Arabic: the Progressive Language of Mankind
Celebrating Arabic will likely continue for many centuries to come. Arabic is not under threat as many would like to have us believe. Yes there are cultural invasions, facilitated by different media technologies whether in traditional form such as newspapers, radio and television or the internet, website and social platforms. This is together with the “pigeonisation” of the language and mixing it with English, popularly known as “Arabizi” but these could be argued as no more than fads to set off the alarm-bells ringing.
In reality, Arabic will continue as a strong force because of the fact that many millions and millions speak it or learn it as a medium of instruction. Around 420 million across the Arab nation speak it on a daily basis and there is the fact there are 1.5 million Muslims around the world as far as Indonesia, China, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan to Turkey, Albania, Bosnia, to Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Tanzania who learn the language because of its religious Islamic association and as important cultural tools.
Arabic has come to be seen as a dynamic language of vitality and expression which it will continue to be prominent among its people, institutions, mosques, religious establishments, in its books, literature, essays, poetry, culture and media.
Despite the power politics that has reduced the Arab world to a sub-sphere of super-power/s and great-power rivalries, lynch-pinned through the oil economies, consumerism, strong purchasing ability and different stages of development, the Arab region remains a towering beacon. This is due to the strength of its language and seen as much by the United Nations when it recognised Arabic as one of its official languages in 1974, joining the other official languages of Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The status of the language was further reinforced when the UN, at the behest of Unesco, made December 18 World Arabic Language Day to be celebrated every year.
Source: gulfnews.com