CULTURE OF ISLAM

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

Imtiaz Muhsin 09-Nov-12

The main objective of these talks (and therefore the scripts of these talks), is to stimulate thinking. Sensible, rational and logical thinking. So, my message, think, think & think! Be sensible, be rational and be logical.

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

Please Note
1. I have had the great privilege, (since Aug 2010), of presenting talks on the weekly Radio Program Culture of Islam [Every Friday 8 to 8.30 pm, Radio Sri Lanka - FM 97.4] 2. Since these are Radio Talks, I refer to, or address the audience as listeners 3. I am well aware that the audience to these talks would consist of people belonging to a variety of faiths. So as to make people of all faiths feel included, I very often use words and names that are common to all religions. 4. For these reasons, I use the name GOD, as well as Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc as well as the names Allah, Ibrahim (Alaihis Salaam), Moosa (Alaihis Salaam), Easa (Alaihis Salaam) etc 5. Muslims by habit usually say Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam, when the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, and Alaihis Salaam' when the name of a Prophet is mentioned. However, in these series of talks I have reduced the use of these prayers & sayings to the bare minimum. 6. Muslims, also by habit, use a number of Arabic prayers or sayings, such as Alhamdulillah, Insha Allah and so on. Again, I have reduced the use of these prayers or sayings to the bare minimum. 7. Sometimes I have to write Arabic words in the English script. I have devised my own way of writing Arabic in English, as follows;

th TH

s Ss SW

DHL DHZ

H h

Gh GH

Information on these talks along with all download links can be found on my on my Blog (http://imtiazm.wordpress.com/) The dates or the schedules of these talks can be viewed on the Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/ImtiazMuhsin786) The Scripts of these talks can be downloaded from www.ScribD.com (www.ScribD.com Author Imtiaz Muhsin) The audio files of these talks can be downloaded from YouTube (YouTube Channel Imtiaz Muhsin) The YouTube Link to this talk is at http://youtu.be/pfdt_FPKJDI

All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah and Allah alone Alhamdulillah!

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

Dear Friends, Assalamu Alaikum, Dear Friends, Assalamu Alaikum, English is relatively a new language to Muslims. The language of the Quran is Arabic or it would be more correct to say that the language of the Quran is Classical Arabic. So it is very important for Muslims to be fluent in Classical Arabic or at least in Arabic. The Quran contains a number of Aayaths the word Aayath is translated in to English as Verses but this is not correct, because the word Aayaths means signs it refers to the Signs of God or Signs of Allah. The Quran is presented in beautiful erudite words, and many admire its poetic form thus when arranged in to a book, for convenience, in English we refer to the Surahs as Chapters and to the Aayaths as Verses So it just follows, that we refer to the Aayaths of the Quran by quoting the Chapter No and the Verse No. For example when we want to draw attention to say, Aayath No 155 of Surah Baqara, we say Chapter 2 Verse 155. Similarly, the meanings of many other Arabic words have changed, when they have been translated to English or for that sake, even to any other language, and obvioulsy when meanings change, we do not grasp the core meanings. Today there are simply millions and millions of non Arab speaking Muslims all over the World In fact we are can, with some effort, work out the numbers. There are more non Arab speaking Muslims in the World than Arab speaking Muslims. In fact it is estimated that 70% of the Muslim World do not speak Arabic. That is a huge number considering that the Quran the Primary source of knowledge or guidance for Muslims, is in Arabic, and in the Quran itself there are Aayaths that confirm this. For example; (12:2) We have sent it down, as an Arabic Quran, so that you may understand.

We look to the Quran for instruction, understanding and guidance now does not this Aayath clearly instruct us to learn the Arabic language? How would we understand the Quran if we do not know Arabic? Is that not a shocking statement?

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

Am I not indicating or stating that 70% of Muslims do not understand the Quran, or maybe that statement could even be worded as, am I not indicating that approx only 30% of the Muslim World are in a position to understand the Quran? Both those statements or questions would immediately initiate heated arguments. As Muslims we often speak about striving in the path of Allah or striving for his dheen or striving in the path for knowledge would not striving to learn the Arabic language constitute the very basic form of striving in the path of Allah or striving for His dheen or striving in the path for knowledge? Why is it that inspite of these Aayaths in the Quran, a majority of the Muslim World do not or the correct wording would be cannot speak the Arabic language? Let us understand the causes for this problem so that we could begin to first identify and then think out the steps needed to rectifying the problems. First, if only 30% of the Muslim World is Arab speaking, then what language or languages do the non Arab speaking Muslims communicate in? Here are some interesting facts and statistics. 1. Interesting Facts and Statistics No 1 List of Top 10 countries with the largest non Arab speaking Muslim Populations 1 Indonesia 204,847,000 88.1% 2 Pakistan 178,097,000 96.4% 3 India 177,286,000 14.6% 4 Bangladesh 145,312,000 90.4% 5 Nigeria 75,728,000 47.9% 6 Iran 74,819,000 99.6% 7 Turkey 74,660,000 98.6% 8 Afghanistan 29,047,000 99.8% 9 Ethiopia 28,721,000 33.8% 10 Uzbekistan 26,833,000 96.5% 2. Interesting Facts and Statistics No 2. Approximately 23% of the world's population is Muslim. Current estimates conclude that the number of Muslims in the world is around 1.6 billion. Muslims are the majority in 49 countries, they speak about 60 languages and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. If Hindi-Urdu is considered one language, then it is the dominant language of about 24% Muslims, mainly of Pakistan and India. Arabic is the second most spoken language of Muslims, and is spoken by 20% of Muslims. Bengali is the third most commonly spoken language, spoken by around 10% of the total population, and Punjabi is the fourth most spoken language (spoken by around 5% of Muslim world). Other major languages spoken by the Muslims are Javanese, Turkish, Urdu, Persian, Pashto, Sindhi, and Kashmiri.

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

3. Interesting Facts and Statistics No 3. There are some countries that are known as Islamic States and some others that have Islam as their State Religion Some countries have adopted Islam as the ideological foundation for their political institution. Some of these countries are; Afghanistan Pakistan Brunei Saudi Arabia Iran Yemen Mauritania Some countries have declared Islam to be their State Religion, some of these countries are; 1. Algeria 8. Malaysia 14. Sudan 2. Bahrain 9. The Maldive 15. Syria 3. Bangladesh Islands 16. Tunisia 4. Egypt 10. Morocco 17. United Arab 5. Iraq 11. Oman Emirates 6. Kuwait 12. Palestine 7. Libya 13. Somalia It is interesting to note that the population of a number of these countries are non Arab speaking. So the question that I keep on asking myself is that the Quran instructs us; (12:2) We have sent it down, as an Arabic Quran, so that you may understand.

Then why is it that so many Muslims are non Arab speaking? Why is it that so many Muslim majority countries or bodies of Muslims populations are non Arab speaking? or Why is it that so manyof the countries that have declared themselves Islamic States, consist of non Arab speaking Muslims? The problem is more deep rooted than we think. It is actually more deep rooted than we ever imagined. To understand how this situation arose, the Muslims of Sri Lanka would be a good case study. In Sri Lanka 3 languages are spoken viz. Sinhala, Tamil and English. Muslims make up around 10% of the population and the mother tongue of the Muslims is mainly Tamil. There is also a very small percentage of Muslims in Sri Lanka, those who have had their education in the English language, who would claim their first language is English. It is only in the last 20 or 30 years that Muslims have begun to learn Sinhalese and it is the present generation of Muslims who are now gradually becoming proficient in Sinhalese. So how is it that in Sri Lanka (or in many other countries in the rest of the World), Muslims whose first language should have been Arabic, are now not speaking Arabic but instead are proficiently speaking in Tamil and some in English?

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

We have to delve in to history to learn the causes. There is plenty of evidence to show that Arab traders have been visiting Sri Lanka regularly even before the advent of Prophet Muhammad or the Religion Islam as we know it. Obviously those Arabs spoke Arabic, some of them remained in Sri Lanka to search for, purchase, collect and store items which they sold to the many sea faring Arab traders who regularly or seasonally visited our shores. All this changed from the advent of the European Colonialists beginning with the Portuguese in 1505. The Portuguese who came here in search of spices and other commodities that the Arabs were trading in, used their military preparedness to aggresively eliminate the Arab trade, and they did this most efffectively by destroying all ships used by the Arabs. Thus there was now a domiciled Arab Muslim population in Sri Lanka who had lost all connections with their countries of origin. Being persecuted by the Portuguese as well as being traders, these Arabs, or for our purposes we could refer to them as Arabic speaking speaking Muslims, began to forge links with the Muslims form South India especially those in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Gradually these Muslims began to converse in Tamil. They could read Arabic script and regularly read the Quran in Arabic, but gradually began to lose the ability to understand what the Quran was instructing. This change was very very gradual, maybe over a few generations. Because these Muslim knew the Arabic script and spoke the Tamil language, they developed what is called Arabu Thamul a new pseudo, or an artificial language! Around 1658 after around 150 years of Portuguese persecution, the Dutch Colonizers arrived. Muslims as well as the other local commubnities had hope that conditions would improve, but the persecution continued. The Mother tongue of the Muslims of Sri Lanka had now gradually been transformed from Arabic to Tamil. In 1796, a new set of colonizers arrived this was the British. In the meantime Muslims or the Arab settlers in Sri Lanka had lost all connection with the Arab World and thus were no longer a threat to the Maritime trade of the European colonizers. The attitude of the British to the local commubnities were to involve them in administration and this gave new hope to the locals. The Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims saw the advantages in learning English, and this is how the Muslims of Sri Lanka began to learn English. So the story of the Sri Lanka Muslims would be that they originally spoke Arabic, they then learnt Tamil and gradually forgot to speak Arabic but they worked on their skills to read Arabic especially to read the Quran. Later on the Muslims of Sri Lanka began to learn both English as well as the Sinhala languages. So now in Sri Lanka we have Tamil speaking Muslims, English speaking Muslims and Sinhala speaking Muslims it is only those who study in Madhrassahs that learn to speak Arabic.

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

So where else do we find Tamil speaking Muslims and English speaking Muslims? There is no Muslim Country where the majority of the Muslims speak Tamil or English. Tamil and English has always been the language of minority Muslims. English is a relatively new language for Muslims. My estimate is that Muslims began to speak English, seriously, maybe around 100 to 150 years ago and that too so as to be educated and to pursue lucrative vocations. As a language in which the religion has to be explained, English has been used maybe for around 100 years. In fact the first English translation of the Quran that is generally accepted by Muslims was completed in 1930 by Marmaduke Pikthall, a celebrated English convert to Islam. In 1934, Abdullah Yusuf Ali completed his translation of the Quran in to English. Ever since there are literally 100s of English new translations of the Quran. Since English is a new language for Muslims, literature or research material on Islam, the Quran and Muslims are still in its infancy. It is Arabic or maybe Persian and Turkish languages that the most amount of research material on Islam, the Quran and on Muslims can be found. The paucity of research material on this subject in English language struck me very forcefully when I began to do my own research on the Quran. By the grace of God, I say Alhamdulillah, I have now completed over a 100 talks on this Radio Program Culture of Islam. What I do is, I pick a different topic each week and do extensive research on this subject before presenting my talk. Alhamdulillah there is so much to learn! Each week I do research on the topic I have picked say it would be Salaath or Prayer for one week, it could be Sabr or Patience for another talk, it could be about Prophet Abraham or Ibrahim (AS) the next week and so on. Alhamdulillah, each week I read the Quran and select the Aayaths that I think would be appropriate, and then delve in to the meanings of those Aayaths. I routinely use 4 English translations the translations by Marmaduke Pikthall, Yusuf Ali, Dr. Mohsin Khan and Mufti Taqi Usman. I also read extensively and have, in my reference library, The Complete Thafseers of Ibn Katheer, The Stories of the Prophets, again by Ibn Katheer The popular exegesis of the Quran titled In the Shade of the Quran by Seyed Qutub from Egypt The Maarifathul Quran by Mufthi Muhammad Shafi from Pakistan The Riyadhus Swaaliheen The Ihya Ulum Ud Din by Imam Ghazzali, and from The Risale I Noor collection by Bediuzzamaan Said Nursi of Turkey And so on However I do realize that in English there is very little material to cover the many topics that arises by just, a brief reading of the Quran, or even a brief reading on the History of Muslims, or even of the variety of Cultures of the Muslims in the many socio political environments all over the Muslim World, through so many phases of Islamic History. By doing research on a variety of toics and presenting these weekly talks on Radio, I now find that my mind is always literally buzzing with what the Quran instructs us literally buzzing.

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

I wish more Muslims could enjoy this same experience. So now you could ask, if we cannot speak in Arabic, then how do we learn from the Quran. Good question surprising answer! Just listen. 1. Almost all Muslims in Sri Lanka can read Arabic, and from our childhood we are taught the Arabic alphabet and how to recite the Quran with proper prononciation. This is called Tajweed and Muslims take great pains to recite Quran with the proper Tajweed but we cannot understand the language 2. We have Madrassahs that produce Alims and their curriculum includes learning the Arabic language. The the only way we can learn Islam or what the Quran says is by listening to the discourses of these Alims their advantage is their knowledge of the Arabic language and all Muslims thirst to learn the Quran. So we Muslims learn by listening to these sermons or discourses or bayans. I must have easily listened to over 5,000 such bayans in my life time. But, then the Quran has over 6,000 Aayaths, 6,236 Aayaths to be precise. Through these 5,000 or more bayans I must have listened to only around 100 Aayaths of the Quran I say it could even be 200 Aayaths,but I doubt it would be over 300 Aayaths. Lets say I have listened to the meanings of 236 Aayaths. Which means that out of the 6,236 Aayaths in the Quran we do not listen or have not listened to the meanings of around 6,000 Aayaths even though in our life time we have listened to over 5,000 bayans. Crazy, isnt it? So then what happens? We do not understand. We just have to listen to these bayans and follow. We follow without full understanding. This is how dogmatism sets in. This is how fundamentalism sets in. This is how cultish behaviour sets in. It is a problem that we just do not know how to handle in fact we think it is a norm of religious behavior. We learn and recite prayers in Arabic even though we do not know or even understand the meaning. This gives us a feeling that we are reciting magic words This is good breeding ground for the spread of superstition and ignorance. This is our plight. It is time we Muslims woke up and took some serious pragmatic steps to learn Arabic. In this context let me now read to you some Aayaths from the Quran.

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

First an objective of the Quran; (38:29) This is a blessed Book We have revealed to you, so that they deliberate in its verses, and so that the men of understanding may heed to advice.

So when we read the Quran there are 2 things that we can do 1. We can (Li Yadhdhabbroo Aayaathihi) deliberate or contemplate on its Signs or Aayaath, or, 2. If we are men of understanding (Ulul albaab) we would do Zikr of these Aayaths. Now does that not show that Zikr is obviously a higher status than just thinking or contemplating or meditating. Next let us see how the Quran describes the objective or the purpose or the duty of the Prophet again there are many Aayaths that describe this noble objective, but for our purposes I have selected Aayath No 2 from Surah Jummah or Surah No 62.

(62:2) He is the One who raised amidst the unlettered people a messenger from among themselves who recites to them His verses, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the wisdom, while they were earlier in open error.

This Aayath describes to us 4 duties of Prophethood. What are they; 1 2 3 4 who recites to them His Aayaath, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the wisdom

From the earlier Aayath we read that the Kitaab is sent down to the Prophet, and in this Aayath we are informed that the Prophet would recite these His Aayaths or Allahs Aayaths to us, (Yathlu Alaihim AayaathiHi) and those of us who hear it in the correct frame of mind, with humbleness and sincerity would obviously act upon what they are listening to and then Allah will purify them (wayuzakkeeHim) and then though they are only acting upon the Aayaths, Allah will teach them the Kitaab or the Book the collection of Aayaths (wa yughallimuHul Kithaaba) and give him wisdom (walhikmah)

103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

Great isnt it? Now we have an Aayath where Allah is appealing to us to do Zikr. He says; (54:17) Indeed We have made the Qurn easy for ZIKR. So, is there one to do heed this advice?

Again, in Surah Ad Dhaariayaath, Allah is telling us an important virtue of Zikr (51:55) And keep (doing Zikr) reminding, because Zikr (reminding) benefits the believers. The translation would be And keep doing Zikr, because Zikr benefits the beleivers But it is commonly translated as And keep reminding, because reminding beneits the believers (016:078) [016:078] It is He Who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when ye knew nothing; and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections: that ye may give thanks (to God).

Does this not mean that when we were born we knew nothing, so to gain or to acquire knowledge, God has provide us with hearing, sight and intelligence so that we could read the evideince around us and reason out what we should know? Reason out on our own ilm or enlightened knowledge? and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections:

So does not the biggest evidence for gratefulness be that we use these faculties properly or the way they were meant to be used? Now let me read some Aayaths that I refer to as the rationalize Aayaths There are many such Aayaths, but I shall read just 6 of them. 1 (12:7) there are signs for those who ask (24:44) Surely, in that there is a lesson for those who have eyes to see. (15:75) Surely, in that there are signs for those who read signs. (7:32) This is how We elaborate the signs for people who understand.

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103 Arabic The Language of the Quran

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(13:4) Surely, in that there are signs for a people who understand. (39:21) Surely in that there is a lesson for the people of understanding.

So dear listeners, do you not think it is critically important for us to understand what the Quran is instructing? As a first most vital step should we not be striving both diligently and assiduously to learn Arabic the language that the Quran is worded in? May Allah Taaalah guide us all and accept us all. Jazza Kalla Khairan Assalamu Alaikum
Imtiaz Muhsin Colombo Sri Lanka crescent786@hotmail.com

You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman

The YouTube Link to this talk is at http://youtu.be/pfdt_FPKJDI

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103 Arabic The Language of the Quran