Motivation to learn Arabic

[Bint e Aisha]

Sh. Salek:

"I'm amazed how one can claim to love the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) without concern to learn his language."

Source

[Bint e Aisha]

Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) said: “The Arabic Language is from the Religion, and the knowledge of it is an obligation. For surely the understanding of the Qur’ân and the Sunnah is an obligation, and these two are not understood except with the understanding of the Arabic Language, and whatever obligation is not fulfilled except by certain steps then those steps themselves become obligatory (to fulfil the initial obligation)” [The Necessity Of The Straight Path by Ibn Taymiyyah ( 1/470)]

***

Shaykh ul Islam (rahimahullah) also mentioned a statement of Imam Ash Shafi’ee (rahimahullah), he said:

…this is because the (language) that Allah choose is Arabic. He revealed His glorious book (The Quran) in this language and He made it the tongue of His final and last prophet, Muhammed -sallahu alahi wa salem. Therefore, we say: it is befitting for everyone that has the ability to learn this language to do so, this is because it should be the most desired language to learn. At the same time, it is not forbidden for people to speak with other than the Arabic language.

[Iktidah As Siralt Al Mustaqeem 1/521)]

***

Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) also said:

'The Salaf would admonish their children for making Arabic grammatical mistakes. Due to this, we are ordered, whether it be an obligation or a recommendation, to preserve the Arabic (grammatical) laws, and to correct the tongues that have deviated from the correct speech. By doing so, we preserve the methodology of understanding the Quran and the Sunnah. We also preserve the following of the Arab in their manner of (correct) speech. If people were left with their grammatical mistakes, this would be considered a great deficiency and despicable mistake.' [Majmoo' Al Fatawa 32/252]

 

Source

[Bint e Aisha]

Why learn Arabic?

Allah (SWT) emphatically states in the Qur’aan:

إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَـٰهُ قُرۡءَٲنًا عَرَبِيًّ۬ا لَّعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ

[12:2] We have sent it down, as an Arabic Qur'aan, so that you may understand.

Allah (SWT) in his infinite wisdom has categorically linked His word (i.e. the Qur’aan) with the Arabic language; therefore, the two are interlinked until the day of judgement and declared inseparable.

Shaykh Allamah Shabbir Ahmed Uthmani (RA) writes in his Tafseer, "The Arabic language, which is the most eloquent, versatile, regulated and magnificent of all languages, was chosen for the revelation of the Quran. Because the Messenger (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) was an Arab, it logically follows that its first audience will be Arabs. Then, by means of the Arabs this light spread all around. The words "so you may understand,” indicate the reason for revealing the Quran in Arabic i.e.  that you, who are the nation of the Messenger, should first taste its knowledge and thereafter make others do the same. So it happened.”

Shaykhul-Hadeeth (Maulana) Mohammed Zakariyya Kandhalwi (RA) wrote a treatise on the virtues and superiority of the Arabic language entitled, “Fazail-e-Arabi (Virtues of the Arabic Languages)” and mentions many narrations on the subject of the virtues of learning the Arabic language which all students are requested to obtain and study.

Some of the narrations about the Arabic language are as follows:   

Sayyidina Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (RA) said: Learn Arabic for it strengthens the mind and enhances chivalry . In [Shu'abul-Eman']

Sayyidina Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (RA) also wrote to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari : Learn the Sunnah (Prophet's Tradition) and Arabic. Learn to parse the Qur'an for it is written in Arabic . [Musannaf" of Ibn Abi Shaibah] In another version, he said: learn Arabic for it is part and parcel of your Religion . It is also narrated in the aforementioned 'Musannaf' that Ubayy Ibn Ka'b said: Learn Arabic as you learn (memorize) the Qur'an .

Source

[Aayankhan]

I wanted to learn Arabic. Is there any online forum/website where it can be learned?

[Bint e Aisha]

There are various learning resources available online. Please refer to this section and see if they are offering Arabic course inshaAllah. 

http://www.islamicteachings.org/forum/category/169-online-learning-resources/ 

 

[Bint e Aisha]

Many of you have read poetry and Shakespeare, Iqbal, Ghalib etc.  When you translate a poem from one language to another, does it have the same beauty? The word of the human being loses it's beauty after being translated from Urdu to English.. And we are talking about the word of Allah. To describe this loss in beauty As-Suyuti رحمه الله gives a beautiful example. He gives a parable. As-Suyuti رحمه الله was one of the first scholars to write on the sciences of the Quran. He says: 

"If someone can imagine the distance between the Creator and the creation (Imagine how above Allah is from His creation), then you can begin to imagine the distance between the words of the creator and the words of the creation." 

~Transcribed from Nouman Ali Khan's lecture