Miracle of Classical Arabic in the Quran Monday, September 25, 2017

Why Allah ﷻ chose to reveal Quran in the Arabic Language?

Linguists claim that no language can remain intact for more than five hundred years and that if efforts are not made to preserve them, with passage of time languages die. Such is quite evident when we compare today's English with the original Shakespearean English. There’s obviously a huge difference because languages get impacted by changes with time. For instance the native languages spoken in the American continent were heavily influenced by Spanish and Portuguese, after the Europeans colonized the continent. Those native languages still exist but their original words are forgotten and replaced with Spanish or Portuguese words. Many of these languages have even gone extinct in past several years. There's a New York Times article from year 2007 that mentions: “Of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century. In fact, they are now falling out of use at a rate of about one every two weeks. At a teleconference with reporters today, K. David Harrison, an assistant professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College, said that more than half of the languages have no written form and are “vulnerable to loss and being forgotten.” When they disappear, they leave behind no dictionary, no text, no record of the accumulated knowledge and history of a vanished culture.”[1]

However this is not the case with classical Arabic, I use the word "classical" because this language has amazingly survived from the ancient times till today. Even though being an ancient language, classical Arabic is still intact and any person who becomes learned in the Arabic language can easily read, ponder over the depth of this language and appreciate its richness and beauty. It is said that no other language has the ability to translate classical Arabic because ancient languages that may be as old and as rich as Arabic are becoming extinct and modern languages are continuously evolving. The modern languages such as English, Spanish, French, that are lingua franca (international languages) remain underdeveloped to have the exact quality as that of classical languages. Hence modern languages are not at par with classical language such as Arabic.

What is more important to note is that modern Arabic spoken in the mainstream does not reflect the same quality and influence as the classic one and that is because what sustains a language’s authenticity is also culture in which it was born and sustained. The modern capitals of the Arabic world are influenced by globalization culture especially with the evolution of technology and usage of internet. What keeps classical Arabic still strong are two factors: the isolated Bedouin culture that remains disconnected from mainstream or it is primarily due to The Quran! The miraculous survival of the Arabic is mainly due to the Quran because Quran is still available in its original form and hasn't experienced any changes in almost fifteen centuries. It is the most widely read book in the world today because millions have memorized it unlike any book on earth, and millions pray 5 times a day and Quran recitation is part of those daily prayers. This is in addition to the study of its language which is also part of the many of those who memorize and study Islam. The Arabic linguists can still learn this language and also indulge in deeper study of the text and each word preserved in the Quran. It is this reason why Allah ﷻ chose to reveal the Quran in ancient Arabic and chose it to communicate with His beloved Prophet ﷺ and entire humankind. In the light of these facts about classical Arabic we may understand why Allah ﷻ chose this language to reveal His final message for humankind. In fact due to being divinely preserved in the Quran, it is made available for the fairly modern and developing languages (English, French, other languages) to translate its words to extent of their own limitations and clearly understand its message. This is a divine promise: “Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder (Quran) and, behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption].”[2] “…and [this] in order that you may warn the foremost of all cities (Makkah) and all who dwell around it (i.e. the entire humankind).”[3]

References:

[1] World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly, The New York Times, By John Noble Wilford

Sept. 18, 2007 - 

[2] Al Quran 15:09

[3] Al Quran 6:92

[Courtesy of  Zaid Shah | Rizqan Kareem | Most Excellent Sustenance]