why do we need to pray in arabic?

Empt

New Member
Greetings,
i wonder if islam is universal and for all races and all kinds why do i have to pray in language i dont know at all(arabic)?
cant i pray in english?:salah:
 
i asked my imam the same question. here's the answer:

its true it would be more meaningful if we all prayed in our own languages but there would be no unity.

the reason we pray in arabic and towards a common center (kaaba) is symbolic of muslim unity. otherwise if you consider the languages of the world, the nigerian standing in line with you will pray in his/her language, the arab will pray in his/her language, the turk will pray in his/her language, the malay will pray in his/her language, the swedish will pray in his/her language and therefore you will have a complete breakdown of salah in the mosque. it part of one of the many things of muslim unity that we pray in arabic.

also it is consistent with following the sunnah or tradition of the Prophet pbuh.

also when words are translated, they are not completely accurate, hence the term 'lost in translation'. if everyone started praying or reading the Quran in their own language, its not completely accurate. for example there is no word for salah in the english language. prayer is the closest word but its not accurate because salah comprises of more than just physical actions performed. salah also integrates the heart, intention and focus of a person worshipping Allah.
 

Hard Rock Moslem

I'm your brother
JazakAllah khair brother Ayman.

Just to add, see what happenned to the christian today? Their bibles are no longer in its original language and today they are having 33800 denominitions (See Newsweek, April 2000).
 

safiya58

Junior Member
:salam2:

jazak Allahu ckair brother diplomaticmuslim. also the arabic language is much more powerfull than other languages. for example the word patience "sabir". I read in tafseer of Yusuf Ali that sabr means:

1) it means patience in terms of thoroughness the opposite of hurriedness
2) having a patient steadiness, endurance, steadfastness and determination in ones intention
3) having a systematic strategy instead of an accidental or hurry action
4) a prepared and wise acceptance of calamaties, sufferings and failure

:wasalam:
 

tolgatemur

Junior Member
Pray whith the language of your hearth. Voices are not of importance

There is no nationalism in Islam.

What you mean by your hearth is more important than whay your language is.

What if we don't have a language. ability to speak and ability to hear? won't be abble to pray?

There is no guarantie that you will understand words better with Arab lang. as a second language of your own.

Yet Allah knows all the languages and what is there deep in the hearth.
 

zul_darus

Junior Member
we will use quran language (high arabic) in the Paradise (Jannah)..no english or other languages 'here after'...
 

fada_all

Junior Member
i asked my imam the same question. here's the answer:

its true it would be more meaningful if we all prayed in our own languages but there would be no unity.

the reason we pray in arabic and towards a common center (kaaba) is symbolic of muslim unity. otherwise if you consider the languages of the world, the nigerian standing in line with you will pray in his/her language, the arab will pray in his/her language, the turk will pray in his/her language, the malay will pray in his/her language, the swedish will pray in his/her language and therefore you will have a complete breakdown of salah in the mosque. it part of one of the many things of muslim unity that we pray in arabic.

also it is consistent with following the sunnah or tradition of the Prophet pbuh.

also when words are translated, they are not completely accurate, hence the term 'lost in translation'. if everyone started praying or reading the Quran in their own language, its not completely accurate. for example there is no word for salah in the english language. prayer is the closest word but its not accurate because salah comprises of more than just physical actions performed. salah also integrates the heart, intention and focus of a person worshipping Allah.

salam alikom


good answer masha allah taala akhi :ma::ma::ma:
may allah reward you with al firdaous al aa'la
 

safiya58

Junior Member
There is no nationalism in Islam.

What you mean by your hearth is more important than whay your language is.

What if we don't have a language. ability to speak and ability to hear? won't be abble to pray?

There is no guarantie that you will understand words better with Arab lang. as a second language of your own.

Yet Allah knows all the languages and what is there deep in the hearth.


:salam2:

but if we do our daily prayers on arabic it is much better... it is also better for our unity if we all pray in the same language..of course it is important to understand the meaning of what you receiting on arabic but you can also learn it... to that arabic is the language of the quran and it can not be compared to any other language.

:wasalam:
 

Search4Truth

New Member
JazakAllah khair brother Ayman.

Just to add, see what happenned to the christian today? Their bibles are no longer in its original language and today they are having 33800 denominitions (See Newsweek, April 2000).


Christians did have a united language in Latin and Greek and many denominations did use the Latin text as part of their services until the 1600s. I can read the Bible in the original Greek and Latin.

But, back to the OP and the question. I believe that in speaking Arabic, the believers are united, even where they may be of different nationalities, genders, ages and classes.
Learning Arabic is fun too!
 

Search4Truth

New Member
we will use quran language (high arabic) in the Paradise (Jannah)..no english or other languages 'here after'...



Quick question: if Arabic is the language of Paradise, and everyone will speak it, is this because we have learnt it here on Earth or will Allah grant us the ability to speak it automatically in our heavenly form?
 

Fatima_ahmad

Junior Member
Quran in Arabic and Namaz in Arabic..Well its imp to understand what we are reading..Well i think that this is not a question why arabic...........anyways good question and repliess
 

Ershad

Junior Member
Brother, As-salaam-Alaikum
As we believe in day of Judgement and on that day every creature (means everything humans, stones, trees, etc) of Allah S.W.T. will speak only Arabic and no other language.

:wasalam:

Brother, is there evidence for your claim from Qur'an and Hadith? I've never heard that before. As for Arabic, it is important because it is the language of the Qur'an. And no translation can take the place of the Qur'an's original words. And adherence to perfect original protects against the deviations in meaning.
 

Ayyub

Junior Member
:wasalam:

Brother, is there evidence for your claim from Qur'an and Hadith? I've never heard that before. As for Arabic, it is important because it is the language of the Qur'an. And no translation can take the place of the Qur'an's original words. And adherence to perfect original protects against the deviations in meaning.

Assalamou Alaikoum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
What I found about your question brother is the following:
Sheikhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding the language in Jannah:
The language of the people in the Hereafter
Written by/Said by: Shaykhul Islaam ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله)
Taken from: Majmoo' al-Fataawa, Volume 4, Number 300

Question: How will the people be addressed on the Day of Resurrection? And will Allaah, the Most High, address the people with the language of the Arab? And is it correct that the language of the People of Fire is Farsee (Persian) and the language of the People of Paradise is Arabic?

Answer: All praise is due to Allaah, the Lord of all that exists. I do not know with what language the people will speak on that day! And I do not know how they will hear the Speech of their Lord, Jalla wa ‘Alaa, because Allaah, the Most High, has not informed us about that. And nor has His Messenger, may the blessings and peace be upon him.

And it is not correct (to believe) that Farsee (Persian) is the language of the dwellers of Jahannaam and nor (is it correct) that Arabic is the language of the people of eternal bliss. And we do not know of any dispute regarding that between the Companions (رضى الله عنهما). Rather, they were all sufficed with that (the knowledge they had). Because speech which is similar to this is the speech of curiousity except it was newly invented by the people who came afterwards (the khalifiyoon, from the latter generations).

So the people said, “They will address (each other) in Arabic".

And some others said, “So the People of the Fire, they will respond to Farsee, and this is their language in the fire.”

And some others said, “They will converse in Siriyaniyyah, because it is the language of Adam, and all (other) languages branched off from that.”

And some others said, “So the People of Paradise, they will speak in Arabic.”

All of this speech, the one’s who possess it, they have no proof for it, from the intellect nor from the narrations. Rather they are claims devoid of any evidences. And Allaah (سبحانه وتعالى) knows best and is the Most Wise.

It is not certain what the language of Jannah will be but there are a few weak hadith that some take as leading indicator that the language of Jannah will be arabic.

Al-Muhaddith Muhammad Naasirud-Deen Al-Albaani brought in As-Silsilatud-Da’eefah no.161 the hadeeth: ( I am an Arab, the Qur’an is Arabic, and the language of the people of Paradise is Arabic)

Fabricated. It is collected by At-Tabarani in Al-Awsat (2/285/1/9301) He said: “Mas’adah ibn Sa’d realated to us: Ibraheem ibn Al-Mundhir narrated to us: Abdul-Azeez ibn ‘Imraan narrated to us: Shibl ibn ibn Al-Alaa narrated to us from his father on his grandfather on Abu Hurairah ãÑÝæÚÇ (raised to the Messenger of Allah Õáì Çááå Úáíå æ Óáã ) He said: ‘No one narrated it on Shibl except Abdul-Azeez ibn ‘Imraan and As-Suyuti mentioned it in Al-Lali (1/442) as a supporting narration for the hadeeth which comes before it then he said after it: ‘Adh-Dhahabi said in Al-Mughni: ‘Shibl ibn Al-Alaa ibn Abdur-Rahman; Ibn Adi said: ‘He has contradictory reports’.”

I say (Al-Albaani): Al-Haythami found fault with it in Al-Mujmi’ (1/52-53). He said: ‘In it is Abdul-Azeez ibn ‘Imraan and he is ãÊÑæß (abandoned). And he said: In it is Ibn Lahi’ah, and he is not trustworthy. Al-Hafidh Al-‘Iraaqi said in Al-Muhajjah (1/56): “Abdul-Azeez ibn ‘Imraan Az-Zuhri ãÊÑæß (abandoned), An-Nisaai said this and other than him, and Al-Bukhari said: ‘His hadeeths are not to be written and upon this the narration is therefore not authentic.” Ibn Araaq affirmed this in Tanzeeh Ash-Sharee’ah (pg.209).

And from what points to the futility of attributing this hadeeth to him Õáì Çááå Úáíå æ Óáã is that in it is him bragging about his being an Arab, and this thing is alien to the Islamic legislation, not in harmony with Allah’s statement: “Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah are the most pious.”[Al-Hujaraat:13] And his statement Õáì Çááå Úáíå æ Óáã: “There is no virtue of the Arab over the non-Arab except in piety.” It is collected by Ahmad (5/411) with a authentic chain of narration, as Ibn Taymiyyah said in Al-Iqtidaa (pg.69). And is not [in agreement] with his prohibition of boasting about ones forefathers (lineage), and it is his statement: “Indeed Allah has removed from you the affairs of the Al-Jaahiliyyah and the boasting about lineage, all of the people are the children of Adam, and Adam came from dirt, [they are] either a pious beleiver or a wicked evil one, people must cease to boast about men that are only coals for the Hell fire or they will be more worthless with Allah than the beetle that pushes dung with its nose.” It is collected by Abu Dawud, and At-Tirmidhi and he graded it fair, and Ibn Taymiyyah authenticated it (pg.35,69) and other than them, and it is collected in Ghaaytul-Maraam (pg.312). So if these are his directives Õáì Çááå Úáíå æ Óáã for his Ummah then how could it be thought that he would do what he forbade them from?!


And Allah knows best.
 
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