Qur'ān has been handed down according to the exact wording of its verses, and no one may change them in the Arabic language by the agreement of Muslims"
  5. ^ Boulaouali 2021, p. 126: "There is a broad consensus among Muslim scholars and the four Sunni law schools about allowing the interpretation of the Quran in other languages"
  6. ^ Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani. The Language of the Friday Khutab. Karachi, Pakistan. Access via archive.org
  7. ^ Rahman 1988, p. 23: "The roots of this Qur'anic doctrine lie in the fact that pre-Islamic Arabs were already very proud of the expressive quality of their language. Before Islam, Arab poets competed with each other by composing eloquent poetry"
  8. ^ Zammit 2002, p. 38: "Muslim tradition qualifies Qur'ānic Arabic as the chastest language, that Muhammad spoke the most undefiled speech among all the Arabs and, consequently, that the language of his people, the Qurayš, was the purest Arabic"
  9. ^ Ernst 2013, p. 3: "Although over 80 percent of Muslims worldwide are not native speakers of Arabic, all observant Muslims need to know at least portions of the Qur'an by heart in the original language, to recite in their daily prayers."
  10. ^ Renard 2014.
  11. ^ Andani 2019, p. 4: "Yet it is simply not the case that all Muslims throughout history conceived the nature of the Qur'ān in such a simplistic and singular manner. Indeed, Muslim exegetes, theologians, philosophers, and mystics have historically voiced a myriad of perspectives about the ontology of the Qur'ān as divine or revelatory speech, the process of its revelatory descent, the creative agency of the Prophet Muhammad, and the theological status of the Arabic words of the Qur'ān."
  12. ^ Akhtar, Shabbir (31 October 2007). The Quran and the Secular Mind: A Philosophy of Islam. Routledge. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-134-07256-9. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  13. ^ Boberg, Charles; Nerbonne, John; Watt, Dominic (4 January 2018). The Handbook of Dialectology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 523. ISBN 978-1-118-82755-0. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  14. ^ Al-Jallad, Ahmad (30 May 2011). "Polygenesis in the Arabic Dialects". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics.
  15. ^ Einführung, Eine (2005). Arabische Dialektgeographie. Brill. p. 27. ISBN 978-90-47-40649-5. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  16. ^ a b c Versteegh, Kees; Versteegh, C. H. M. (1997). The Arabic Language. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11152-2.
  17. ^ Blau, Joshua (1970). On Pseudo-corrections in Some Semitic Languages. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
  18. ^ Putten, Marijn van; Stokes, Phillip (January 2018). "Case in the Qurˀānic Consonantal Text. Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 108 (2018), pp. 143–179". Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Rafiabadi, Hamid Naseem (2003). World Religions and Islam: A Critical Study. Sarup & Sons. pp. 180–220. ISBN 978-81-7625-414-4. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h Ellethy, Yaser (20 November 2014). Islam, Context, Pluralism and Democracy: Classical and Modern Interpretations. Routledge. pp. 23–28. ISBN 978-1-317-62746-3. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Khalili Collections | Islamic Art | Part 15 of a 30-part Qur'an". Khalili Collections. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  22. ^ Ernst 2013, p. 3: "Recitation of the Arabic text of the Qur'an is a demanding art; at the highest level, virtuoso Qur'an reciters demonstrate vocal skills comparable to those of an opera singer"
  23. ^ Ernst 2013, p. 59: "Reciting the Qur'an plays a leading role in many important aspects of Islamic religious life. Just in terms of rites of passage, it is important to note the crucial role of Qur'an recitation throughout life, beginning with birth rituals and extending to circumcision, marriage, and funerals."
  24. ^ Ernst 2013, p. 3: "Handwritten copies of the Qur'an, often in lavish and lovingly created calligraphic styles, represent one of the most revered forms of Islamic art."
  25. ^ Chism 2009, p. 625: "The many lands of Islam were bound together across huge cultural and linguistic differences through the Arabic language of the Qur'an and through shared religious practice"
  26. ^ Mabry 2015, p. 69: "To separate Arab peoples by their many demotic languages would mean to separate the Arabs from their one divine language"
  27. ^ Suleiman 2003, p. 10: "Since it is not possible to achieve this separation without causing a rupture with Islam, the basis of the religious identity of the majority of Arabic-speakers, any attempt to replace the standard by the colloquial as the marker of a particular territorial nationalism is invariably met with religious opposition"
  28. ^ Cham romanization table background. Library of Congress
  29. ^ Mahinnaz Mirdehghan. 2010. Persian, Urdu, and Pashto: A comparative orthographic analysis. Writing Systems Research Vol. 2, No. 1, 9–23.
  30. ^ "Exposición Virtual. Biblioteca Nacional de España". Bne.es. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  31. ^ al-Alwani, Taha J.; sadeq, A. H. M.; Osman, Fathi; Ellhyeb, Sahh Elpin El2kin; Farhan, Ishaq; Yusuf, Sakhudeen. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 69:2. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). p. 286. Retrieved 22 April 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Conversion, Exemption, and Manipulation: Social Benefits and Conversion to Islam in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Forcing taxes on those who refuse to convert (PDF), ʿUmar is depicted as having ordered that "the poll-tax should be taken from all men who would not become Muslims"
  33. ^ Clive Holes, Modern Arabic: structures, functions, and varieties, Georgetown University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-58901-022-2, M1 Google Print, p. 29.
  34. ^ Iran in History Archived 2007-04-29 at the Wayback Machine by Bernard Lewis.
  35. ^ Rahman 2000, p. 437: "For the state, which teaches it compulsorily, it is part of indoctrination – a symbolic reinforcement of the Muslim identiy of Pakistanis with a view to mobilizing their religious sentiment"
  36. ^ Constitution of Pakistan: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 - Article: 31 Islamic way of life Archived 2018-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, 1973, retrieved 28 July 2018
  37. ^ Jamal, Sana (2 February 2021). "Pakistan parliament approves compulsory Arabic classes in Islamabad schools". Gulf News. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  38. ^ "Arabic as official language". Arab News. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  39. ^ হোসেন, সেলিনা; বিশ্বাস, সুকুমার; চৌধুরী, শফিকুর রহমান, eds. (21 February 1986). একুশের স্মারকগ্রন্থ' ৮৬ (in Bengali). Bangladesh: Bangla Academy. pp. 52–73. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  40. ^ Zein, Subhan; Coady, Maria R. (22 September 2021). Early Language Learning Policy in the 21st Century: An International Perspective. Springer Nature. p. 136. ISBN 978-3-030-76251-3. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  41. ^ Chaube, Shibani Kinkar (26 October 2016). The Idea of Nation and Its Future in India. Taylor & Francis. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-315-41432-4. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  42. ^ a b Umar, Badruddin (1970). "অষ্টম পরিচ্ছেদের চতুর্থ অনুচ্ছেদ". পূর্ব বাংলার ভাষা আন্দোলন ও তৎকালীন রাজনীতি (in Bengali). Anandhara Publications. pp. 282–284. ৪। আরবীকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার প্রস্তাবঃ বাংলা ভাষায় আরবী হরফ প্রচলনের ষড়যন্ত্রের পাশাপাশি আরবীকে পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার জন্যে দেশের বিভিন্ন স্তরের কিছু ব্যক্তি নিজেদের অভিমত ব্যক্ত করেন। এঁদের মধ্যে ডক্টর মুহম্মদ শহীদুল্লাহর ভূমিকাই সব থেকে উল্লেখযোগ্য এবং ভাষা সম্পর্কে তাঁর অন্যান্ত বক্তব্যের সাথে অসঙ্গতিপূর্ণ। তিনি উর্দুকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা রূপে গ্রহণ করার এবং বাংলা ভাষায় আরবী হরফ প্রবর্তনের ঘোর বিরোধিতা সত্ত্বেও ধর্মীয় কারণে আরবীর প্রতি একটা বিশেষ দুর্বলতা এর পূর্বেও ব্যক্ত করেছেন। কয়েক বছর পূর্বে তিনি এ প্রসঙ্গে বলেন, 'সেদিন পাকিস্তান রাষ্ট্রের জন্ম সার্থক হইবে, যেদিন আরবী সমগ্র পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা রূপে গৃহীত হইবে। পূর্ব পাকিস্তান আরবী সংঘ নামে একটি প্রতিষ্ঠানের কার্যকারী সমিতি ডক্টর শহীদুল্লাহর সভাপতিত্বে ১৯৪৯ সালের ডিসেম্বের মাসে পাকিস্তান গণ পরিষদে পেশ করার জন্য একটি খসড়া স্মারকলিপি অনুমোদন করেন। তাতে আরবীকে পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার সুপারিশ এবং শহরের বিভিন্ন কেন্দ্র ও মফঃস্বলে 'দরসে কোরানে'র ব্যবস্থা করার জন্যে সরকারকে অনুরোধ জানানো হয়। এর পর ১৮ই জানুয়ারি, ১৯৫০, রাজশাহী কলেজের কিছু সংখ্যক ছাত্র আরবীকে পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার দাবীতে কলেজ কমনরুমে একটি সভা আহ্বান করেন। সেখানে প্রাদেশিকতা দূর করার উপায় হিসাবে আরবীকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার প্রয়োজনীয়তার উল্লেখ করা হয়। আরবী ভাষাকে পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার জন্যে আইন মোতাবেক আন্দোলন চালানো হবে বলে সেই সভায় একটি প্রস্তাব গৃহীত হয়। ৩ স্টেট ব্যাঙ্কের গভর্নর জাহিদ হোসেনও আরবীকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার প্রস্তাব করেন এবং তাঁর এই প্রস্তাব সিন্ধু আইন পরিষদের সদস্ত এবং সিন্ধু আরবী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ভাইস-চ্যান্সেলর সৈয়দ আকবর শাহ কর্তৃক সমর্থিত হয়। এই প্রসঙ্গে এক বিবৃতিতে তিনি বলেন যে আরবী ভাষা প্রবর্তন করলে মুসলিম জাহানের সাথে পাকিস্তানের সম্পর্ক আরও ঘনিষ্ঠ হবে এবং তার ফল স্বরূপ রাজনৈতিক দিক দিচ্ছে এ দেশ লাভবান হবে। এর পর ১৯৫১ সালের ১ই ফেব্রুয়ারি করাচীতে বিশ্ব মুসলিম সম্মেলনের প্রকাশ্য অধিবেশনে ইসমাইলী সম্প্রদায়ের নেতা আগা খান বলেন যে আরবীকে পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা করা হলে আরব জাহান, উত্তর আফ্রিকা এবং ইন্দো নেশিয়ার মুসলমানদের মধ্যে সাধারণ যোগাযোগ স্থাপিত হবে। এ প্রসঙ্গে তিনি আরও বলেন, আমি খেয়ালের বশে কোনো কিছু বলিতেছি না। আমি যাহা বলিতেছি তাহা জনসাধারণের এক বিরাট অংশের নিকট অপ্রিয়। কিন্তু তবুও দুনিয়ার মুসলমানদের সম্মুখে আমার মতামত প্রকাশ না করিলে আমার কর্তব্য অসমাপ্ত থাকিবে এবং এছলামের প্রতি বিশ্বাসঘাতকতা করা হইবে। আরবীকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার এই সব প্রস্তাব অবশ্য পাকিস্তানের কোনো অংশেই তেমন কোনো সমর্থন লাভ করে নাই। তবে এই দাবী ইসলামী সংস্কৃতির বিকাশের প্রশ্নের সাথে জড়িত থাকায় তা পরোক্ষভাবে রাষ্ট্রভাষা উর্দু এবং বাংলা ভাষায় আরবী হর। প্রবর্তনের দাবীকে কতকগুলি মহলে জোরদার করে। বিভিন্ন মহলে মারবীকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার যে প্রস্তাব উত্থাপিত হয় তার বিরোধিতা করে পাকিস্তান বৌদ্ধ লীগের সেক্রেটারী রবীন্দ্রনাথ বর্মী ১০ই ফেব্রুয়ারি, ১৯৫১, এক বিবৃতি দেন। কিন্তু এক্ষেত্রে আরবীর ক্ষান্ত না হয়ে তিনি উর্দুর সমর্থনে ওকালতিও করেন: ৩০২/৪০৫ পাকিস্তান মোছলেম লীগ কাউন্সিল সম্প্রতি এক প্রস্তাবে মারবীকে পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা রূপে গ্রহণ করিবার জন্য সোপারেণ করিয়াছেন। পাকিস্তানের স্রষ্টা মরহুম কায়েদে আজম এই ঢাকা শহরে সুস্পষ্টভাবে ঘোষণা করিয়াছিলেন যে, উর্দুই পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রভাষা হইবে। কারণ ইংরেজী ভাষার পর উপ-মহাদেশের অধিকাংশ লোকে উর্দু ভাষা সহজে বুঝিতে পারে। কিন্তু পাকিস্তানের কোথাও আরবী ভাষায় কথাবার্তা বলা হয় না। পাকিস্তানের সংবাদপত্র এবং সামরিক পত্রাদিও উর্দুতে প্রকাশিত হয়। আমাদের মনে হয় আরবীর পরিবর্তে উর্দুই রাষ্ট্রভাষা হওয়া উচিত। সংখ্যালঘু বৌদ্ধ সম্প্রদায়ের প্রতিনিধির পক্ষে উর্দুকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার ওকালতি নিতান্তই অস্বাভাবিক। একদিকে রাষ্ট্রদ্রোহী আখ্যা লাভের ভয়ে বাংলাকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা হিসাবে দাবী করার অক্ষমতা এবং অন্য আরবীর মতো একটি সম্পূর্ণ বিদেশী ভাষাকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা রূপে গ্রহণ করার বিপদ এ দুইয়ের ফলেই খুব সম্ভবতঃ রবীন্দ্রনাথ বর্মীর উচু সমর্থন। কিন্তু কারণ যাই যে সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের একজন প্রতিনিধির পক্ষে এ জাতীয় বক্তব্য ৩০৩ / ৪০৫ সুবিধাবাদ ও মেরুদণ্ডহীনতার পরিচায়ক সে বিষয়ে সন্দেহের বিন্দুমাত্র কারণ নেই।
  43. ^ Eid, Mushira (2006). Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Volume 4. Brill. ISBN 9789004149762.
  44. ^ Bertold Spuler [de]. Persian Historiography & Geography Pustaka Nasional Pte Ltd ISBN 9971774887 p 69

Notes edit

  1. ^ Such views were not held only by Arabs. Many Islamized Persians appear to have internalized similar beliefs, and they are expressed in the works of such renowned Persian scholars as al-Farisi and his pupil Ibn Jinni.
  2. ^ The term is used disparagingly in the introduction to Al-Mufaṣṣal, a treatise on Arabic grammar by the Persian theologian and exegete al-Zamakhshari, wherein he begins by attacking "al-Shu'ubiyya" and thanking Allah for making him "a faithful ally of the Arabs". However, the term was also used positively as it derives from the Qur'an.
  3. ^ Versteegh (1997) believes that early Medieval Arabic etymologists and philologists, be they exegetes, grammarians, or both, were noticeably far more eager to ascribe words to historically non-Arabic origins, and so he concludes that the spread of the association of "linguistic supremacy" with "etymological purity" was a later development, though he mentions al-Suyuti as a notable exception to this puristic attitude, which eventually became prevalent.
  4. ^ Abu 'Ubayda, a Persian philologist, exegete, and historian who was later accused of "hating Arabs", asserted that "the Qur'an was revealed in a clear Arabic tongue, and so whosoever claims that [the word] "taha" is Nabatean has committed a great error".

Bibliography edit

Category:Allah Category:Islam Category:Classical Arabic Category:Arabic language Category:Quran Category:Hadith Category:Religious language Category:Sacred languages Category:Ritual languages Category:Classical Arabic

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Islam_and_Arabic_language&oldid=1222462214"