Al-Azhar Mosque preacher: Preserving the Arabic language is a religious and national duty

The Friday sermon was delivered today at Al-Azhar Mosque by Prof. Dr. Rabie Al-Ghafir, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Al-Azhar University, and its topic revolved around “Preserving the Arabic language is a religious and national duty.” He explained that the Islamic nation is preferred, as God – Glory be to Him – sent to it the best of His messengers – peace be upon him – and sent down to it the best of His books, and this book was in the best of the languages that God chose to carry His message until the Day of Resurrection, as it was revealed in the Arabic language. Therefore, speaking about the Arabic language is one of the most obligatory duties in this era to repel the brutal raid on it from a long time ago. The Arabic language, preserving it, speaking it, understanding it, and studying it is a religious, national, and national duty, because the language is identity, and it is the book of God. And the Sunnah of His Messenger – may God bless him and grant him peace – and what is wonderful about that is what was stated in the book of jurisprudence of language: “Whoever loves God loves His Messenger, whoever loves His Arab Messenger loves the Arabs, and whoever loves the Arabs loves the Arabic language.”

His Eminence added that the Arabic language is being waged against fierce, violent campaigns with calls that appear to be mercy and inwardly are torment, which began at the beginning of the last century with a call for the popularization of the colloquial language (instead of: Popularization of the Arabic language. The preacher on his pulpit speaks in the colloquial language, and the journalist in his newspaper writes in the colloquial language, until it reaches the hearts of the people, as they claim! But in reality, this is a sick and malicious invitation whose purpose is to sever the connection between us and the heritage and sources of religion, asking: Was the Qur’an revealed in colloquial language? Did the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, convey his hadiths in colloquial language? Were heritage books written in the colloquial?

The preacher at Al-Azhar Mosque called for reading a book considered one of the most important books, which is “The History of the Call to the Colloquial and its Effects in Egypt,” because of the serious facts it reveals about attempts to weaken Arabic since the beginning of the last century, with the aim of isolating generations from their heritage and separating them from the authentic sources of Islamic legislation. Preserving the fluency of the language is a bulwark of the cultural and religious identity of the entire nation, indicating that advocates of destroying identity They realized that attacking Arabic is the closest way to attacking religion, which is what Imam Al-Shatibi pointed out in “Al-Muwafaqat.” When he made understanding Arabic a condition for jurisprudential diligence, so that everyone would see the wickedness of the conspiracy and cunning planning to obliterate the identity of this religion and its heritage, and the issue is that no one can understand the Book of God in anything other than Arabic, so how can we comprehend it and understand it without understanding the language in which it was revealed? God Almighty says: “Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an that you may understand.” And He says Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him: “Learn Arabic, for it strengthens the mind and increases chivalry.” One of the orientalists says: “Since I understood the Arabic language, the tongue has a mind.”

The preacher of Al-Azhar Mosque affirmed that understanding the Holy Qur’an is impossible without mastering the Arabic language, because weak Arabic leads to weak understanding of God and His Messenger, and he inferred this by knowing the secrets of the statement. Grammatical semantics are the only ones that solve the difficult problems of understanding the Qur’anic text, such as the interpretation of the verse of Yusuf: “And indeed, she intended for it, and he intended for it, had he not seen the proof of his Lord,” where linguists have shown that “were it not for” An abstaining letter denies the occurrence of Joseph’s concern at all. He also pointed out that ignorance of the language leads to serious errors in common usage, such as the supplication “Our Lord, open between us and our people with the truth.” Without realizing that "conquest" Here it means judging and adjudicating the dispute, not giving, as mentioned in the story of Shuaib, which confirms that ignorance of Arabic results in many misfortunes in understanding religion and expression, stressing that mastering Arabic is not only a linguistic skill, but rather a way to open the doors of contemplating the Book of God, sensing the manifestations of its meanings, and understanding the secrets of the legal discourse as God Almighty intended it, and pointed out that every science of the Sharia, whether interpretation, jurisprudence, or Modern — cannot be properly understood except by mastering the tools of the Arabic language.

 

His Eminence added that what we feel today is that we are dissolving into a language other than ours, and words other than ours, bragging about this, as happens in foreign schools, where they teach children languages other than their mother tongue. These schools sever the connection between them and their learners in their language, stressing the necessity of preserving the Arabic language, so that parents do not reap the benefits. Once upon a time by graduating generations who have no connection to the Arabic language and who do not understand the Holy Qur’an, praising the presidential initiative and the role of the president in supporting the Arabic language, and his directing to the media and other concerned institutions about the necessity of paying attention to the Arabic language, which is a praiseworthy call and a valuable initiative because the Arabic language is our identity.

 

At the conclusion of his speech, the preacher of the Al-Azhar Mosque called for replacing the signs, advertisements, and shop addresses written in English and others to be in Arabic. Because the Arabic language is able to give us vocabulary used for this purpose, and there must be a law that criminalizes mistakes in the Arabic language, to deter negligence, disdain and tampering with the Arabic language, and parents must pay attention to the Arabic language and develop it among their children, and schools must teach the Arabic language and apply it practically, and pay great attention to it.

• For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Related