FROM READING THE QUR’AN TO LEARNING ARABIC LANGUAGE

(The Qur’anic Commentaries of Hamka (1981 - 1908) and Quraish Shihab (b. 1944) on The Arabic Language of the Qur’an)

Abstract

This article discusses the Qur’anic verses (Q. 12: 2, Q. 13: 37, Q. 20: 113, Q. 26: 195, Q. 39: 28, Q. 41: 3, Q. 41: 44, Q. 42: 7, Q. 43: 3, Q. 46: 12) that talk about the nature of the Qur’an as an Arabic text (kitab ʿArabī), and how two Indonesian mufassirs (Hamka and Quraish Shihab) use them to urge readers to learn Arabic. Their works are chosen because they are the two most prominent Qur’anic commentators of the country. This qualitative research concludes that the two mufassirs employ variety of strategies to raise the status of the Arabic language and encourage readers to learn them, including (1) a historical trajectory to the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, (2) an emphasis on the universality of the Prophet’s missionary, (3) on the privileges of non-Arabs (al-ʿajam) who master the Arabic language, and (4) on the uniqueness and peculiarities that the language possesses in comparison to other languages.