Philosophy of Arabic Language

Arabic language is the identity of the Arabs, and Muslims consider it to be divine. Therefore, studying Arabic language and gaining the basic ability to communicate in Arabic enable us to maintain a high status in the Arab-Islamic culture leading the way for achieving success in business and politics when one deals with the Arabs and Muslims.

Arabic Language as an Identity

The majority of the Arabs are Muslims. But some Arabs are Christians as well as Jews. Therefore, we cannot identify the Arabs through religion. And some of the Arabs are black while others are white. Hence we cannot define the identity of the Arabs through color. And the ancestors of the Arabs came from different races, places and countries such as Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Turkey and Iran in addition to the original Arabs who came from the Arabian Peninsula. So it is also wrong to define the identity of the Arabs through race´-or-origin. Since it is wrong to determine the identity of the Arabs through religion, color, race´-or-origin, it follows that the only option left is to define the identity of the Arabs through Arabic language itself. This shows that Arabic language is the identity of the Arabs.


All of the Arabs possess their identity in virtue of the fact that they speak Arabic language as a native language. In this sense, Arabic language plays the major role in the Arab culture, and it is the main dominant factor in forming the Arab culture given that Arabic language is the only true identity of the Arabs. And this is one basic reason why Arabic language did not change for thousands of years. Changing Arabic language is equivalent to changing the identity of the Arabs. But, of course, Arabs as any other group of people do not usually like´-or-aim to change their identity. And since Arabic language is the identity of the Arabs, it follows that if someone acquires the ability to communicate in Arabic, then one will possess the identity of the Arabs. Being able to speak Arabic as a native speaker is sufficient for being an Arab.

Arabic Language as Divine

Muslims believe that Arabic language is divine. According to the Muslims, the Quran is divine -;- it is the word of God. But the Quran was revealed in Arabic language. Therefore, Arabic language, from the viewpoint of the Muslims, is divine, i.e. it is the language of God. From the perspective of Islam, Arabic language is not only the language of God, but it is also the language of Adam and Eve, and the language of people in heaven. This is why most of the Muslims, if not all of them, pray and recite the Quran in Arabic even if they do not know how to speak in Arabic. In this sense, Muslims have absolute trust in Arabic language and in what is expressed in it.

Arabic language is an essential part of the identity of Muslims. If a Muslim does not believe that Arabic language is divine, then he´-or-she does not believe that the Quran is divine given that the Quran is revealed in Arabic. But if someone does not believe that the Quran is divine, then one is not a Muslim. Therefore, believing that Arabic language is divine is an essential part of being a Muslim. This means that an essential part of the identity of Muslims resides in believing that Arabic language is divine. All of this shows that Arabic language does not only determine the identity of the Arabs, but it also defines the identity of the Muslims. In other words, the identity of the Arabs and Muslims resides in the usage of Arabic language and/or in believing that Arabic is divine. In this sense, the Arab-Islamic world has a single identity based on Arabic language.

Arabic Language as a Mechanism of Trust

Arabic language is a mechanism of trust because Arabs tend to trust those who know and speak their language. But the acceptance and success of any business deal´-or-partnership´-or-political agreement are based on trust. Therefore, Arabic language is the tool and base of success in business and politics in the Arab world. Since Arabic language is the identity of the Arabs, it follows that: if someone acquires the ability to speak in basic Arabic, then one will achieve high status and maximum trust in the Arab culture. And since, in Islam, Arabic language is divine, it follows that: if someone acquires the ability to communicate in Arabic, then one will gain an extremely high status in the Islamic world. Muslims tend to trust those who know and speak Arabic because Arabic language is divine from the viewpoint of Islam. Thus, studying Arabic is tremendously important and necessary in order to achieve success in any domain in the Arab-Islamic world.

Arabic language is the best negotiation process when it comes to negotiating with the Arabs. The best negotiation strategy with the Arabs is to present your beliefs and aspirations in Arabic. This is so because Arabic language cannot be wrong from the perspective of most of the Arabs. And Arabic cannot err because it is divine. The usage of Arabic language by Westerners minimizes any disagreement between them and the Arabs. Trust is immediately established when a foreigner speaks in Arabic. The Arab-Islamic mind tends to consciously´-or-unconsciously reason in the following way: you invested time and effort in studying Arabic language and the Arab-Islamic culture and literature, thus you highly respect the Arabs and Muslims and you highly appreciate the Arab-Islamic civilization and its achievements in science, mathematics, literature and philosophy. Therefore, I should trust you-;- you are now one of us.


Arabic Language as High-Context

We cannot truly distinguish between Arabic language and the Arab-Islamic culture--;-- in fact both of them form a single indivisible entity. For example, Arabic language is a high-context language as the Arab-Islamic culture is. The great American anthropologist Edward T. Hall distinguished between high-context culture and low-context culture. Eastern cultures are generally high-context while Western cultures are generally low-context. The Arab-Islamic culture is a high-context culture in many different senses. At one level of de-script-ion, the Arab-Islamic culture is a high-context culture in the sense that most Arabs and Muslims do not elaborate on the background information when they communicate with others because they assume that others know the background information, while the Western culture is a low-context culture in the sense that Westerners tend to elaborate on the background information when they communicate. The Arab-Islamic culture is also a high-context culture in the sense that most of the Arabs and Muslims rely on metaphors when they communicate, given that the context will determine the exact meanings of the statements´-or-utterances in a high-context culture. But in the West we usually avoid doing that--;--instead in most Western cultures we tend to define our terms and concepts which we intend to use in our communication, and we usually do not rely on metaphors when we communicate with each other. In the Arab-Islamic culture, the context is the basic determinant of the meanings of statements´-or-utterances as well as the intentions and beliefs. And hence, if we want to deal with the Arabs and Muslims, we have to rely on the context in order to infer the meanings and intentions of most of the Arabs and Muslims. The context could be the whole speech of an Arab´-or-a Muslim in addition to bodily expressions and the surrounding environment.


The Arab-Islamic culture is also a high-context culture in the following important sense: in the Arab-Islamic culture each word has high significance, and each word possesses many different levels of meanings and connotations. In this sense, Arabic language is high-context as the Arab-Islamic culture is. Usually, each Arabic word has many meanings, and the context will determine the exact intended meaning. For instance, if I tell you "marhaba" which means hello, I am probably not identifying myself as a Muslim because "marhaba" in Arabic is religiously neutral. But if I tell you "assalamou alaykoum", which means peace be upon you, then I am probably identifying myself as a Muslim because "assalamou alaykoum" is an Islamic greeting. Here, a simple greeting in Arabic has high significance as we have seen. If I am telling you "assalamou alaykoum", I am telling you that I am a Muslim and you should perceive and treat me as a Muslim. But if I am telling you "marhaba", then I am telling you that I am a liberal´-or-a secular and you should perceive and treat me as such. All of this shows that without understanding Arabic language we cannot understand the Arab-Islamic culture and we cannot be successful with the Arabs.


Arabic Language as an Inherited Set of Information

The Arab-Islamic culture is implied in Arabic language. Through analyzing the linguistics of Arabic language we can successfully understand the Arab-Islamic culture. For example, the word "orf" in Arabic means tradition. But, linguistically speaking, we can legitimately derive the word "marifa", i.e. knowledge, from the word "orf", i.e. tradition. And since the concept of knowledge is linguistically derivable from the concept of tradition in Arabic language, it follows that the Arab-Islamic mind will tend to associate between knowledge and tradition leading the way to the belief that knowledge resides in tradition. This is how the Arab-Islamic culture became a traditional culture in virtue of Arabic language itself. In this sense, Arabic language forms the Arab-Islamic culture. Arabic language is not only the identity of the Arabs, but it is also the main factor in shaping the Arab-Islamic culture. All of this shows that it is extremely important to study Arabic language in order to understand the Arab-Islamic culture paving the way for success in the Arab-Islamic world.


Arabic language is a living organism possessing its own unique mind. In fact, Arabic language is an inherited set of information in light of which the Arab-Islamic culture is constructed. For example, in Arabic the word "mojtama-a", i.e. society, is linguistically derived from "jama-a" which means "he gathered". Therefore, from the perspective of Arabic language, society is that entity which gathers people in a single environment. Here, Arabic language is behaving as a philosopher through providing philosophical definitions and analyses of different concepts. Another example is the following: in Arabic the word "aa-ela" means family, but "aa-ela" is linguistically derivable from "aa-la" which means "he supported". Hence, from the perspective of Arabic language, family is that which should be supported. And this is why in the Arab-Islamic culture family values prevail and families are the most important social units in virtue of which the Arab-Islamic societies are built. This is a clear example of how Arabic language formed and is still forming the Arab-Islamic culture. In this example, Arabic language is constructing the Arab-Islamic culture through causing family values to prevail in the Arab-Islamic societies. Also in Arabic the word "tawasol" means communication, but "tawasol" is linguistically derivable from "wasala" which could mean in Arabic "he connected". Therefore, according to Arabic language as an inherited set of information, communication is the process which connects people with each other. Arabic language is not only presenting a philosophical analysis of communication, but it is also calling for peaceful interaction among people through claiming that communication among individuals is and should be a process of connecting them.


Arabic language continues its journey of philosophizing and forming the Arab-Islamic culture and mind through providing thousands and thousands of definitions, analyses and moral codes. For instance, "adab" in Arabic means literature, but in Arabic "adab" also means ethics and morality. Hence, Arabic language is telling us that there is no distinction and there should be no distinction between literature and morality. Rather, the main -function- of literature is to express and spread moral beliefs and behaviors. And as Arabic language forms the Arab-Islamic culture and the Arab-Islamic mind and moral system, it also constructs the Arab-Islamic conception of economy. In Arabic language, "al-ektisad" is economy, but "al-ektisad" is linguistically derivable from "kasd" which means intention and aim. Thus, according to Arabic language, economy is built and/or it should be built in light of the intentions and aims of people. This implies that economy should be built in accordance with the aims and intentions of people instead of being developed in accordance with a predetermined´-or-given plan. Also in Arabic "al-omla" means currency, but "al-omla" is linguistically derivable from "al-amal" which means work. Therefore, from the perspective of Arabic language, the value of the currency is and/or it should be determined by the value of work and vice versa. All of this shows that Arabic language strongly participates in forming the conception of economy in the Arab-Islamic culture.

Finally, Arabic language as it is expressed in the Quran is the only medium through which Muslims can communicate with God. The prophet Muhammad did not deliver any other medium between his followers and God. This means that Arabic language as it is used in the Quran is similar to Christ in Christianity. This is why Arabic language is the essence of Islamic civilization. Arabic language is not only a communication device which enables the Arabs to communicate with each other, but it is also the identity of the Arabs, a divine language from the perspective of the Muslims, and a set of inherited information which forms the Arab-Islamic culture and the Arab-Islamic mind.

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