Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



A nation in an identity crisis
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 17 - 12 - 2015

Many researchers have found that our native language connects us to our culture, heritage and sometimes even to our religion, as is the case with Muslims and Jews all over the world who usually teach their children Arabic and Hebrew, respectively, in order to be able to perform their religious rituals. Accordingly, language contributes to defining our identity. This is why it is puzzling when a group of people choose willingly to abandon their native language while they live in the safety of their own countries, which is the case with so many Arabs nowadays. This phenomenon has made many scholars wonder if we as Arabs suffer from an identity crisis or if we are trying desperately to escape from who we are and from what we might perceive as our gloomy reality by taking over another identity through speaking English.
Although Arabic is spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language and by another 250 million as a second language, the numerous dialects of spoken Arabic are considered colloquial, which is in some instances influenced by other languages, especially in former occupied countries. These dialects are very different from Classical Arabic, which is used in the Holy Qur'an, or even Modern Standard Arabic, which is taught in schools and universities and is used in formal government documents in addition to several outlets in the media, especially the news. However, incompetence in Modern Standard Arabic is widespread and even colloquial Arabic is in decline nowadays losing to either English or a hybrid language between Arabic and English. Accordingly, some people fear that Modern Standard Arabic could become the language of the educated Arab elite like Latin used to be in Europe in the Middle Ages until it deteriorated and died.
Throughout the past century, this issue was considered seriously by the educated Arab elite starting as part of an "Arab nationalism" movement at the beginning of the 19th century to restore the Arab identity under the Ottoman Empire until it evolved into a widespread ideology by the 1950s as a reaction to imperial colonialism and the founding of Israel. Although the concern for the Arabic language still survives, the idea of "Arab nationalism" was crushed after the dismal defeat (Al-Naksa) of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war leaving many of those in later generations apathetic to their language and identity, while some even suffered from self-hatred, confusion and loss.
Calls for the "revival of Arabic" have been made by those who hope for an Islamic renaissance and presume that reviving the Arabic language would be one way to make that happen. However, as important as language is to one's identity and heritage, its dominance and mastery is the manifestation of people's advancement and development rather than being the cause of it. Arabs have spoken Arabic for thousands of years and they were no more than nomads and traders, but they flourished after the birth of Islam when they embraced education, renovation, development and diversity. During the Islamic Golden Age, Arabic was an esteemed and dominant language because it was used to document scientific discoveries. Valuable scholarly works from old civilizations, such as Greece, Rome, India and Persia, were translated into Arabic.
In order to revive Arabic, we need to rise as a nation and make grassroots changes in our attitudes toward change and renovation and develop better curriculum material and teaching pedagogies and nurture a general hunger for acquiring knowledge. In the meantime, even those of us who do not suffer from an identity crisis are faced with few options for enforcing the Arabic language when international schools have curriculum materials far superior to those of their local counterparts not to mention the wide variety of books in English whether for adults or children in comparison to censored Arabic books.
December 18 is the day dedicated by the United Nations to the Arabic language, with each of the UN's other five official languages having different days dedicated to them. The purpose is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and to promote respect for the history, culture and achievements of these languages. The Arabic language can be considered the umbilical cord that links us to our religion, history, culture and heritage. However, if we are confused about our identity or our place in the world, reviving it will not return our past glory. We can honor this day by continuing to read Arabic books and teaching our children the love and value of the Arabic language, but it shall not truly rise until we rise as a nation.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]


Clic here to read the story from its source.