Language Lab

The Importance of Arabic

We should not underestimate the significance of the Arabic language. It is the native mother tongue of more than 250 million Arabs, the majority to be found between Morocco in the west and Iraq in the east. The classical Arabic language (Fus’ha) is seen by all Muslims as sacred (amounting to one seventh of the world’s population).

People around the world revere Arabic as the language of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an has preserved Arabic in its purest form in the eyes of Muslims,

Arabic has changed little over the centuries. The Holy Qur’an therefore continues to be an essential cohesive influence on the language. Consequently, a well-educated Arab is quite capable of reading Arabic written a thousand or more years ago.

It was due to the spread of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries that the language gained its importance. This was in part due to its religious importance but also because it was the language of the civil service of the Islamic Caliphate. It was at this time that Arabic came into contact with European languages which it helped to enrich.