I followed Justaqad's thread, www.nairaland.com/1184712/losing-identity-arabs .Even without making a comment, i totally agree with him.

Just yesternite, i had a discussion with a friend concerning the use of arabic by Nigerian muslims. I told him i dropped out of quranic school simply because i felt it was a waste of time. Nigerian arabic
schools only teach arabic and not the understanding of the holy Quran. I also asked, why do muslims pray in Arabic? and why do most preachers preach in arabic.

His reply: Arabic is the language of the holy Quran and thereafter should be used for everything in Islam. He supported his claim with a simple quranic verse,
Quran 12:2 " We have sent it down as an arabic Quran so that you people may understand/ use reason".

Does this verse indicate superiority of the arabic language?? Did a little reseach.

The Quran is sent as a guidance to mankind. The language of scriptures as and when they are sent down to different generation and region is in the language of the messenger and the people who are immediately around him.

Quran 14:4, "We have not sent any messenger except with the language if his people so he can make things clear to them. Allah misguides anyone he wills and guides anyone he wills. He is the almighty, the all wise.
Thus for those caught in the disbelief at the prophet's time, it was a great blessing that Allah sent a magnificient scripture in their language which they could understand and use their reasoning over.

Quran 65:11, "A messenger, reciting Allah's clear verses to you to bring those who believe out of the darkness into the light. Whoever believes in Allah and acts righteously , we will admit him into gardens".

The verses on sending the Quran should be perceived in this light. Had the quran been in a
foreign language, it would not be
possible for the speakers of the
language who received it or the
messenger, to take its message to the
world. In other words, although the
Quranic message is for the world, this
verse is more specifically addressed to
those who understood the language
(..."so that you may understand" )
...emphasising on appreciating what
would have happened had it been in
a language other than their tongue.
This is proved in the following verse;

"So We have revealed an Arabic
Quran to you, in order that you may
warn the capital city and all who live
nearby..." (Qur'an 42:7)
"We have made the Qur'an easy in
your language so that they may take
heed it." (Qur'an 44:58)
"If We had made it a foreign Quran,
they would have said, ‘If only its
verses were clear! What? Foreign
speech to an Arab?’ Say, ‘It is
guidance and healing for those who
have faith, but the ears of the
disbelievers are heavy, they are
blind to it, it is as if they are being
called from a distant place.’ (Qur'an
41:44)
So when Allah says:
"We have sent it down as an Arabic
Qur'an so you people may
understand / reason" (Qur'an 12:2)
We can clearly see it is in reference to
the above verses - to the blessing that
Allah revealed clear wisdom and
guidance in a language they can
understand and be able to reason
over (Arabic).
Therefore, Verse 12:2 (and 43:3) are
not classing the Arabic language as
being linguistically superior to other
languages of the world, nor do they
mean to indicate any intrinsic linguistic
qualities of the Arabic language over
others as being the motivational factor
in its choice. Yet, it is wrongly taught in
great many literature that the Arabic
language has been divinely shown or
praised in the Qur'an for its qualities -
which is followed on by other
exaggerated claims like it being the
language of Paradise etc.

A misunderstanding of 41:44
"If We had made it a foreign Quran,
they would have said, ‘If only its
verses were clear! What? Foreign
speech to an Arab?’ Say, ‘It is
guidance and healing for those who
have faith, but the ears of the
disbelievers are heavy, they are
blind to it, it is as if they are being
called from a distant place.’ (Qur'an
41:44)
This verse is in reference to the
immediate people who heard the
Qur'an, describing the scenario had
they heard the Qur'an in a foreign
language. Some people assume it is
in reference to all people, thus they
think the portion:
"...they would have said, ‘If only its
verses were clear (literally
'detailed / explained ْﺖَﻠِّﺼُﻓ)!'
...is an exclamation from all people of
all languages. In other words, they are
saying, if the Qur'an was non-Arabic,
then a speaker of that language
reading the Qur'an in his language
would complain that the Qur'an was
not detailed enough because it was
not in the Arabic language. This is a
highly unfeasible and unrealistic
understanding because why would a
man reading the Qur'an in his
language make such a claim?
Consider a parallel scenario where
you are reading a very enjoyable book
in English, what are the chances of
you wanting the book in, say, Chinese,
given:
1) You are reading, enjoying and
understanding an eloquent Book.
2) Nothing is lacking in this language
to not be able to describe any ideas.
3) You have no knowledge of the
foreign language to even compare
(assuming you do not speak Chinese!)
No doubt, such an explanation is
completely irrational. Their intention
behind this understanding is to
explain 12:2 and 43:3 as references to
Arabic as a linguistically superior
language, which is as we have seen,
something the verse is not trying to
indicate.

Understanding the arabic Language does not mean one understands the Quran.


The majority of the people assume
that if one understands the Arabic
language, it means he is capable of
understanding the Qur'an. They are
also quick to dismiss anyone who has
a point to make about the Quran's
verses, if they are not an Arab or do
not speak Arabic. A consistent feature
of these sorts of people is that they
themselves know little about the
Qur'an because they never attempt to
research the Qur'an directly. This is
because of an intentionally induced
inferiority complex of not knowing
Arabic which gives them the excuses
they need to stay distant from the
Qur'an, as well as due to some other
vain excuses. They never attempt to
understand the verses of the Qur'an
themselves. All of their views on the
Qur'an are formed entirely by
following other people and texts
written by those whose trust they
assume. They have only read the
Qur'an's verses in text books in the
context created by their trusted
writers, or otherwise read the Arabic
verses in ritualistic recitation, or in
prayer without understanding them.
Sometimes, he feels he has done
enough by reading the translation of
the few verses he recites frequently in
prayer.
As stated above, their excuse is that
the Qur’an is not in their language
and only an Arab or an Arabic speaker
can understand the verses. The truth
is however far from their mistaken
beliefs. A believer can understand the
Qur'an and live by it even while
possessing little or no Arabic
knowledge.
History is witness to many people who
are proficient in the Arabic language,
yet made very twisted and perverted
interpretations of the Qur'an, all while
they are accepted to be well skilled by
the majority. The majority being the
group we have identified above. These
interpreters of the Qur'an consider
themselves Muslims, yet made
countless erroneous interpretations -
even while knowing Arabic. This begs
the question, does knowing Arabic
mean one can understand the
Qur’an? The disbelievers of Makkah
were expert in the language of the
Qur'an, but they did not understand
many of the concepts and similitudes
of the Qur'an. They thus rejected it as
being words of a madman.
What one needs to comprehend is
that understanding the Qur'an means
to understand correctly what is being
told in the verses, the concepts,
lessons, signs, admonitions
metaphors and imagery. All of these
aspects of the Qur'an hold true
regardless of the language used.
When one does not understand the
Qur'an, that is, makes erroneous
interpretations, he is incapable of
understanding these lessons,
admonitions and true purposes of the
verses. One may even be in
possession of great Arabic skills, yet
be incapable of understanding the
verses due to his or her lack of
comprehension of what is being told
in the verses. We can compare this
with the following scenario. Imagine
you are explaining a concept to
someone in perfect English. The
person you are explaining to can also
understand English perfectly.
However, due to a lack of
comprehension on their part, that
person fails to understand what you
are explaining to them despite your
perfect explanations in English and
their ability to understand the
language. Likewise, the same can be
said about the Qur'an. Even an expert
Arabic speaker may well be incapable
of understanding and interpreting the
verses correctly as a direct result of
that missing comprehension. This
comprehension is given by Allah to
whoever He pleases. A verse identifies
this:
"...But the disbelievers say, 'what
does Allah mean by such a
similitude?' Through it, Allah
misguides many and He also guides
many. But He misguides only the
rebels." (Qur'an 2:26)
The comprehension we have
mentioned is actually a gift from Allah
to His sincere believers only. A
believer who does not know Arabic
may be endowed with this ability to
understand the Qur'an. When the
verses of the Qur'an are explained to
him by another true believer in his
language, he grasps them correctly,
even though he does not know
Arabic. And it is probable that a
person fluent in Arabic could not
understand the same verses correctly
even in his own language. Skill in the
Arabic language did not afford him
the true interpretations of Allah’s
verses, and so he remained bereft of
Allah’s guidance. Another person who
is a more sincere believer could
understand the verses, even though
he did not speak the language of the
Qur'an. Allah explains this 'veiling of
perception' in a verse:
"When you recite the Qur'an, we
place an invisible barrier between
you and those who do not believe in
the life to come. We have put
covers on their hearts that prevents
them from understanding it, and
heaviness in their ears." (Qur'an
17:45-46)
That is why a true believer can live by
the Qur'an without knowing Arabic. It
is true that a non-Arabic speaking
believer will need to overcome the
obstacle of language, but with his
sincerity and motivation, he
overcomes them without difficulty.
Today, there are many translations of
the Qur'an available in almost any
language. It is possible to draw a fairly
accurate understanding of the Qur'an
by studying different translations.
In conclusion, people who speak
Arabic do not automatically posses
the comprehension to understand the
meanings of the Verses of the Qur’an.
The comprehension is given by Allah
to whom He wills regardless of ones
language. All people who consider
themselves Muslim must not hide
behind excuses from gaining a first-
hand understanding of the Book
revealed by Allah, which is a guide,
mercy and cure for them if they only
make the effort to understand it
themselves. Allah has held everyone
responsible for adhering to the
Qur'an, regardless of their spoken
languages.






Reference; www.Quranicpath.com

please try to present it better next time. It is hard to read in this format.

I had an intention of writing my reply to the thread u stated but haven't been able to and now this?

If no one thought it necessary to learn arabic, how do you think you would have been able to have the translations that helps you with understanding what the Qur'an is.

While learning arabic is not compulsory, it actually is a form of empowerment. It helps you get the meaning and not have to depend on anyone for the translation and you cannot deny that a lot is not lost in translation. there are even certain things in Yoruba that you cannot entirely express in English language.

Arabic is a beautiful language and I learn it because of so many of the reasons you try to disprove. In fact, you will need to try again. Your points are not convincing enough.

I am afraid that people like you would come out one day and want to pray solaat in your native languages.

the end is near for real.

This kind of topic is usually borne out of a lack of knowledge or an assumption of knowledge. I encourage people thinking like this to study Quranic arabic and get blown away.

i. The Quran is only the Quran in Arabic. Translations do not do justice to what the Quran is... You might capture some of the meaning but you cannot translate the miracle of the Quran.. I encourage you to read this thread where i try to point some of the things missing in translations. https://www.nairaland.com/972776/amazing-quran-season-1

Please read through it particularly on the section on Arabic.

ii. The names of Allah are only only in Arabic... Do you know what AlRahman is?? Do you really know what Al wadud means??I could spend half an hour explaining what AlRahman is .. What you have in translations barely cover the surface... I encourage you to also read through Al-fatiha here: https://www.nairaland.com/1007823/journey-through-quran-amazing-quran