“The language Allah chose is the Arabic language. He sent his precious bk (the Quran) written in Arabic, the language of the last prophet. Fr this reason, it is the duty of everyone to learn Arabic.” Al-Shafi’i (772-826)

As of 2010, 1.6 billion people from across the Arab world as well as far beyond it, considered themselves Muslim, making Islam the second most widespread religion in the world after Christianity (2.4 billion practitioners).

History tells us that Islam was the third monotheistic religion to emerge after Judaism and Christianity.

Muslims recognize only ne Gd, Allah (اللّه in Arabic), who rules all humanity and to whom humanity owes all.

This divine being is indivisible (childless), has on image, and commands total submission from believers in Islam (الإسلام, Islam means “submission to Gd” in Arabic).

Manifested in the holy scriptures known as the Quran, Islam was revealed to the prophet Muhammad (570-632), political, religious, and military leader from Mecca (Saudi Arabia). Muslims consider Muhammad to be the last prophet.

Extensive study of the Quran and research int the origins of Islam have given rise to a legitimate discipline among Muslims, a Quranic science, which has sparked debate among Eastern researchers since the 19th century.

• What is the true interpretation of the Quran?

• Why was the Holy Quran written in Arabic?

• Is learning Quranic Arabic more difficult than learning other foreign languages?

The importance of Arabic for Islam is undeniable.

Allah: A Semitic Word with Roots in Many Faiths

There is a lot that you probably didn’t know about Arabic. Did you know that it is written in the opposite direction to English?

or that “Allah” is the Arabic word for the Islamic divinity, or God?

The history of this term is actually quite enlightening.

As students enrolled in Quranic Arabic curses at a mosque and those learning Arabic literary translating and writing know, in Arabic, the word for Gd is composed of the article “al” – ال – which means “the” and the Arabic word “ilah” – إِلَاه – meaning “god”.

These days, some Muslims from the Maghreb countries to Cairo still travel to Mecca to show their love for the Quran!

Together, the two terms make “Allah” (اللّٰه) meaning “the god”. The Quran declares that Gd is absolutely unique, a monotheistic concept called tawhid (the ne Gd).

However, attributing this Arabic word exclusively to Islam would be historically inaccurate.

Really?

Yes, the word “Allah” has origins in the middle eastern Semitic languages of Aramaic and Hebrew.

It existed well before the publication of the Arabic-language Quran, and its usage can be traced back to before the emergence of monotheistic Islam.

The word “Allah” was already in use by pre-Islamic people.

• The Akkadians used the term “ilu” t0 invoke God between 4,000 and 2,000 BCE.

• In Hebrew, Jews call Gd “Elohim”. to this day, some Jews in Maghreb countries and the Middle East use the term “Allah”.

• In the Bible, Christians speaking Aramaic (the native language of Jesus Christ) called their god “Allaha”.

• Arabic Christians from Syria and Arabia who were persecuted in the 3rd century also used the word “Allah”.

Linguistic note: the terms “Allah” and “Elohim” come from the same Semitic rt!

In pre-Islamic Arabia – meaning before Muhammad’s 622 pilgrimage and funding of Islam – Allah is said to have had sons and daughters in the form of associated divinities.

The Holy Quran itself admits to the existence of pan-Arab divinities who were venerated at Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, and Aleppo and Palmyra in modern day Syria.

• Al-lāt

• Hubal

• Manāt

• Al-‘Uzzá

S, the first Arabs of the Islamic world were polytheists, just as the Romans and Greeks of antiquity were!

What language was the Quran written in

The Arabic language in which the Quran was written has played a significant role in the development and spread of Islam. The language is considered sacred and is used for a variety of religious purposes, including the recitation of the Quran, Islamic prayers, and religious sermons.

Classical Arabic, which is the language of the Quran, is characterized by its complex grammar, rich vocabulary, and poetic structure. It is distinct from the modern Arabic dialects spoken in different regions today. As a result, the study of classical Arabic is an essential component of Islamic education, and students of Islam must learn the language to properly understand and interpret the Quran.

Moreover, the language of the Quran has had a profound impact on the development of Arabic literature and culture. The language’s poetic structure and richness have influenced the development of other literary genres, such as poetry, prose, and drama.

In summary, the Quran was written in classical Arabic, which is a highly structured and poetic form of the Arabic language. The language is considered sacred and is widely used for religious and literary purposes in many parts of the world today.

Arabic as a Means of Islamic Expansion

Imagine returning to Mecca, birthplace of the Arabic language, in the footprints of the prophet Muhammad.

Why did Allah Chose Arabic When Dictating His Laws?

Finding reliable sources of information and scientific studies abut Allah and Arabic is rather difficult because Allah never really existed as a physical entity.

That leaves us with only hypotheses.

The ne Gd is called “Allah” because the Quran was revealed via the Arabic language.

Such glorification and recognition of the divine uniqueness (Tawhid) – a requirement of all faithful Muslims – came when preachers needed to convert polytheistic 7th-century Arabs living on the Arabian Peninsula to monotheism.

We can be sure that the Quran was “revealed” to Muhammad and then propagated in the Arabic language because the prophet came from Arabian Peninsula and thus spoke Arabic as a native tongue.

Learning to read and speak Arabic, especially Quranic Arabic, allows practicing Muslims to understand the verses (r suras) in the Quran.

The Arabic language is, therefore, the means by which all believers in Islam might understand ne anther.

Islamic culture tells us that Islam was born in 610, when Muhammad – while on a spiritual retreat on Munt Hira – received a revelation from the archangel Gabriel. Muhammad heard the holy word of Gd.

Upon returning to Mecca, Muhammad was presented as the messenger of Gd and undertook to spread the holy word.

Muslim tradition says that the prophet Muhammad was illiterate. He had on other means than his native language by which to teach the verses of the Quran and spread Islamic language and culture throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

Gd must have chosen the Arabic language for dictating Islamic law, called the sunnah, because Arabic was simply the most appropriate language for the task.

The “task” was to communicate with the greatest possible number of people who might join the new religion.

Between 602 and 628, pre-Islamic Arabia was devastated by the war between the Byzantine Empire in the western Mediterranean region and the Persian Empire to the east (today’s Iran).

Muhammad died in 632. His death and the territorial lose accompanying the Arabian victory against Sassanian Persia in 636 marked the beginning of Islamic expansion by Arabs of the Near East.

Naming Arabic as the official Language of Islam Unifies Muslims

In pre-Islamic times, before the Hijra – when Muhammad left Mecca for Medina in 622 – Arabic speakers were not all monotheists.

Some were Jews, other Christians. But Muhammad was the messenger of a revelation that must be delivered and understood by his countrymen.

Documentary research has revealed several hypotheses.

• Islam and the Quran were created in the Arabic language simply because the last prophet Muhammad was an Arab.

• The Quran is written in Arabic because it addressed an Arabic-speaking population when it first appeared.

• Allah chose an Arabic-speaking prophet because the city of Mecca had not yet been told of the existence of God.

• Muslims were being called to meditating and reason.

• Arabic was chosen to issue a challenge of eloquence and rhetoric to Arab populations.

Whatever the reason, the Islamization of Arabia, the progressive turn toward Allah, and the diffusing of Islam throughout the Arab-Muslim countries of the Middle East appears to be the result of successive territorial annexations from the east to the west at the end of the 7th century.

Submission to Allah – “Islam” means “submission” in Arabic – appears to have sought the eradicating of polytheistic beliefs and the installation of a unique dogma that would unite all Muslims.