Threats facing the Arabic Language and Muslim Identity
By
Mazin
S. Motabagani, Ph.D.
Al-Madinah
Center for the Study of Orientalism
Introduction
Almost all those who wrote about
identity always found that language is an essential component of identity. Most
nations are identified by their language or tongue. We say Arabs, which
obviously means those people who speak Arabic that is the same as when we say
French or German or any other nation.
Many
scholars around the World stressed the relationship between language and
Identity. Mark Warschuer wrote, "Language has always played an important
role in the formation and expression of identity. The role of language and
dialect in identity construction is becoming even more central in the
postmodern era, as other traditional markers of identity, including race, are
being destabilized."( [i])
In
addition, a Muslim Scholar wrote about the different components of identity and
counted the language as the second component after the land or home or the
environment. He said that language is "the medium of communication among
the inhabitants of the land and it is the cradle of their thinking and symbol
of their existence and the element of their bindings"([ii]).
Another scholar from Tunis - strangely enough this is a vital question to our
brothers there- said in an interview: " I have conducted a lengthy study
on the elements of the identity and found them four: language, faith, land and
race or ethnicity. He added that we were able to regain the land and our
ethnicity would not change, so we are here facing the last two elements. As for
language, we have not come to natural terms with our language while religion is
facing a heated debate. ([iii])
Arabic
as the language of Islam, it was taken for granted that any Muslim should know
some Arabic in order to fulfill his or her religious duties such as knowing
some suras of the Quran. However if a Muslim wants to really have a deep
understanding of Islam he must master the Arabic Language. First Muslims who
embarked to spread Islam around the World and who happened to be Arabs were so
open minded that they never thought of abolishing other languages. Other nations
became interested in Arabic or even fell in love with this language that we had
some of the great scholars in Arabic and who even put the most important books
and references in Arabic were not originally Arabs such as Sibawaih – the
Famous linguist-and others.
Abdul
Ali Al-Wadgheri, a Moroccan scholar wrote: " because Arabic were the
language of this Nation 'Umma' and the title of its identity and the symbol of
its relation and the cradle of its thinking and culture, it was faced with
grave luck which leads to its miserable luck". He goes on to say that not
only its enemies attacked it but some of its own sons who lost confidence in
themselves ([iv]).
Al-Wadgheri quoted some French scholars who confessed the linkage between Islam
and Arabic. One of those is Morris Loujli who wrote:" there is no real
Islam without the spread of Arabic". He also quoted Marshal Louiti who
wrote to the heads of the different colonial offices that Arabic is an element
in the spread of Islam because through this language people learn Islam. ([v])
What
made Arabic part of the language of all Muslims is that it became the language
of sciences and learning. It also became the official language of the Muslim
States. Arabic was such an influential language that many Muslim languages not
only borrowed countless number of Arabic words some languages even adopted the
Arabic alphabets.
The
importance of Arabic came from the notion that it was the greatest talent,
skill and love the Arabs had before the advent of Islam. One of the biggest
challenges that Islam posed to the Arabs was to come up with an Ayah to match
the Quran and they failed. Once they accepted Islam, Arabic was one of the main
components of their identity. Islam has made Arabic part of the identity of all
the peoples who accepted Islam while respecting their heritage and
languages. For centuries the Arabic
language was the medium in which all Muslims studied all fields of learning and
through it they also recorded their genius and knowledge.
However
with the advent of colonialism, the Arabic language faced a serious
predicament. Arabic was threatened by European languages and the eventuality of
it becoming a dead language. There were two types of colonization: the first
focused on what was called 'assimilation', while the other focused on the
subtle way of fighting Arabic and Muslim identity through indirect means which
sometimes were more successful. Even though military colonization has become
part of the past, except for Iraq-Arab, Muslim leaders have taken the
responsibility to continue the message of the old colonizers.
The
paper will be divided into three parts:
First: a
brief historical account of the threat faced by Arabic language.
Second:
Recent threats in the post colonial period.
Third:
Conclusions and Recommendation.
[i]
- Mark
Warschuer, "Language,
identity, and the Internet" http://motspluriels.arts.uwa.edu.au
/MP1901mw.html.
[iii]- مقابلة صحفية مع محمود الذاودي ، في الشرق الأوسط، العدد
9589 في 19 محرم 1426هـ (28 فبراير 2006م
" تحت عنوان "مالك بن نبي تحدث عن القابلية للاستعمار ونظرية
التخلف الآخر" (المنتدى الثقافي)
[iv]- عبد العلي الودغيري ، اللغة والدين والهوية. (الدار
البيضاء: المؤلف، 1420هـ/2000م) ص 6
[v] - المرجع نفسه، ص 95 نقلاً عن كتاب الفرنكفونية والسياسة اللغوية
والتعليمية الفرنسية بالمغرب، (الرباط:كتاب العلم، 1993م)
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