On Importance of Arabic Language in Daily Prayers
Divine religions of Judaism and Christianity enjoy the divine books of the Torah and the Bible; God spoke with the languages of those people, i.e. in Hebrew and Syriac, in two different periods so as to provide them with required instruction. This means these people received God’s commands in their own mother tongue.
Even today, if followers of Judaism and Christianity intend to convert to Islam, they cannot perform daily prayers of Islam in a language other than Arabic because Islam is the last divine religion and it abolishes the worship style of previous religions. They should change the form of their previous worship and make it a form of worship within the framework of Islam.
Now this case also applies to other ethnic groups and nations that have non-Arabic languages, and they should follow the tradition of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and set him as an example, worshipping God Almighty in the same way.
On the importance of the Arabic language, the Quran says: “We have revealed it in the Arabic language so that you (people) would understand it.” (Surah Yusuf, verse 2) At the first glance, it seems that God is only referring to the Arabic language, however, there is a deeper meaning involved as it means God has reduced the level of his words so that all people could understand what is said in the Quran and think about it.
Heavenly vs earthly languages
The way God speaks with angles in the heavens is different from the type of communication on earth. Hence, the way angels understand God’s words is not similar to the way humans hear because what humans hear or speak is compatible with material features. Therefore, when God wants to speak to His prophets, He conveys His words in the language of that prophet through the angels.
The languages in the holy books are not proof of the superiority of any nation over others, rather, they are means of communication between heaven and earth that existed at different times so that the prophets could receive divine messages and convey them to their followers without any change in the words.
This article was a summary of a note written by Seyyed Mahmoud Javadi
