The Qur’an was presented to the people of Arabia by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). It was presented in parts over a period of 23 years of his prophetic life. The book presents itself as the word of God and the Holy Prophet also presented it as such.
The Muslims believe that the Qur’an, being the revealed word of God, is the cornerstone of their faith. They get their philosophy, beliefs and laws from this book – it is the basic source of the Islamic faith. It is the Word of God revealed to His Messenger Muhammad Peace be upon him, who read it out before the world loud and clear. Not only did he recite it to the people of Arabia, he also made elaborate arrangements to ensure that it’s contents be preserved and his companions should learn it by heart and should also write it down. The Prophet’s stress on the supremacy of the Book of Allah, over all other sources of knowledge, was unequivocal and categorical. It is believed by the Muslims that the Prophet actually heard or received the divine words. The Qur’an was either communicated to him through Wahy (Revelation), or through an angel or spoken by God himself. All these forms of communication, the Muslims believe, are verbatim in nature, that is to say, that actual words, revealed by Allah, constitute the Holy Book. It is not like the writings of the New Testament, where God inspires a scribe to write down the scripture; the idea and words are those of the scribe while God only supervises the scribe or the scribe was inspired by God, Who revealed a certain idea to him. The scribe then wrote it down in his own words. In case of the Qur’an, the words and ideas are both divine.
The words and verses of the Qur’an were preserved, through the oral as well as the written traditions, in the Prophet’s lifetime. A large number of companions of the Prophet participated in this preservation process and the text was safely handed over to the next generation.
” When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace: that ye may receive Mercy. ” Quran 7:204
The Arabic language is the language of the Noble Qur’ân, and with it, the Qur’ân was revealed upon the seal of the Messengers, so attention to the Arabic language is to have attention to the Book of Allâh the Most High and the studying and the practising of it helps in the understanding of the Noble Book of Allâh and the narration of the master of the Prophets, Muhammad (Peace be upon him). It is also the language of our esteemed Islamic law (As-Sharee’ah), so when we defend it we are not proceeding on a path of nationalism or racism or culturalism, but in fact we are defending the language of our religion (way of life) and it is the cloak of our Islamic Civilisation.
As such, Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah 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)]
So then the knowledge of the Arabic language is essential for every Muslim so that he can perform his religious acts of worship and he can be proficient in the recitation of the Noble Qur’ân. Allâh says in His Book (which means):
“Verily we have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’ân in order that you may understand” (Soorah Yusuf: 2)
