T
Tajikistani
Guest
From: Aga Khani Shia Isma'eeli min al-Tajikistan
ARABIC -- UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSLIM WORLD
An address by the late H.H.Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah Aga Khan at a
session of
Motamer al-Alam-al-Islamiyya
Karachi, Pakistan
February 9, 1951
Mr. President, Brother Muslims:
I can assure you that it is not with a light heart that I address you
this evening. I fully realise that what I am going to say will make me
most unpopular with important sections of the population. However, I
would be a traitor to Islam if I let this opportunity pass without
placing before the people of this powerful and populous Islamic nation
the views which I consider my duty to place before the Muslims with as
many of the arguments as I am capable of using in a short address. I
fear some of my arguments will mortally offend those who under totally
different conditions gave so much of their life for the support of the
cause which I think today has been passed by events far more important
than any dreamt of in those days.
I feel the responsibility greater than any I can think of to place my
views and arguments before the Muslim population of Pakistan as a
whole - each and every province - while what I consider a tragic and
deadly step is not yet taken and not added to the constitution of this
realm.
The language of a nation is not only the expression of its own voice
but the mode of interpretation with all other human societies. Before
it is too late, I, an old man, implore my brothers in Islam here not
to finally decide for Urdu as the national language of Pakistan but to
choose Arabic. Please hear my arguments.
First my argument against Urdu. If what was the other part of the
former British Empire of India had made Urdu its national language,
there would have been a great argument for Pakistan doing ditto. It
could have been a linguistic and important point of contact with the
vast Republic of the South. I am the last man on earth to desire to
break any bridge of contact and understanding between Pakistan and its
immense neighbour.
Not only Urdu but even Hindustani has been replaced by Hindi
throughout Bharat as the national language. The people of Bharat were
perfectly justified to choose any language which the majority
considered most appropriate and historically justified to be their
national language. The majority there has the right to choose what was
most suitable for them as the official language of the country. Your
choice in Pakistan of Urdu will in no way ameliorate or help your
relations with your neighbour, nor will it help the Muslim minorities
there in any conceivable way. Howsoever you may add Arabic and Persian
words to Urdu, there is no denying the fact that the syntax, the form,
the fundamentals of the language are derived from Hindi and not from
Arabic.
Was Urdu the language of the Muslims of India at the time of their
glory? During the long Pathan period, Urdu was never considered the
language of the rulers. Now we come to the Moghul Empire in the period
of its glory. It was not the language of the educated. I defy anybody
to produce a letter or any other form of writing by Emperors
Aurangzeb, Shah Jehan, Jehangir, Akbar, Humayun or Babar in Urdu
language. All that was spoken at the Court was Persian or occasional
Turkish. I have read many of the writings of Aurangzeb and they are in
beautiful Persian. Same is true if you go to the Taj Mahal and read
what is written on the tombs of the Emperor and his famous consort.
Persian was the court language and the language of the educated and
even till the early 19th century in far Bengal, the Hindu
intelligentsia wrote and used Persian and not Urdu. Up to the time of
Macaulay, Persian was the language of Bengali upper classes
irrespective of faith and of official documents and various Sadar
Adalat.
HISTORICAL FACTS
We must look historical facts in the face. Urdu became the language of
Muslim India after the downfall. It is a language associated with the
downfall. Its great poets are of the downfall period. The last and the
greatest of them was lqbal, who with the inspiration of revival gave
up Urdu poetry for Persian poetry. There was a meeting in Iqbal's
honour in London organised by men such as Prof. Nicholson.
I was present at that meeting. Iqbal said that he went in for Persian
poetry because it was associated with the greatness of the Islamic
epoch and not with its misfortunes. Is it right that the language of
the downfall period should become the national language of what we
hope now is a phoenix-like national rising? All the great masters of
Urdu belong to the period of greatest depression and defeat. It was
then a legitimate attempt by the use of a language of Hindi derivation
with Arabic and Persian words to find ways and means of better
understanding with the then majority fellow countrymen. Today that
vast British dependency is partitioned and succeeded by two
independent and great nations and the whole world hopes that both
sides now accept partition as final.
Is it a natural and national language of the present population of
Pakistan? Is it the language of Bengal where the majority of Muslims
live? Is it what you. hear in the streets of Dacca or Chittagong? Is
it the language of the North West Frontier? Is it the language of
Sind? Is it the language of the Punjab? Certainly after the fall of
the Moghal Empire, the Muslims and Hindus of certain areas found in it
a common bond. But now today other forms of bridges must be found for
mutual understanding.
Who were the creators of Urdu? What are the origins of Urdu? Where did
it come from? The camp followers, the vast Hindi-speaking population
attached to the Imperial Court who adapted, as they went along, more
Arabic and Persian words into the syntax. of their own language just
as in later days the English words such as glass and cup became part
of a new form of Urdu called Hindustani.
Are you going to make the language of the Camp, or of the Court, the
national language of your new-born realm? Every Muslim child of a
certain economic standard learns the Quran in Arabic, whether he is
from Dacca or Quetta. He learns his Alif-Be to read the Quran. Arabic
is the language of Islam. The Qur'an is in Arabic. The Prophet's
hadith are in Arabic. The highest form of Islamic culture in Spain was
in Arabic. Your children must learn Arabic to a certain extent always.
The same is true of your West whether Sind, Baluchistan or the North.
From the practical and worldly point of view, Arabic will give you, as
a national language, immediate contact not only with the 40 million
Arabic-speaking people of independent nations on your West, but the
other 60 million more or less Arabic-speaking people who are not
independent but who exist in Africa.
Right up to the Atlantic, not only in North but as far South as
Nigeria and the Gold Coast, Arabic is known to the upper classes of
the population. In all the Sudans, on the Nile or under French rule,
Arabic is the language right up to the borders of Portuguese West
Africa. In East Africa, not only in Zanzibar but amongst the Muslim
population of even countries as far apart as Madagascar and Portuguese
East Africa, Arabic is known. If we turn to the Far East, Arabic has
prospered throughout the region inhabited by 80 million Muslims of
Indonesia, Malaya and Philippines. In Ceylon, Muslim children of the
well-to-do classes get some knowledge of Arabic. Is it not right and
proper that this powerful Muslim State of Pakistan, with its central
geographical position, its bridges between the nearly 100 million
Muslims of the East and 100 million Muslims of the West - its position
of the East from Philippines and the Great State of Indonesia and
Malaya and Burma and then westward with the hundred millions in
Africa, right up to the Atlantic, should make Arabic its national
language and not isolate itself from all its neighbors and from the
world of Islam with a language that was associated with the period of
downfall of Muslim States. And finally, while Arabic, as a universal
language of the Muslim world will unite, Urdu will divide and isolate.
Gentlemen, brothers in Islam, people of Pakistan, people of every
Province, I appeal to you, before you take the final and what I
unfortunately must say, I consider, the fatal jump down the precipice,
please discuss and let all and every one contribute their views. Take
time and think over it.
Once more I appeal for Islamic charity from those whom I may have
offended and I appeal to all others to look to the facts in the face
both historically and as they exist at present.
I pray that the people of this country may be guided by Divine Wisdom
before they decide.
ARABIC -- UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSLIM WORLD
An address by the late H.H.Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah Aga Khan at a
session of
Motamer al-Alam-al-Islamiyya
Karachi, Pakistan
February 9, 1951
Mr. President, Brother Muslims:
I can assure you that it is not with a light heart that I address you
this evening. I fully realise that what I am going to say will make me
most unpopular with important sections of the population. However, I
would be a traitor to Islam if I let this opportunity pass without
placing before the people of this powerful and populous Islamic nation
the views which I consider my duty to place before the Muslims with as
many of the arguments as I am capable of using in a short address. I
fear some of my arguments will mortally offend those who under totally
different conditions gave so much of their life for the support of the
cause which I think today has been passed by events far more important
than any dreamt of in those days.
I feel the responsibility greater than any I can think of to place my
views and arguments before the Muslim population of Pakistan as a
whole - each and every province - while what I consider a tragic and
deadly step is not yet taken and not added to the constitution of this
realm.
The language of a nation is not only the expression of its own voice
but the mode of interpretation with all other human societies. Before
it is too late, I, an old man, implore my brothers in Islam here not
to finally decide for Urdu as the national language of Pakistan but to
choose Arabic. Please hear my arguments.
First my argument against Urdu. If what was the other part of the
former British Empire of India had made Urdu its national language,
there would have been a great argument for Pakistan doing ditto. It
could have been a linguistic and important point of contact with the
vast Republic of the South. I am the last man on earth to desire to
break any bridge of contact and understanding between Pakistan and its
immense neighbour.
Not only Urdu but even Hindustani has been replaced by Hindi
throughout Bharat as the national language. The people of Bharat were
perfectly justified to choose any language which the majority
considered most appropriate and historically justified to be their
national language. The majority there has the right to choose what was
most suitable for them as the official language of the country. Your
choice in Pakistan of Urdu will in no way ameliorate or help your
relations with your neighbour, nor will it help the Muslim minorities
there in any conceivable way. Howsoever you may add Arabic and Persian
words to Urdu, there is no denying the fact that the syntax, the form,
the fundamentals of the language are derived from Hindi and not from
Arabic.
Was Urdu the language of the Muslims of India at the time of their
glory? During the long Pathan period, Urdu was never considered the
language of the rulers. Now we come to the Moghul Empire in the period
of its glory. It was not the language of the educated. I defy anybody
to produce a letter or any other form of writing by Emperors
Aurangzeb, Shah Jehan, Jehangir, Akbar, Humayun or Babar in Urdu
language. All that was spoken at the Court was Persian or occasional
Turkish. I have read many of the writings of Aurangzeb and they are in
beautiful Persian. Same is true if you go to the Taj Mahal and read
what is written on the tombs of the Emperor and his famous consort.
Persian was the court language and the language of the educated and
even till the early 19th century in far Bengal, the Hindu
intelligentsia wrote and used Persian and not Urdu. Up to the time of
Macaulay, Persian was the language of Bengali upper classes
irrespective of faith and of official documents and various Sadar
Adalat.
HISTORICAL FACTS
We must look historical facts in the face. Urdu became the language of
Muslim India after the downfall. It is a language associated with the
downfall. Its great poets are of the downfall period. The last and the
greatest of them was lqbal, who with the inspiration of revival gave
up Urdu poetry for Persian poetry. There was a meeting in Iqbal's
honour in London organised by men such as Prof. Nicholson.
I was present at that meeting. Iqbal said that he went in for Persian
poetry because it was associated with the greatness of the Islamic
epoch and not with its misfortunes. Is it right that the language of
the downfall period should become the national language of what we
hope now is a phoenix-like national rising? All the great masters of
Urdu belong to the period of greatest depression and defeat. It was
then a legitimate attempt by the use of a language of Hindi derivation
with Arabic and Persian words to find ways and means of better
understanding with the then majority fellow countrymen. Today that
vast British dependency is partitioned and succeeded by two
independent and great nations and the whole world hopes that both
sides now accept partition as final.
Is it a natural and national language of the present population of
Pakistan? Is it the language of Bengal where the majority of Muslims
live? Is it what you. hear in the streets of Dacca or Chittagong? Is
it the language of the North West Frontier? Is it the language of
Sind? Is it the language of the Punjab? Certainly after the fall of
the Moghal Empire, the Muslims and Hindus of certain areas found in it
a common bond. But now today other forms of bridges must be found for
mutual understanding.
Who were the creators of Urdu? What are the origins of Urdu? Where did
it come from? The camp followers, the vast Hindi-speaking population
attached to the Imperial Court who adapted, as they went along, more
Arabic and Persian words into the syntax. of their own language just
as in later days the English words such as glass and cup became part
of a new form of Urdu called Hindustani.
Are you going to make the language of the Camp, or of the Court, the
national language of your new-born realm? Every Muslim child of a
certain economic standard learns the Quran in Arabic, whether he is
from Dacca or Quetta. He learns his Alif-Be to read the Quran. Arabic
is the language of Islam. The Qur'an is in Arabic. The Prophet's
hadith are in Arabic. The highest form of Islamic culture in Spain was
in Arabic. Your children must learn Arabic to a certain extent always.
The same is true of your West whether Sind, Baluchistan or the North.
From the practical and worldly point of view, Arabic will give you, as
a national language, immediate contact not only with the 40 million
Arabic-speaking people of independent nations on your West, but the
other 60 million more or less Arabic-speaking people who are not
independent but who exist in Africa.
Right up to the Atlantic, not only in North but as far South as
Nigeria and the Gold Coast, Arabic is known to the upper classes of
the population. In all the Sudans, on the Nile or under French rule,
Arabic is the language right up to the borders of Portuguese West
Africa. In East Africa, not only in Zanzibar but amongst the Muslim
population of even countries as far apart as Madagascar and Portuguese
East Africa, Arabic is known. If we turn to the Far East, Arabic has
prospered throughout the region inhabited by 80 million Muslims of
Indonesia, Malaya and Philippines. In Ceylon, Muslim children of the
well-to-do classes get some knowledge of Arabic. Is it not right and
proper that this powerful Muslim State of Pakistan, with its central
geographical position, its bridges between the nearly 100 million
Muslims of the East and 100 million Muslims of the West - its position
of the East from Philippines and the Great State of Indonesia and
Malaya and Burma and then westward with the hundred millions in
Africa, right up to the Atlantic, should make Arabic its national
language and not isolate itself from all its neighbors and from the
world of Islam with a language that was associated with the period of
downfall of Muslim States. And finally, while Arabic, as a universal
language of the Muslim world will unite, Urdu will divide and isolate.
Gentlemen, brothers in Islam, people of Pakistan, people of every
Province, I appeal to you, before you take the final and what I
unfortunately must say, I consider, the fatal jump down the precipice,
please discuss and let all and every one contribute their views. Take
time and think over it.
Once more I appeal for Islamic charity from those whom I may have
offended and I appeal to all others to look to the facts in the face
both historically and as they exist at present.
I pray that the people of this country may be guided by Divine Wisdom
before they decide.