I'd like to ask about the practice of praying in a language I understand. Isn't there a hadith in which one of the Persian Sahabah (Companions) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was having difficulty pronouncing the Arabic wording, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed him to pray in his own language?
Thank you for your help. Allah knows best.
Salam, Babar.
Thank you for your question. One of the first questions people who are thinking about becoming Muslim ask is whether or not they will need to learn Arabic in order to be Muslim.
Such a daunting task of learning a new language seems to them both off putting and extremely difficult and many feel that they will never master it.
Arabic Not a Sixth Pillar
All Muslims try their utmost to learn Arabic. The first thing a new Muslim does upon embracing Islam is to learn a few verses from the noble Qur'an in order to say the Prayers properly.
The most important statement a Muslim makes is that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His Messenger. Muslims believe that Almighty Allah has commanded them to pray five times a day, at certain set times, giving a routine of prayer to the day and elevating the mind at all times to think of Allah.
Muslims give a portion of their excess wealth to those less fortunate than themselves. This is a religious duty that is also one of the central beliefs of Islam.
Muslims fast during the noble month of Ramadan because Allah has ordered them to do so, and they are required, if physically and financially able to do so, to go on pilgrimage to Makkah once in their life to perform Hajj.
All these requirements are known as the Five Pillars of Islam. There is no sixth pillar, for example, to learn Arabic!
Islam Across the Globe
Eighteen percent of the world's Muslims are Arab. There are more Muslims living in Indonesia, for example, than the whole of the Arab world put together.
This tells us something very important about Islam. It is a universal religion, the natural religion of humankind, that has existed since the beginning of time, and it is meant for all people.
Arabs do not have a monopoly over Islam. In fact, people are already beginning to talk about the 21st century as the century of Islam in the West, as more and more people embrace Islam in Europe and North America and bring a new dimension to the Muslim world.
While being Arab, then, is not an essential part of being Muslim, the Arabic language does have a very important place, for two reasons.
The Language of the Qur'an
The first is that Arabic is the language of the noble Qur'an. The second is that Muslims form one brotherhood throughout the world, and Arabic plays a unifying role in this one Muslim nation.
The noble Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad in Arabic. In this Arabic original, we have the exact words of Almighty Allah to humankind. This is why we cannot ever accurately translate the noble Qur'an into other languages, since nuances of meaning would be lost in translation.
The Arabic words are the exact words revealed, whereas translations would at best be good approximations to that meaning.
This is why we talk about having translations of the meaning of the noble Qur'an, rather than of the words themselves. Arabic, then, is very important. If we do not know Arabic, we cannot know the noble Qur'an.
A Unifying Role
Arabic is important, too, for unifying the Muslim Ummah. When Muslims from every corner of the globe gather around the sacred Ka`bah to pray, they pray together in one language.
Communicating with one another in any language, they all use exactly the same Arabic words in worshipping Almighty Allah. Arabic is important, then, for Muslims to worship together.
Your question, though, asks whether it is permissible to pray in a language other than Arabic. Is it allowed to pray, for example, in your own language?
No Burden Intended
To understand the answer, we must remember that Islam is given as a mercy to humankind. Islam is not a burden to anyone. It is a message that brings peace.
If, then, there is someone who absolutely cannot master Arabic to say the Prayers, he or she could begin by saying their meaning in his or her own language until such a time that Arabic could be learned. Islam is very flexible.
This, however, is an extreme suggestion, because it only requires learning two verses of the noble Qur'an, even the shortest two, in order to pray properly.
It is inconceivable that a person could not manage to learn two short verses in order to pray. And this requirement, of course, only applies to the formal necessities of Prayer. We can make our own supplications in any language at all.
Even when our foreheads are touching the ground during the five daily Prayers, we can add our own supplications to Allah in any language we choose.
The question of praying in Arabic is not a burden imposed on Muslims. Nor should it be seen as Arab Muslims trying to control the rest of the Muslim world. Arabic as a requirement for Prayer is a very small requirement indeed.
What we find, though, is that those Muslims who are not Arab want to increase their knowledge of Arabic in order to read the noble Qur'an and in order to stand in Prayer with other Muslims, either in the mosque or on the great occasion of Hajj.
Twice the Reward
There is a very beautiful hadith that has a direct bearing on this question of Arabic. Our beloved Prophet understood well that all people are not expert at languages. He could foresee, too, that Islam would reach every corner of the earth and that many non-Arabs would become Muslim.
To these brothers and sisters, he is reported to have said these words,
Verily, the one who recites the Qur'an beautifully, smoothly and precisely, will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses because he doesn't know how to read it but is trying to, then he will have twice that reward. (Muslim)
Al-hamdu lillah! Islam is a universal religion and Muslims cover almost every country on earth. We read in the noble Qur'an what means:
*{On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear.}* (Al-Baqarah 2:286)
Knowledge of Arabic can become a blessing, not a problem or a difficulty, for those who try to learn it for the sake of Allah.
Allah will never withhold the capacity to learn just a few verses of the noble Qur'an in order to pray. Hopefully, our Prayers will be accepted.
I hope this answers your question. Please stay in touch.