We all feel touched when we open up a good translation of the meaning of the Qur’an and we ponder and wonder at the beauty of the words and the deep meanings within. But in reality we are just seeing a glimpse of the real treasure that the Qur’an is.

Imagine how you’d feel if you could understand the words of Allah in the form in which they were sent down and not just rely on a translation of the meaning in English. Imagine the power of the words and the directness of the message then! The potency would be awesome!

“Indeed we have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an, in order that you may understand” (Surah Yusuf, Aayah 2)

“And thus we have inspired to you an Arabic Qur’an so that you may warn the mother of towns and all around it” (Surah ash-Shura, 7)

Arabic and the message of the Qur’an cannot be separated and translators throughout the ages have tried to convey to the non-Arabic speaking people the beauty of the meaning of the Qur’an but have always called it ‘The translation of the meaning of the Qur’an’, emphasising the fact that the Qur’an’s direct translation is not possible, because so much of the potency and splendour of the words and their meanings which are inextricably linked to the Arabic language are lost in English or any other language. Indeed to even appreciate the poetic beauty of the Qur’an one needs to have an understanding of Arabic.

Remember that for the Arabs in the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) who were masters of eloquence and poetry, the words of the Qur’an itself were so unique compared to the poetry of the most eloquent of them that many came to Islam recognising that the Qur’an could not be the handiwork of even the best human poet, rather it could only come from Allah. The language itself was one of the miracles of the Qur’an. Allah challenges mankind:

“And if you are in doubt about what we have sent down to our servant, then produce a chapter like it and call your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful. But if you do not do it, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers” (Surah Baqarah, aayaat 23-24)

The Preservation of the Arabic Language

Arabic unified the Muslim countries as it spread to every land that embraced Islam. This is why it is seen that those Muslim societies that are ignorant of Arabic are in general less knowledgeable about Islam. This ignorance has in turn made them more prone to stray from the straight path.

“We will never be able to overpower the Algerians as long as they read the Qur’an and speak Arabic. Therefore we must remove the Arabic Qur’an from their midst and abolish the Arabic language from their tongues.”

And unfortunately this is exactly what the secular leader of Turkey, Kamal Ataturk, who abolished the Islamic caliphate, did. He ordered that the Qur’an be recited in Turkish, even in prayers and changed the Turkish language which used to be written in Arabic into a Latin alphabet.

Today you will find that although Arabs throughout the world unfortunately have different colloquial dialects, they are still taught the Classical Arabic in their schools and Classical Arabic is the standard written Arabic in every Arabic newspaper and book. So it has been preserved by Allah as He promised in the Qur’an:

“Indeed we have sent down the Reminder and surely we will preserve it.” (Surah Hijr, Aayah 9)

A Priority for all of us

“Teach Arabic like you teach the memorisation of the Qur’an!”

Abu Bakr (radiallaahu ‘anhu) said,

“That I recite and forget (a portion of the Qur’an) is more beloved to me than to make a grammatical mistake!”

And ‘Umar (radiallaahu ‘anhu) once passed by a group of archers who missed their targets.

He admonished them and they responded that they were only beginners, but in answering back they made a grammatical mistake in their wording. He told them, “Indeed, your mistakes in Arabic grammar are more difficult to bear than your mistakes in archery!”

Imam ash-Shaafi’ee said,

"Therefore it is imperative that every Muslim should strive to learn Arabic as hard as he can, so that he can testify the shahada, and recite the Book of Allah and say the invocations that are mandatory upon him, such as the takbeer, tasbeeh, tashahud and other prayers. And the more he learns the language that Allah Himself chose to be the language of him who sealed the Prophets (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), and to be the language of His final revelation, the better it is for him!”

The great 8th century scholar Shaykul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) even went so far as to say that,

“The Arabic language is part of the Religion, and knowing it is an obligation.”

Unfortunately, we have become comfortable with simply relying on translations and spending all of our time and efforts in studying other things, (other languages even!) which may not even benefit us in the hereafter and have forgotten that the Qur’an is in a very approachable language and we all have the ability or rather the responsibility to study and understand it. If you knew that Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) had a message for you, personally, then would you not want to understand it in its original form? Think about it…we have the last revelation to mankind, the only communication from our Lord and Master, which is preserved in its original form, and yet in a 70 odd year life we do not give it the attention, which it deserves. We should realise that Allah has honoured us with the Qur’an and chosen for us the noblest of languages. Attention to Arabic is attention to the Book of Allah so we should make learning it a priority.

I remember the feeling of tasting the sweetness of Allah’s words in my Salaah when I first embarked upon my Arabic studies. I just repeated the same aayah of the Qur’an again and again savouring the words and suddenly feeling a deep emotion that I’d never felt before though I had read the same aayah many times before studying Arabic, it was as though a light had been lit for me and I’d suddenly discovered a new part of a house that I’d been living in for years. One of the definite benefits of learning Arabic is that it aids Khushoo’ or consciousness in salaah and helps us to improve all of our worships. Taraweeh prayer in Ramadan becomes a new experience!

Practical steps towards learning Arabic