The Arabic of the Qur’an can be seen as a very distinguished language, a language of
such beauty and refinement that even today Arab speakers from different religions
recognize the Qur'an as a masterpiece. The language of the Qur'an impressed so much the
greatest poets of its time that one of them reverted to Islam as soon as he heard it. Even
the Meccans, enemies of Muhammad's message (peace be upon him) fell on their knees
at the only sound of a few verses spoken by him.
The language of the Qur'an has influenced the evolution of the Arabic language
but Arabs have to learn it as a classical Arabic language as opposed to the modern
Arabic, which is largely a dialect of the original Arabic.
The language of the noble Qur'an has been called the “koine” used by the poet of the age
of the revelation but of such superiority, it cannot be equated with it.
However, this does not mean Arabic did not exist before the Islamic Revelation! On the
contrary, Muslims believe it was the language of Prophets going to David (Dawud in
Arabic) and Ibrahim (Abraham) (peace be upon them). Indeed, nobody religiously
educated in the Muslim world think that Arabic was a gift of our Beloved prophet, but
Muhammad (peace be upon him), through the Revelation, helped fixing grammatical
rules.
Muslims are not the only one to think that. George Mendenhallm, an eminent historian,
declares:
"Abraham spoke an early dialect of Arabic, not Hebrew", and "its (Arabic) origins
are in the early Bronze Age," 3,000 years before Muhammad. He continues: "The
Semitic languages originated in the fertile crescent and, about the time of Moses,
a group of tribes moved into the desert, taking their languages with them, and
that's what became Arabic.”
Mendenhall explains:
“The older the language in Biblical Hebrew, the higher the percentage of words
that have Arabic cognates. By the time of the Persian empire, Aramaic was the
lingua franca of the civilized world. Late Hebrew reflects that; it has a much
higher percentage of Aramaic cognates and a lower percentage of Arabic."
He adds: "There never was a Hebrew conquest of Palestine. But there was a
religious conversion to a monotheistic faith of the existing population.”
His hypothesis is that Arabic and its early forms would be the language that united people
believing in only One God (otherwise Muslims), and this from a very early age!
His theory confirms the Muslim belief that Arabic was spoken since Prophet Ibrâhim on
(peace be upon him), which could begin more than 500 years before Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him).
Together with the sayings, actions, and recommendations of Muhammad (peace
be upon him), the Qur'an has been the ultimate source of legal authority for Muslims over
the past fourteen centuries. Muslim scholars have painstakingly examined, analyzed and
interpreted the various verses of the Holy Book, detailing the requirements the Qur'an
imposes on Muslims in order for them to achieve spiritual purity. Thus, in addition to its
legislative and theological value, the Qur'an has also served as a source of spiritual
guidance for the followers of Islam. It is therefore understood that each person reverting
to Islam must make efforts to learn at least two surahs (chapters) from the Noble Book.
Since translations lose part of the clarity of the verses, it is recommended that every
Muslims studies the Qur'an in Arabic even if translations in different languages have
been made available to everyone. Thus, every Muslim knows something of the Arabic
language for the purpose of saluting each other ('assalam alaikum' is the usual greeting
between followers of the religion, meaning 'peace be upon you'), or reciting his prayers,
or supplicating.
However, the Noble Qur'an's linguistic significance has received far less attention than its
theological and legislative guidance. It was undoubtedly the first book to be composed in
Arabic and the advent of Islam and the revelation of the Qur'an have had far-reaching
effects on the status, the content, and the structure of the Arabic language.
Why?
On the one hand, Arabic provided a very effective medium for communicating the
message of the religion. On the other hand, Islam helped Arabic to acquire the universal
status, which it has continued to enjoy since the Middle Ages, emerging as one of the
principal world languages.
Embracing Islam, therefore, entails exposure to, and familiarity with the Arabic
language. Such familiarity is necessitated by the fact that memorization and recitation of
Qur'anic ayat (verses) in their original language is necessary for the performance of the
daily rituals and for the keeping of the integrity of the message. Translations are always
accompanied with the verses translated, in Arabic, so that the reader can have a constant
and authentic reference before his eyes.
Contrary to the Bible, which has been corrupted through its translations, the Qur'an has
been kept unchanged, word for word, since its Revelation during the 7th C AD.
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