'What words mean few can say, but with words we govern men'.
[Benjamin Disraeli]

Language is the means by which humans convey concepts and thoughts to one another. Be this person to person, place to place or from period to period. As humans our actions and behaviour are directly or indirectly controlled by the concepts we carry. Our beliefs are the single most
important factor governing our behaviour. We debate, accept, reject, refute and adopt our concepts through the medium of language.
 

Therefore, language is paramount in forging concepts and their dissemination. The subject of language therefore touches all aspects of life, especially politics. It has been the driving force behind the decline and the rise of many nations and civilisations.
 

Language and culture
 

Language is inextricably linked to the culture associated with it. There are currently over 5,000 languages in the world today. This high number reflects the diversity of global cultures. The ability to communicate through language is a divine trait (qadr) that Allah(swt) instilled in humans.

And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said; Tell me the names of these if you are right. [ Al-Baqara: 31]
 

Western philosophy has its own disparate views on the origin of language, As with most issues in Western philosophy they have focused mainly on discussing how we developed language rather than acknowledging that it is qadr. On one extreme it is thought that humans come into the world as a  'blank page' and we build up our vocabulary word-by-word based on experiences. This Operant Conditioning Theory is based on the observations of how animals behave in the laboratory. The opposite of this is the idea that, from birth, we have an innate capacity for language learning. The building blocks (without the actual words) of language are in-built. Thus, knowledge of how we are to arrange words in a structured systematic manner is inbuilt. Again I must reiterate that although Western philosophers may argue over whys and wherefores, we should accept that it is qadr [a divine quality that Allah(swt) instils] that we are able to use language. Environment and predominant culture have a distinct relationship to language. For example, according to the current Inuit Eskimo Dictionary there is in excess-of 30 words for snow in Eskimo, whereas Aztec employs a single term for the concepts of snow, cold, and ice. Similarly Arabic has several terms for dates (in various stages of ripeness, quality and region of origin). In English there are many formal words for; money, intoxicating beverages and the act of copulation. However, in colloquial English the number of synonyms are almost un-quantifiable.This is an indication of the high status assigned to liquid - assets, liquor, and lust in English speaking cultures.

No one language is superior to another. All languages have the same basic components of verb (V), subject (S) and object (O). Although they differ in their arrangement e.g. VSO 'eat cows grass' (Classical Arabic), SVO, 'cows eat grass” (English) and SOV 'cows grass eat” (Hindi/Urdu) etc. Linguists have categorised them broadly in to categories with several sub-categories e.g. Indo-European (Germanic, Romance and Slavic) and Afro-Asiatic etc. Arabic and Hebrew come under the category of Semitic languages, a subdivision of Afro-Asiatic.

The Indo-European culture is widely reflected in the various Indo-European languages. It is though that 4,000 years ago there was a diaspora of Indo-Europeans from the Caspian and Black Sea areas. They spread in tribes; southeast to Persia and India, southwest to Greece, Italy and Spain, westward to Central Europe and north to Eastern Europe and Russia and northwest to Scandinavia. All these tribes had the same culture and similar languages. Thus, the Indian Veda scripts, Greek philosophy and Norse mythologies are all written in related languages. Common to all these cultures are the beliefs in polytheism and pantheism. This is the belief that a divine being is present in all things in nature and that humans can become at one with that deity through meditation and spiritual ascension. Transmigration of the soul, and the separation of the soul from the body are central themes in; Hinduism, Buddhism, Persian and Graeco-Roman philosophies. The Vikings called their gods Aser, the Persians Ahura and in Sanskrit Asura. These words Asear, Ahura and Asura are dialectal variants of the same word. The same commonality is found in the words for a Supreme Being in Sanskrit, Persian, Latin and Old Norse; deva, daeva, deus, and tivurr respectively. These same beliefs were held by the Persians, hence the Pagan Arabs of Jahiliyyah had an affinity for the Persians. Indo-Europeans believed in 'insight' as meaning having an inner understanding of an issue. In Sanskrit the word vidya is the same as the Greek word idea and the Latin word Video. In Indo-European culture the visual sense has always been linked to knowledge and understanding. They have a distinct bias over the other four senses. Hence in English the term 'I see' is synonymous with 'I understand'.

Christianity in origin came from the Middle East. However, when it spread to Europe it was changed to suit the beliefs of the Europeans. Pagan Indo-European principles have stamped their hallmark on 2000 years of Christianity. The pantheistic belief of the Europeans deemed the earth, water, sky, rocks, stones, animals and fire are all objects of worship. Paramount among this plethora of animate and inanimate deities were the seasons. The change of season in pagan religions has always been a source of marvel and wonder. Days such as the day in which the hours of day-light equals the hours of darkness ie the spring and winter
equinoxes, and the winter and summer solstices were cause for commemoration in pagan beliefs. They were a time for the followers of these religions to give praise to the deities of the sun, the moon, fertility, growth, harvests and bringing of the mysterious wonders of winter.
Christianity was merely a form of Judaism that was mass-produced for export to the pagan Romans and northern Europeans. The worship of the seasons manifests in the spring equinox celebration of Easter and the autumn equinox celebration of harvest festival. The pagan feast of
Christmas is a celebration of the passing of the shortest day of the year. From the 25th of December in most countries of Europe one can literally see the day length getting progressively longer and longer. The worship of the pine tree, Yule log, holly, ivy and mistletoe are all now central to the Pagan-Christian festival of Christmas. The Easter egg, symbolising fertility and birth, has now become the central focus in the feast of the pagan god; Ester.

Returning back to non Indo-European language and culture, the main issue I want to address is that of Semitic language. Within the Semitic languages there are many common words and concepts. The term nabi has the same conceptual meaning in both Arabic and Hebrew. This is a meaning that is not accurately represented in the Indo-European term ‘prophet'. Nabi is the one that brings information to humans on how to live our lives and answer questions such as why we are here in this world and what happens when we leave this world. Key to this definition is
that the source of the information is from Allah(swt). Cultural aspect such as a seven day week being assigned numbers rather than names (for the majority) with yawm-al-ahad (day 1) as the first and yawm-al-sabbat (day 7) as the last. This may be contrasted with the Indo-European week starting with the day of the Sun god, Sunday, and ending on the day of the god of Saturn ‘Saturday'. It was the Emperor Constantine changed the Christian Sabbath, as mentioned in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:7-11), from the 7th day to the day of Sun worship. The common linguistic nuances between Arabic and Hebrew and how they differ from Europeans are too numerous to mention here. The fact that there are some common words between Arabic and Hebrew does not mean that Islam is anything other than absolutely unique. This is known from Islam in general, but was also reinforced by certain specific incidences in the Sirat-a-Rasoolallah(saw). For example, the rebuttal of the accusations of the Jews of Medina regarding fasting on ‘Ashura (10th of Muharam). The Jews charged Rasoolallah of imitating their religion when the law came to state that it is recommended to fast on that day. The Muslims were told to keep fast on the day before or after in order to be different from the Jews.

Conflict and controversies

The diversity of languages in theory should create few problems. It is akin to skin shade. It is only the most ignorant of human beings that consider this to be a source of schism. However, when ignorance in the form of nationalism and patriotism emerge racism and bigotry always follows. These two forms of manifest ignorance have characterised a whole century of darkness. Nationalism and patriotism have been the seeds of blood shed in the bloodiest period that humankind has ever seen. Language has been the spark to the powder keg in many a bloodletting.

Politics

Language is very much related to authority. Nothing augments the spread of a language more than political power. This has been seen with English and the effect the British Empire had on the World. In more recent years the complexion of this language has shifted to American English. This resulting from their post-war domination of the globe and with US popular culture and political hegemony. There are more limited examples that also clearly demonstrate the effect of ruling and language. In linguistics there is a maxim that; 'The difference between a language and dialect is that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy.' The language of Afrikaans epitomises this principle. This was a form of common Dutch that peasant farmers spoke in a small corner of Western Europe. The dialect had no written tradition and most of its speakers were illiterate. Some of the speakers of this dialect found themselves translocated to the Cape of Good Hope. After the Great Trek north these voortrekkers refined their cultural norms and adjusted their lifestyle to farming of the harsh terrain of the Orange Free State and Transvaal region. If it were not for the establishment of the political authorities in Pretoria and Bloemfontein this Dutch dialect would not have even been given a name. However, it is this language that has the infamy of bringing to the World the word, apartheid. This illustrates how the establishment of a political system may be part and parcel of the establishment of a language. This principle is also demonstrated by the in the rapid expansion of the domain of Islamic governance. The spread of Islam at the time of the rightly guided Khulafa and for several centuries later went hand in hand with the spread of Arabic. The Arabic language is vital for ruling in Islam as all the rules in Islam were revealed in Arabic. The
spread of Arabic being directly related to the political authority is something that even the Western Linguists have acknowledged.

'Whereas Latin developed into different languages, such as Italian, French and Castilian (Spanish) in the course of the centuries, Arabic did not split up into separate languages over the same period and in a comparable geographical area. The reason was that Arabic was the language of religion, Islam, as well as of government. This meant that the first place the written language was shielded from the usual linguistic decay; and secondly, that the colloquial speech did not diverge as widely as might otherwise have been the case. As a consequence the spoken Arabic of countries as mutually remote as Iraq, the Sudan and Morocco, can be described as dialects rather than separate languages.J A Haywood, 1965.

The significance of language has to be born in mind when analysing societal affairs. Language and its association with ruling can be used to benefit humankind or it can be used for devious ends. Islam revival and decline Language and thought are very much linked to one another. We sometimes talk to ourselves or think out loud, which facilitates our thought processes. The procedure of explaining our ideas, whether from our own original thought or adopted from somewhere else, usually helps us to understand the issue at hand. The use of powerful convincing language is the most powerful means influencing other people's thoughts.
 

This in turn translates into influencing other people's behaviour. The exact mechanism of how language interfaces with thought, may not be that well documented. However, few can claim, with conviction, that language and thought are completely independent. There are many examples of how individuals have changed their behaviour after being influenced by an eloquently presented argument. Similarly large masses have managed to come under the spell of magical words. Conversely, situations where the use of language is not forcibly linked to the thoughts and actions, may also influence the masses, albeit in a negative manner. Since the beginning of the seventh century AH Muslims have been in intellectual decline. This period was the starting point to the slow decline into the abyss that we find ourselves in today. It should not be without remark that this corresponded to the period of the Mamluks and the start of the Ottomans, the change from Arabic to Turkish. The power that is tied-up in the Islamic texts can only be un-locked with the key of Arabic. Arabic is the tool used for accessing all the knowledge contained within the Qur'an. We in turn as an Ummah are only as strong, intellectually, as our clasp on the knowledge of Islam. The eroding of Arabic from our lives lead to an eroding of the understanding of the texts. Ataturk and the Shah of Iran both took drastic measures to eradicate Islam from the society at large but also form the minds of the people. Changing the script and purging the language of 'Arabisms' was one of their main strategies for the long-term suppression of Islam. In later years the rise of the Arab film industry, and its accompanying corrupt dramas and low quality Arabic further aided the decline of Arabic. This was actively encouraged by the Arab regime. It is an industry that leaders has also exploited to his own ends. Amongst craftsmen there is a saying, that goes, 'look after your tools and your tools will look after you”. This means that if the carpenter cleans his tools after use, sharpens chisels and planes and stores his drill-bits appropriately so they will remain in good condition and will aid him rather than hinder him in his work. This principle may also be applied to Arabic. Our tool for getting through life is Arabic, because it is through the Arabic language that we access the codebook and manual of life. If we were to neglect Arabic, which is our tool for life, we will be hindered in our progress through life. Conversely if we are to preserve Arabic this will aid us.

The military prowess of the Turks is beyond reproach. However, during the early spread of Islam the one of the main characteristics that differed from Ottoman period was the issue of delivering Arabic to the annexed lands. When the early Muslims carried Islam to others they did not merely carry the military authority, but they also carried the political authority, the language and the whole general culture of Islam in a very pure form. This was reflected in the intellectual abilities of the newer communities. For example Imam Bukhari collected, compiled and verified hadith. As part of his validation process he laid down his own criteria, one of which was analysing linguistic style. He would accept or reject a hadith based on language. This goes to show that Bukhari must have had a phenomenal understanding of the Arabic language in order to assess a saying based on style. In deed, he was truly an exceptional individual in many respects but in his language ability he must have excelled. We should remember that his birthplace was far from the Arabian Peninsula. Thus, the brilliance of Bukhari says more about the calibre of the people that brought Islam to that region than it does about the man himself. Those particular communities, and the Khilafah at that time, were only too aware that Arabic had to be given along with Islam.

The example of Bukhari is not isolated. Indeed if we are to look through history it is a minority of the well-known scholars after the second/third generation that came from the Peninsula itself.

Ijtihad

The process of extracting the law from the texts of Islam is termed Ijtihad. This weighty task may only be performed by those that are fully qualified, the Mujtahideen(scholar). The main skill of the Mujtahid lies with his ability to comprehend clearly situations in the affairs of life and also in his ability to comprehend the Islamic texts. The understanding of the shades of meaning of words, grammatical construction and explanations from other texts, are all essential for the understanding of the sources of Islam. A superficial knowledge of the language of Islam is by no means sufficient to attain the in-depth comprehension necessary to extract law. The first requirement of the Mujtahid(scholar) is the possession of the Arabic tongue. The process of Ijtihad in real terms is what actually brings Islam to life. That is, it allows the laws that are written in the Islamic texts to be lived by us in our day-to-day affairs. This animation of the text can only be brought with the aid of the Arabic language.
 

Nature of the Arabic language

Arabic is almost unique in its grammatical structure and its ability to express issues clearly with a tremendous economy of words. It is precise in the construction of phrases and sentences and even the very word structure themselves. The concept of roots is central to word structure. Regular verbs are made up of three and sometimes four consonant letters - for example K-T-B (kataba, he wrote). This root verb may then be fully conjugated as with any verb in any language. This verb may also be used with several elaborate tenses, moods and inflections not present in most languages. So kataba (he wrote) may be converted to kutiba (it has been written), yaktubu (he writes), kaatib (writing/writer) and maktoob (written), to mention a few. This root can also be converted into several derivatives and verbal nouns; for example Kitab (the thing that is written ie a book), maktab (place of writing ie office or library) or Kaatib (the man that writes, a scribe). Following this root structure a term such as the modern word for bookshop, maktaba, can be traced back to the very simple word K-T-B(he wrote)

Neo-colonialism
 

The Global culture is today dominated by the English language. This is not by accident it is by design. This started with the tradition colonialists of the British, Belgian, French, Portuguese and Spanish. They controlled and dominated with an iron fist. They also took their languages to the colonies in order to maintain their grip. Benjamin Disraeli, the British PM at the height of the British Empire once said; 'Colonies do not cease to be colonies because they are independent.' The context of this statement is important. It was said at a time when Britannia supposedly ruled the waves. Disraeli had control of the biggest empire that the world had ever seen.

Britain was not in the business of giving away its hard fought land. Independence was never on the agenda at that time. However, Disraeli had foresight. Between the World Wars Britain realised that granting independence was a way in which they could hold on to power in the colonies without actually having to dirty their hands by ruling. So post W.W.II there was a mad rush for independence. This apparent independence, was a granting of home rule by a constitution written in English by English speakers to be interpreted by British trained lawyers, Judges, Presidents, Prime Ministers and Kings for the good of the English. The first rulers of Pakistan and India, were better equipped in English than in the language of the newly formed country. The reality of independence and the emancipation from the British and the English language and culture is that the official legal language in many countries is still English and those that have changed have a legal system in chaos. Fifty years after independence in the great Arab Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan a king was crowned who speaks next to no Arabic. 'Colonies do not cease to be colonies because they are independent.'
 

The good period of Islamic history was closely associated with a good conceptual understanding of Islam amongst Muslims. This was also inextricably linked to a good understanding of the language of Islam; Arabic. Language is important in politics and culture. Language is important in revival.