Arabic language in Islam

In Islam, the Arabic language is given more importance than any other language, because it is the language of Qur'an and Hadith, the main religious sources of Islam, which is called Quranic Arabic.

Arabic is Islam's 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. 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. Regardless, they are generally accepted by Islamic religious authorities as interpretive guides for non-Arabic-speakers, despite their illegitimacy for religious practice. 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.

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. This tradition survives today in the belief that Classical Arabic as spoken by Muhammad was "pure" and "undefiled."

Muslims believe in praying five times per day, known as , 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. 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. However, this belief is not universal to all Muslims and has only emerged over time through the development of Islam.

## In the Qur'an
It is said in the Qur'an, Allah says,

In the explanation of this verse, Allama Abul Hussain Ahmad bin Fares said,

## In the hadith
As most Muslim scholars cite the hadith of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad as saying that every letter of the Qur'an brings ten unit of piety (Sawab). That's why, they encourage to pronounce original Islamic Arabic word "Allah" (ﷲ),,Nabi" (نبي), "Rasul" (رسول), "Malaika" (ملاءكة)"jannah" (جنّة), "jahannam  " (جهنم) etc., as an argument they say, the word Allah is used in the Qur'an, so when saying the word, ten unit of sawab or neki will be obtained, which cannot be gotten by the pronunciation of Khuda, Creator, Ishwara, God, payambar, Farishta, Behesht, Dujokh or other non-Quranic and non-Arabic synonyms.

## Language of Quran and Hadith 
The Arabic language is considered a part of Islam's religion, and learning it is not just an educational goal but also an essential means for understanding and deep knowledge of Islamic sources. Classical scholars and intelligentsia recognized its importance, with Omar Ibn Al-Khattab stating it is essential for understanding the Quran. 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 Taymiyyah considers Arabic knowledge a religious obligatory must for understanding the Quran and Sunnah.

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.

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. Ibn Taymiyyah said,
 He further said,

According to Islamic scholars, "The reason for the importance of the Arabic language is that the Arabic language has many advantages and characteristics, but what has given it the greatest importance is its connection with the religion of Islam revealed in this language. The connection of the Arabic language with the revelation of the Qur'an, which came to all mankind.  The rituals of Islam are performed only in the Arabic language. The Arabic language is characterized by sophistication of expression, eloquence in speech and abundance of artistic imagery. According to scholars, to preserve the Arabic language is to preserve the religion of Islam. A complete statement of a written text can only be made in Arabic,  And so the Qur'an was not revealed without it. Constantly speaking Arabic has a positive effect on the mind, religion and morals. Ignorance of Arabic is one of the causes of deviation from the true religion. Arabic is an ancient, stable and historically well-established language."

### Reasons for praying Salat in Arabic
Ahmed Hussain Sharif in his book "Why Pray in Arabic" (Why is prayer offered in Arabic?) reasons for praying in Arabic are:
# Arabic is a deep and wide language
# A common and universal language for prayer
# Connecting the Islamic brotherhood (via Arabic) 
# Quran is the creation of Allah
# It is impossible to translate the complete and complete Quran
# Quran is the only (divinely) preserved revelation
# Quran has its own rhythm
# The difference between Dua and Salat is: Dua is an invitation or supplication, which is optional, so it is relaxed and can be done in any language, and Salat is a prayer, which is obligatory and its principles are strict. Besides, there is an obligation to maintain the social relations of Muslims in the case of obligatory prayers in congregation, therefore, prayers must be read only in Arabic.
# Learning to understand Arabic prayers is not difficult and it is easy.
Finally he says, "Thus we see that the sweetness, dignity, beauty and spirituality of the prayer depend on the prayer being recited in the original Arabic; and if the prayer is recited in translation, the literary and artistic value of the Qur'an is bound to be lost; and  by the translated prayer is the first to suffer will be the Islamic brotherhood."

## Art and literature 
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 ) is expected to have mastery of vocal skills. Outside daily prayer, recitations of the Quran in Arabic play a large role in major rituals such as marriage or funerary rites.

The Muslim world is known for a tradition of calligraphy, where handwritten copies of the Quran are revered or preserved as museum pieces. 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
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. 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."

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), Uyghur, Kurdish, Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Sindhi, Balti, Balochi, Pashto, Lurish, Urdu, Kashmiri, Rohingya, Somali, Mandinka, and Mooré, among others. 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.

### Algeria
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.

### Egypt 
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. 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.
### Iran
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.
### Pakistan
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. 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 ..."
 
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.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947 during East Pakistani language movement, many advocated to Muhammad Ali Jinnah 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. These proposals to make Arabic the state language failed to gain substantial support in any part of Pakistan.

### Turkey
Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) 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 (), words of foreign origin mostly from Arabic and Persian,  heavily outnumbered native Turkish words in Turkish literature in the Ottoman Empire, with Arabic and Persian vocabulary accounting for up to 88% of the Ottoman vocabulary in some texts.

## Related pages 
* Sacred language
* Modern Standard Arabic
* Jewish languages
* Ecclesiastical Latin
* List of Islamic texts

## References
## Bibliography 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 

## Other websites
* 
*