Must the Salat be uttered in Arabic?
Question:
I just wanted to commend you on your website, as someone who is new to Islam and is interested in purely the Quran, this resource has been a great help!
I just wanted to ask, is there anywhere in the Quran that specifically states Salat or recitation of the Quran must be in Arabic? I've also read somewhere that only Al-Fatihah needs to be recited in Arabic, whereas the rest of Salat may be recited in your native tongue.
Reply:
Let us have the good news first: God is multi-lingual :-)
In reply to your question, there is no such language restriction anywhere in the Quran to say that the Salat can only be uttered in Arabic. This is yet another baggage item the Arabs invented and which God never required. All languages are devised by God for our use, thus there is no language that is more righteous or noble than others.
The ones who insist on this restriction usually manipulate verses in the Quran such as 12:2, 39:28 and 43:3 to support their claim. But all what these verses say is that God revealed the Quran in Arabic so that the receivers of the Quran, who were inArabia, would understand it. In 14:4, 19:97 and 44:58 we read that God sends messengers and scripture in the tongue of their people simply so that they would understand. It would not have been of much use if God revealed the Quran to Muhammad in Arabia in Greek or Hebrew! Nowhere in the Quran is there any rule which states that Arabic is the only language in which to observe the Salat, or read the Quran.
To fabricate rules which restrict the utterance of the Salat, or any part of, in Arabic is to utter lies against God. In addition, such claim is naive to say the least! God revealed the previous scripture in different languages (Torah in Hebrew and Injeel in Aramaic), and the people of those scripture observed their Salat in these languages. Were their prayers void because they were not in Arabic?
Equally, to insist that the Fatihah must be recited in Arabic is also a man-made fabrication that has no reference in the Quran.
When we worship God, in Salat or in any other ritual, it would be meaningless to utter words which we do not understand. Many who do not speak or understand Arabic are bullied into reciting their Salat in Arabic. As a result, they parrot Quranic words not understanding the majority of what they are saying! Needless to say, this serves no purpose whatsoever. It is thus that we find God's words which stress the importance of understanding what we are saying when we observe the Salat:
[4:43] O you who believe, do not come near the Salat while intoxicated, until you know what you are saying.
Finally, it is worth reminding that language in itself is a tool and not an aim. Those who insist on such restrictions turn the language into an aim rather than a tool. Language is a tool to make contact with God. It was God after all who devised all languages for our use and with which we can make contact with Him:
[30:22] And from among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations in your languages and your colours. In these are signs for the knowledgeable.
The ultimate aim is the contact we make with God. The sincerity of the contact comes from the heart and not from the tongue!
Prophet Moses had a speech impediment (20:27, 26:13) but was still one of the great Prophets and was the only man mentioned in the Quran to have spoken to God (7:143).
It is no wonder that God says that the ones who will be saved (on Judgement Day) are the ones who come to God with a pure heart, and not the ones who come to God with linguistic excellence:[50:33] The one who feared the Almighty while unseen and came with a pure heart.
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