LETTER: Unesco decides to celebrate Dec 18 as the World Day of the Arabic Language, as it is the day on which the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) issued Resolution No. 3190 in Dec 1973, which recognised the Arabic language as one of the official and working languages of the UN, on a request submitted by Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
Arabic is one of the oldest Semitic languages, the most spoken and one of the most commonly spoken in the world. Its speakers are more than 467 million people distributed throughout the Arabic world, in addition to many other regions, as it is one of the four most commonly used languages.
On the Internet and the media, as well as being one of the most advanced languages, superior to the French and Russian languages, the Arabic language is of considerable interest to the Muslims, as it is the language of the Quran. Prayers in Islam are not done without learning some of its words.
Arabic is also the primary ritual language of a number of Christian churches in the Arab world, and furthermore, many of the most important religious and intellectual works of Judaism in the Middle Ages have been written in it, such as the works of Donash Benn Lerat and Ibn Hayuj in Grammar, Saeed al-Fayyoumi.
The Arabic language has displayed remarkable creativity in its various styles, oral and writing, reading and expression, poetry and fiction. According to international records, Arabic has prevailed for many centuries as a language of politics, science and literature.
It has had a clear impact on many other languages throughout the Islamic world, such as Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Urdu, Malay, Indonesian, Albanian, and several other African languages, such as Swahili, and has also contributed to the transition of science and philosophical knowledge of the Greeks and Romans to Europe in the Renaissance, and has opened up channels of cultural dialogue between nations and civilisations.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful experiences of celebrating Arabic is what I have seen in Malaysia in general and on the Arabic Language Day in particular. In Malaysia, the interest in Arabic does not depend on a day or a date. Rather, I saw in Malaysia creativity in the celebration of the Arabic language.
The language has made it into the culture, where some of Malaysia's cultural practices have some Arabic variants. There is Arabic-language activity in schools and in social celebrations. In addition, in one Malaysian-style singing known as Dikir Barat that has an Arabic version.
Perhaps one of the things that made me happy and proud was, in Malaysia, one who is fluent in Arabic is called the 'Ustaz' or 'Ustazah' as a sign of respect.
ABDEL RAHMAN IBRAHIM SULEIMAN ISLIEH
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times