Islamic thinker and linguistic, Professor Dr. Muhammad Dawood, a professor at Suez Canal University and a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo, warns gravely against the negligence of Arabic speakers toward their language and their fascination with foreign languages without restrictions, driven by the mentality of the “culturally defeated.” Meanwhile, the Zionists succeeded in reviving their Hebrew language from extinction.
“Al-Mujtama” met with the esteemed scholar for a dialogue on the occasion of the World Arabic Language Day.
You emphasize that language is closely tied to humans from birth to death, as it resembles their soul. Could you explain the importance of the Arabic language for those who deny it or try to diminish its value?
– Linguists affirm that language is the vessel of religion, culture, and knowledge. It is also the record of our history and civilization. Through it, we think, communicate daily, learn about our past, and foresee our future. The strength or weakness of a language is directly linked to the state of its speakers. A language remains vibrant when its speakers are strong and actively contribute to science and creativity.
Is it possible to revive a language to regain strength and dominance?
While challenging, it is not impossible. History shows that many languages have weakened after periods of strength and others have disappeared entirely due to the decline of their speakers strength and civilizational influence. However, some languages have been revived when their people regained power and influence. A prominent example is Hebrew, which was brought back from extinction.
A UNESCO report warned years ago that Arabic is among the languages at risk of extinction in the future. How do you respond to this international report?
– The state of our language reflects the state of our Ummah. Arabic may weaken or face challenges during certain historical periods due to the degradation and weakness of its speakers. However, it will never die until Allah inherits the earth and all upon it.
Despite UNESCO’s predictions, Arabic has been granted immortality by Allah, as it is the language of the Quran, which Allah has promised to preserve: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.” (Al-Hijr: 9)
Allah has endowed Arabic with qualities of perfection, beauty, and majesty unmatched by other languages. While many languages have vanished or died, Arabic has remained eternal, ebbing and flowing with the cultural and civilizational strength of its people. It is a living language, its health and vitality closely tied to the state of the Muslim Ummah.
The Quran has made Arabic a living language on the tongues of Muslims across the East and West. The Quran has also ensured its linguistic stability, preventing it from evolving into new languages under the phenomenon known as “linguistic evolution,” which is often accompanied by distortion, transformation, decline, and extinction—a well-documented historical linguistic phenomenon. One of the remarkable contributions of the Quran to Arabic sciences is its role in inspiring the development of over sixty disciplines dedicated to serving the Quran, as noted by Imam Al-Suyuti in his work “Al-Itqan.”
You assert that there are conspiracies targeting our Arab societies to create linguistic alienation. What are the indicators and evidence of this?
– It begins with diminishing the pride Arabs feel for their language, echoing what Ibn Khaldun wrote in the twenty-third chapter of his “Muqaddimah”: “The defeated are always infatuated with imitating the victors in their symbols, dress, beliefs, and all their other practices.”
This is why the defeated adopt foreign words in their speech, often unnecessarily, as a way to appear sophisticated. Even those with no mastery of any language—including Arabic—attempt blind imitation, even with incorrect pronunciation.
This problem is exacerbated by educational, media, and cultural institutions that reinforce linguistic inadequacy. To assert such tragedy, many shops, products, companies, and buildings bear foreign names or distorted Arabic words written in foreign scripts.
The situation worsens as families take pride and joy in their children speaking foreign languages from an early age, enrolling them in programs labeled as “KG1” and “KG2,” further deepening linguistic alienation. Therefore, many children are fluent in foreign languages but struggle to form proper Arabic sentences.
Youth, too, have been linguistically and intellectually invaded by foreign languages and phenomena like “Franco-Arab,” which involves writing spoken Arabic words using foreign letters. Moreover, those proficient in foreign languages are offered better job opportunities and higher salaries, leaving Arabic speakers with fewer prospects. These dynamics reflect a broader attempt to alienate minds and dominate thoughts, as language is the vessel of thought, leading to internal alienation within the fabric of our contemporary cultural and social lives.
Are there recommendations and laws for linguistic and Arabic academies to protect our language from this alienation among its own speakers?
– Recommendations often remain confined to research papers and drawers without political will to strengthen and protect the language. The strength or weakness of a language does not occur randomly; it follows universal and linguistic laws tied to the scientific, economic, political, and other advancements of its speakers.
Thus, we call for the implementation of the Arabic Language Academy’s recommendations through a comprehensive Arab strategy under the Arab League's umbrella to strengthen and protect Arabic. This is not impossible, if the will is present. If others have revived their languages, are we any less capable?
What are the stages and manifestations of linguistic extinction or death?
– Language death does not occur randomly. It begins with the decline and weakness of its speakers and progresses to complete extinction, which may occur naturally due to “old age,” invasion, or linguistic poisoning from foreign words.
There are languages that have disappeared due to the extinction of their speakers, such as Hieroglyphic, Phoenician, and Syriac. This phenomenon highlights the struggle between languages and the life cycle of a language, akin to a human being. It begins with a weak infancy, like a child, then grows into a youthful phase characterized by travel, interaction, and exposure to others, reaching a stage of stability and development. Its survival or extinction ultimately depends on its ability to adapt, evolve, and compete with other languages. In the end, survival is reserved for the strongest.
Linguists believe that throughout history, over 30,000 languages have emerged and disappeared over 5,000 years. The most significant period of linguistic extinction occurred during European colonialism. Linguists predict that half of the world's linguistic heritage will disappear within this century.
Isn’t this overly pessimistic?
– This is not my statement but findings from linguistic studies, such as UNESCO’s “Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.” The report warned of 2,300 languages at risk, over 500 of which are critically endangered. Many of these languages are spoken by small, aging populations and abandoned by younger generations, particularly in Asia and Africa, where 80% of languages are oral and unwritten, making them more vulnerable to extinction.
You have warned about the phenomenon of “language death” in various forms. Can you elaborate further on the forms of language death and provide actual examples?
– Linguists have categorized language death into three different forms. The first is “natural death,” which occurs when a language reaches old age and complete weakness. This happens as its speakers dissolve into other linguistic groups and their communities grow distant within other civilizations. Over generations, the mother tongue gradually disappears, such as Sanskrit, Old Persian, and Latin.
The second form is “death by killing,” which often results from armed invasions by conquerors who outnumber the speakers of a language. The invaders settle in the conquered territory, and their language dominates, much like a flood that overwhelms and replaces the native language. A prime example of this is the invasion of Iraq by the ancient Semites. However, an unusual and rare case is when the conqueror’s language dies out, particularly in situations where there is numerical parity between the invaders and the natives, but the conquerors are less culturally advanced than those they subjugate. In such cases, the conquerors lose their language, and the language of the defeated triumphs. For instance, when barbarian tribes invaded Latin-speaking Europe, a region that was more culturally advanced, the barbarians abandoned their own languages and even their pagan religions, adopting Latin and Christianity instead. Similarly, the Tartars, after dominating much of the Islamic world, embraced Islam and learned Arabic. On the other hand, when the conquerors are more advanced, they tend to eradicate the languages of the conquered peoples. This is what the European colonial powers did in the majority of the territories they occupied across various continents.
The third form is “linguistic death through poisoning,” where foreign words infiltrate a language and are accepted without resistance. Gradually, the native language collapses, and the foreign terms dominate. This is how the Syriac language in the Levant disappeared. Likewise, many Arabic words infiltrated the languages of numerous countries that the Arabs entered after the arrival of Islam.
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