Essence of Islam

Languages a Symbol of Allah

You know there are almost 7000 languages in the world. And, each language has its variations. For example, Chinese has 13 variations, Arabic has 20 variations and so on. If we include these variations, we can't even calculate the total number of languages spoken in the world. Different neighborhoods in a country have their own language variations that make them unique from other parts of the world. Now here, the question is, why Allah has created a lot of languages? Why is there not one or two languages in the world? Well, Allah has mentioned numerous times in Quran that this variation in languages is one of my miracles. In Surah Al-Rum, he mentioned:

And one of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your languages and colours. 

Surah Al-Rehman, ayah 3 is: ˹and˺ taught them speech.

These ayahs told us that diversity in languages is also a sign of Allah for us to think about. 

Now, if you think about these languages, you would realize that you don't know the origin of these languages. How they originated their writing format, pronunciation and vocabulary. For example, history of English language started in 5th century AD when Germanic tribes, Angles and Saxons came to live together. Their languages mixed up and English was formed. But, from where these tribes got their languages? If we see, we don't know how English was originated because it was a mixture of already existed languages. It shows that the real origin of different languages is not clear to humanity. This in itself is a miracle.

Not only this, if you see, each language and its variations have a unique culture in them. Linguists can analyze a language and can find out the culture, religion, and thought patterns of its natives. For example, language having complex verb conjugations indicates social hierarchy. A language having extreme politeness shows it's people’s social values. English has a lot of vocabulary words for technology and law, so it shows it's natives’ preferences. Even the variations of these languages also portrays mini cultures of a country. So, with diversity in languages, Allah is saying that diverse cultures is also my sign. And, as a Muslim, it is our duty to think about these signs and respect them. We should not think any culture and language inferior to ours. We should not hate any language, culture or make fun of it. Because, they are created by Allah for us to think. So, we should study different cultures, languages and think how these are symbols of Allah. Every culture and language has a purpose in the world. So, if we study them, we would find a lot of things to learn about the universe, people and God. Allah has scattered different knowledge and concepts in diverse languages and cultures.

So, we need to find and respect them. What are your thoughts about it? Do share it in the comments section.

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I will share random tidbits from Quran for now on. These information packets can be of different types and giving us different lessons.