Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

A R C H I V E S

Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?

Madina Archives


Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
Anonymous
12/29/02 at 20:49:57
Hi,

                I admire the discipline of those who are Muslim and I want to understand the core of what
                actually makes one a Muslim.  Do I have to learn the arabic language in order to read and
                understand the Qu'ran?  The Bible says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:"
                Hosea 4:6.  I don't want to be ignorant and stereotypical.  Please help me to understand.
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
jannah
12/29/02 at 23:59:03
You definitely do not need to learn Arabic in order to read and understand the quran. Or to be Muslim. I daresay the majority of Muslims in the world do not know Arabic! There are many translations in hundreds of languages. So you could find one in English with commentary (I recommend Yusuf Ali) and read it :) Of course since the Quran was revealed from God in Arabic it is not the same as the original Arabic Quran, but still it is important to read if only to understand what Islam is all about.  I'd also recommend "An idiot's guide to Islam" hehe despite the name it is a good beginning!!
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
Fatimah
12/30/02 at 11:34:10
[slm]
I'm muslim and don't know much Arabic :)
In fact....  I went to go buy cookies a couple weeks ago and tried using my not-so-good Arabic skills  ;)

I asked the man for 2 cats instead of 2 pieces....!  ;D
I was soooo embarrased.  :-/

There are a lot of wonderful Islamic books in English!

Do you have an English Quran?
Would you like some links to really nice Islamic sites?

12/30/02 at 11:39:15
Fatimah
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
siddiqui
12/31/02 at 13:20:03
[slm]
Well learning arabic, brings a diffrent flavor to one's reflections of Allah swt
and his words in the quraan,For instance I have memorised aayatul kursi(the verse of the throne/signs of the throne) since a kid but when we went over it last week in arabic class it was amazing , the play of words and the deep meaning they bring to it is very difficult to grasp in any other language
so I encourage you to start learning arabic it is usally enjoyable(except when there is a test) and not very difficult either ( whole thing based on huwa hiya anta anti etc  :) )
Look for some one in your community who is willing to teach you
Alhamdullilah we have found a great teacher who has been a good friend and advisor too May Allah swt reward him and make it easy for you
[wlm]
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
amatullah
01/01/03 at 02:01:54
You don't need to know Arabic to read and understand the Quran, but to be a Muslim and do your prayers you will need to know a little bit probably of Arabic. And this doesn't have to be before you become Muslim, or right away. It is gradual. Many first they just say Subhan Allah through the whole prayer which is Praising Allah. and slowly they add here and there till they know the prayers.

I would say most Muslims know enough to be able to do their prayers but not much more like to hold conversations or read the Quran or anything. The interesting thing is that many of the major schoalrs were non-Arabs mostly Iranian decent who moved to Arabia to learn (ex. bukhari) and the other day in the Muhammad legacy of a prophet documentary there was a revert who is an arabic calligrapher.
01/01/03 at 02:04:05
amatullah
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
zomorrud
01/01/03 at 15:39:49
[color=blue]bismillah..
Assalamu alaikum,

sis truthfinder, that was soooo cute!  It has been a long time since I heard something soo funny and cute at the same time.

I can see the similarity between the two words in Arabic.

Since I am not a native English speaker myself, I have made some confused word choices im the past ( and still happens from time to time!)  Once, I wanted to say "boomerang" and ended up saying "orangutang". The girl with whom I was eating lunch almost chocked on her food!  

But humour aside, and back to the original question. One needs to learn enough Arabic to say their prayers. And this is not very much.  However, I think one would extract more value and benefit from their prayers and Quran reading after learning [i]some[/i]  Arabic.  It is not an absolute requirement though, I think. But insha'Allah, it is a good thing to learn.  Just take it one step at a time.  

Think of it this way.  The more you understand the meanings of words in your prayer the more you will be able to "connect". Otherwise, it will become just a ritual with time, and might lose some of its spiritual dimension.  

The so-called "translations" are actually interpretations of Qura'an.  So, there is a lot of "balagha" (arabic for elequonce/diction) that is lost or diluted in these "translations".

Just take it slow and easy insha'Allah.  When you purify your intentions, Allah will make the task easier on you.

Take care.
[/color]
01/01/03 at 15:40:25
zomorrud
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
Mujahideen
01/07/03 at 16:02:19
     
[slm]
Asalaamu Alikume I understand what people are trying to say however I would qualify their answers somewhat.
     No -- you do not need to know Arabic to be a Muslim.
Meaning you don’t need to know how to read and understand the language with fluency in order to be Muslim. You need only to believe in the creed of the Muslims to be a Muslim.
     You do need to know how to recite some small portions of Arabic in prayer and knowing their meanings in English is a good idea as well. This is very easy and can be learned in a few hours.
     But in terms of truly and deeply understanding the Qur’an this can only really be done (at least at an academic level) in Arabic. But in terms of understanding the creed of the Muslims and prayer no you don’t have to know Arabic. Many of the problems many muslim have in understanding things is a product of their reading poorly translated texts – many have serious omissions and even deliberate changes to the text in the translation – read the ‘Broken Chain’ to find out more information. One can get a good general sense of the Qur’an and a firm understanding of the creed of the Muslims in nearly any language.
     That being said Arabic is actually a very easy and straightforward language despite what most Muslims may claim. Most Muslims don’t speak Arabic, most Islamic centres don’t offer Arabic classes, the few that do have program that are so pathetically inadequate and unorganized they quickly prove a total waste of time. I am a convert and I learned Arabic by looking for a few good books and going through them on my own and with a good teacher (don’t just go to any Arab - in fact most Arabs I know don’t know Arabic very well at all, they have very simplistic understandings of grammar and seriously limited vocabularies – look for someone who has studied Arabic formally at a post secondary level). I never really learned to speak Arabic well because I don’t bother practicing – mainly on the advise of one of my teachers who told me that most Arabs are not worth having a conversation with anyways. Reading and writing are important and very easy to learn with a little work.
     Thus one should not base their decision as weather they will become Muslim or not on the basis of knowing Arabic. I did not learn Arabic until a few years after converting.
[wlm]
Re: Do you have to learn arabic be Muslim?
theOriginal
01/07/03 at 16:52:25
[slm]

Funny Arabic story... (one more thing, I don't know why when I was writing this, I got a sense of deja vu...If i've shared this before, I'm sorry.)

Have a family friend who was visiting Egypt, and who had picked up a "How to communicate in arabic" manual before he left, but for the large part, knew nothing.  

So, he was in a taxi, and was giving directions to the driver.  He remembered how to say "Right" and "Left"... but he couldn't remember how to say "Go Straight".  So, he started panicking, and the driver started panicking...Amidst the panic, he ended up blurting out "Noooo....I wanna go to Sirat-ul Mustaqeem!!!!"

Anyway, the driver laughed so hard that they had to pull over while he recovered.  In the end, he refused to accept payment, and drove away saying "MashaAllah, MashaAllah."  

(Oh how I wish I knew Arabic.)

Wasalaam.

SF.
01/07/03 at 16:53:29
theOriginal


Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
A R C H I V E S

Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author.
The rest © Jannah.Org