The following is the translation of an article from the book by Hizb ut-Tahrir entitled 'Introduction to the Constitution and the necessary evidences for it' which is the explanation of its draft constitution for the Khilafah state. This draft translation is from the second edition published in 2009 which was updated from the original published in 1963. Numerous brigades in Syria have agreed to the implementation of this constitution after the removal of the corrupt system that has brutally suppressed the people for decades.
Article 8
The Arabic language
is exclusively the language of Islam and it is the only language used by the
State.
The evidence of this article is derived from the fact
that although all people are addressed by the Quran as Allah (swt) says “And
We have explained to man in this Quran every kind of similitude” (TMQ
17:89), “And We have propounded for people in this Quran every kind of parable”
(TMQ 30:58), Allah (swt) has however revealed it in Arabic and made it an
Arabic Quran. Allah (swt) says: "an Arabic Quran" (TMQ
12:2) and Allah
(swt) also says: "in the Arabic language" (TMQ 26:195).
Therefore, the Arabic language is the sole language of
Islam because it is the sole language of the Quran and because the Quran is the
miracle (Al-Mu’jizah) of the Messenger of Allah
. The miracle of the Quran lies in the Quran’s expression with
this Arabic wording; in other words with the Arabic wording and style. Although
the miracle is found in both the wording and the meaning inseparably, what is
meant by its miracle in meaning is not the miracle of what the Quran has
brought in terms of meanings and topics for the Sunnah has expressed
these meanings and topics and yet it is not considered a miracle. The miracle
in meaning is established through the fact that the meaning is itself expressed
by this wording and this style. Hence, expressing such a meaning in such a
wording and in such a style is miraculous. Therefore, the miracle lies in the
Arabic wording that expresses the meaning with the Arabic style. In other
words, Allah’s (swt) saying: “If you fear treachery from any group, throw
back their covenant to them so as to be on equal terms” (TMQ 8:58) is
in itself incapacitating to all people to produce something similar. Its
miracle comes from the splendour in expressing these meanings with this
formulation and with such a style. Thus, the miracle was the Arabic wording and
the Arabic style that expressed this meaning. Therefore, the miracle in the
Quran is confined in its Arabic for it is the origin of the miracle and the
subject of the challenge to produce something equal to it. Hence, the Arabic
language is an integral part of the Quran that cannot be separated from it. The
Quran itself could not be considered Quran without it. It is therefore
forbidden to translate the Quran for if it were altered it would lose its order
and it would no longer be the Quran or be like the Quran; it would rather be a
commentary of it, and if its commentary were anything like it then people would
not have failed to produce something equal to it when they were challenged to
do so. Besides, Allah’s (swt) saying “An Arabic Quran” means that if it were
not Arabic it could not be called Quran. Furthermore, we worship Allah (swt)
with its wording; therefore, the prayer would not be correct without it since
Allah (swt) says: “So read of the Quran as much as may be easy for you.” (TMQ
73:20) and the Messenger of Allah
said: “A
prayer is not accepted from he who does not recite the Fatiha of the Book in
every Raka’ah” (agreed upon through ‘Ubadah). Therefore, the Arabic language is
an integral part of Islam.
As for Allah’s (swt) saying: “This Quran has been revealed to
me that I may warn you and all whom it reaches.” (TMQ 6:19), this
means: so that I warn you with what is in the Quran, and this applies to
warning people with its wording and with its commentary for all of this is
considered as warning. By contrast, Allah’s (swt) saying: “Read” does not refer to
the reading of its commentary and nor does it refer to the reading of its
translation, because reading a book means reading its text, and not its
translation or commentary. This is therefore not akin to warning with the Book,
which means warning with its text and its contents. Besides, Allah (swt) had
decreed that the warning of the Messenger of Allah
is made in Arabic as
Allah (swt) says: “With it came down the Faithful Spirit; to your heart so that you
admonish; in a clear Arabic language.” (TMQ 26:193-5). This
serves as a conclusive evidence that it is forbidden to read the Fatiha
in prayer in other than the Arabic language, and this nullifies and refutes the
argument of those who claimed that the verse in which Allah (swt) says:
"And this Quran has been revealed to me" (TMQ 6:19) refers to
the permissibility of reading the Fatiha in other than the Arabic
language for those who do not master Arabic.
This is from the fact that the Arabic language being a
fundamental part of Islam. As for the evidence pertaining to the fact that the
Arabic language should be exclusively the official language of the State, the
evidence for it is that when the Messenger of Allah
sent letters to Caesar,
Kisra and Muqawqas in which he invited them to Islam, those letters were
written in Arabic though they could have been translated into their own
languages. Although Caesar, Kisra and
Muqawqas were not Arabs and although the Messenger of Allah
wrote the letters to
convey Islam to them, the Messenger of Allah
didn’t write his letters in their languages.
Hence, this serves as evidence
that the Arabic language is exclusively the official language of the State
because the Messenger of Allah
did this. Besides, the fact
that the need to translate in order to convey Islam was pressing but the
Messenger of Allah
did not translate
serves as an indication for the obligation of restricting the State’s address
of people to the Arabic language whether the addressees were Arabs or
non-Arabs. Therefore all non-Arab people should learn the Arabic language and
it is forbidden for the State’s official language to be other than the Arabic
language.
Imam Al-Shafi’i outlined in his celebrated book of Usul
(foundations of jurisprudence) entitled Al-Risalah the following:
“Allah (swt) has made it an
obligation upon all nations to learn the Arabic tongue following their address
with the Quran and their worshipping by it”.
Therefore, all this makes it
obligatory for the State to adopt the Arabic language as the exclusive official
language.
However, it must be made clear
that adopting the Arabic language exclusively as the State’s language does not
necessarily mean that the State could not use other than the Arabic language
since it is permitted for the State to use other than the Arabic language in an
official correspondence either for fear of distortion, to acquire vital
information, to convey the call to Islam abroad or for any similar reason. This
is the case because the Messenger of Allah
used Hebrew and Syriac.
Hence, the ruling stipulates the sole use of the Arabic language when adopting
the State’s official language rather than preventing the State from using other
than the Arabic language.
The question that comes to mind now is: Would it be
permitted to have a written and spoken language other than Arabic in the lands
ruled by the Islamic State?
The answer to this is that the speaking and the
writing of other languages could either be related to the State itself, to the
subjects’ relationship with the State, to the subjects themselves or to
individuals with one another.
If it were related to the State itself or to the
State’s relations, then in this case it would not be permitted for the language
to be other than the language of the state (the Arabic language). This is
because the Messenger of Allah
did not translate his
letters to the non-Arabs despite the pressing need to translate in order to
convey Islam and this serves as evidence stipulating the obligation of the sole
use of the Arabic language in the State’s administration and relations or in
anything related to it. Based upon this,
the State would not have any place in its educational curricula to teach any
other language apart from Arabic whether these were the languages of the
non-Arab peoples living under the authority of the Islamic State or the peoples
living outside the authority of the Islamic State. In the same manner, public
schools are prevented from adopting anything other than the Arabic language as
an academic language and from introducing other than the Arabic language as a
subject because they are obliged to adhere to the State’s curricula.
Accordingly, every matter related to the State, to its relations, the relations
of its subjects with it or any other matter related to it must be conducted
solely in the Arabic language, spoken and written.
However, if speaking and writing in other than the
Arabic language were related exclusively to the subjects or related to people’s
relationships amongst themselves, this would be permitted because the Messenger
of Allah
permitted the
translation of other languages into Arabic and permitted the learning of other
languages. This indicates that it is permitted to speak and to write in other
than Arabic. In a narration from Zayd Ibn Thabit: “The Messenger of Allah
ordered me to learn the Book of
the Jews, until I became able to write the letters of the Messenger of Allah
and to read to him their letters
if they wrote to him” transmitted by Al-Bukhari. So, this is an
evidence for the permissibility of speaking and writing in other than the
Arabic language. In the times of the Companions, there were people who used to
speak and to write in other than Arabic and they were not forced to learn it,
and someone used to interpret for the ruler.
Al-Bukhari reported in the section “History of the
Rulers”: “Kharija Bin Zaid Bin Thabit from Zaid Ibn Thabit said: “The
Messenger of Allah
ordered me to learn the Book of
the Jews, until I became able to write the letters of the Messenger of Allah
and to read to him their letters
if they wrote to him”. Umar (ra) said in the presence of ‘Ali, ‘Abd
al-Rahman and Uthman: “What is this woman saying?” Abdul-Rahman Ibnu Hatib said:
“She is informing you about the man who did so and so to her.” Abu Hamzah also
said: “I used to translate between Ibn
Abbas and other people”.
Two evidences that indicate the
permission of translation are: the narration in which the Messenger
ordered Zaid Bin Thabit
to learn the Book of the Jews and when Umar (ra) asked what that woman was
saying - he meant the woman who was found pregnant - ‘Abd al-Rahman was
translating for him. The fact that Abu Hamza used to translate what people would
say for Ibn ‘Abbas means that there were people who spoke other than Arabic.
Therefore, speaking and writing in other than Arabic is permitted according to
the Sunnah and to the actions of the Companions. Accordingly, the State
would allow the publication of books, newspapers and magazines in other than
Arabic, and their publication would not require a permit because it is part of
the Mubah (permitted) actions. It is also allowed to televise programmes
in other than Arabic if these stations belonged to an individual or to a group
of people. However, this will be prohibited in the State’s own radio and
television stations because everything related to the State must be exclusively
in Arabic. As for what is related to people among themselves, it will be
permitted for them to use other than Arabic in everything except for any
specific issue which was in origin permitted that may lead to harm; in such
case, that matter will be prohibited.
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