Assalaamu’alaikum warahmatullaahi wabarakaatuhu!
Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said,
“Language has a clear and strong effect on one’s thinking, behavior and religious commitment. It also helps one to resemble with the early generations of this Ummah, the Companions and the Tabi’een. Being like them improves one’s thinking, religious commitment and behavior. Moreover, the Arabic language itself is part of Islam, and knowing Arabic is an obligatory duty. If it is a duty to understand the Qur’an and Sunnah and they cannot be understood without knowing Arabic then the means needed to fulfill the duty also becomes obligatory.”
Iqtidaa us-Siraatil-Mustaqeem (2/207)
Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) also said,
When early Muslims went to live in Syria and Egypt, where people spoke Byzantine Greek, and in Iraq and Khurasaan, where people spoke Persian, and North Africa (Al-Maghrib) where people spoke Berber, they taught the people of those countries to speak Arabic. Arabic then became the prevalent language in those lands. All people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, spoke Arabic.
Iqtidaa us-Siraatil-Mustaqeem (2/207)
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali (Known famously for the widely known translation of the Noble Qur’an, along with Shaykh Dr. Muhsin Khan) writes:
It is a pity that many nations are only satisfied in the translated meaning of the Qur’an and Prophet’s Sunnah instead of studying the (true) Arabic text of the Qur’an and Prophet’s Sunnah. For this reason they are divided into various sects (due to the lack of knowledge about the religion of Islam) e.g. as regards to the ways of religious education, etc. so they are plunged in differences, which was prohibited by Allah.
If the translation of the meaning of the Qur’an is meant for the above said purpose then it is a real mischief-doing, and an evil action and is against what was brought by Allah’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) and also against the opinions of the early and present day religious scholars. All the religious scholars unanimously agree that the Qur’an and the Sunnah should be taught in the language of the Qur’an (i.e. Arabic Language). So did the early religious scholars of the Muslim nation when they conquered different countries.
Translations are mainly meant for informing the people who have not yet embraced Islam to make clear to them the principles of Islam and the teachings of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and to know its exact facts. When they reach this state and Allah has blessed them with Islam, they must take the Qur’anic and the Messenger’s Language (i.e. Arabic) as the only language to understand Islam.
May Allah’s mercy be on Shaykh ‘Umar Uzbak, a great Turkish man, who strove for Islam in Uzbakistan under the Russian government, after his long fight against the enemies of Islam with fire (iron) and tongue (speech), he took refuge in Afghanistan at Kabul, where the government honoured him. I met him there in 1352 A.H. (approx. 1932 CE) i.e. nearly 40 years ago, and he had vowed to Allah that he will never speak to a relative or anybody else except in the Qur’anic and Messenger’s (Arabic) language. His wife sent a man for me to intercede for her to him that he should speak with her and her children in the Turkish language even for an hour everyday. So when I spoke to him about it, he said: “Russians had compelled us to learn perfectly the Russian language (by force), so we learnt it. And unless they knew that the learning of the Russian language will make the person who learns it, follow their ways of thinking, characters, and their traditions, they would not have forced anybody to learn it.” He further said to me, ‘I have vowed to Allah long ago not to speak except in the language of the Qur’an and Sunnah (i.e. Arabic) and I do that only for Allah’s sake. If my wife and children desire to enjoy speaking with me, they should learn the language of the Qur’an and of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) (i.e. Arabic) and I am ready to teach them the Qur’anic language whenever they desire that’
[The Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Quran in the english language by Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al- Hilali & Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan , page xxiv (1994 edition )]
The website of this great Scholar is http://www.alhilali.net/?c=1
To start learning Arabic, visit:
www.madinaharabic.com
Excerpts from: Revive Arabic in our homes!
Also read: Statements of the scholars on the importance of learning the Arabic Language
Rules relating to the Arabic Language
BaarakAllaahu feekum!
Your brother,
فـرحان بن فـضل حسيـن
