Islamic Perspectives on The English Language Situation

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Islamic Perspectives on The English Language Situation Pray to Allah:

Islamic Perspectives on The English Language Situation What is English today? Is it The language of the English ? + A lingua franca (common language) ? + A lingua Frankensteina (cursed language) ? + Al-lisaanudda’wah (da’wa language) ? + Al-lisaanulkuffar (kaffir language) ? + Just another medium ?

English is a Romance Language with ‘tribal Germanic’ roots English is not the language of Jesus; Jesus was sent to the Israelites; he spoke their language After the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin was a root language which later sprouted Italian, French, Spanish, English, and Portugese Before becoming a nation, England was a Roman province called Brittania, and a place of Germanic tribal inhabitation before that

English is not global English is the language of the British Empire The British Empire has peaked (1919) The British Empire has not died The post-imperial cultural and language arm, The British Council, was established in 1934 Promotion of English as a global language is a loose swing by a bleeding lion

English is a Christian language England was Christianised 5 th & 6 th c. AD For the last 1,000 years, all kings and queens of England must be Christian The patron of the British Council is the Queen of England, Elisabeth II English cannot be separated from its motherland, nor she from Christianity

English Language policy for the Islamic Empire English language policy must be compatible with the Islamic nation’s language needs: I.e, Language Policy It appears that we should reduce the quantity of English and replace class hours with Arabic, our language We need quality English da’wah with clear pronunciation and good manners

The British were Active R.V. Routh wrote in his article “The diffusion of British culture outside England. A problem of post- war reconstruction”, Cambridge University Press, 1941 “A new career service is needed, for gentlemen teachers of English with equivalent status to ‘the Civil Service, Army, Bar, or Church’, an ‘army of linguistic missionaries’ generated by a ‘training centre for post-graduate studies and research’, and a ‘central office in London, from which teachers radiate all over the world’. The new service must ‘lay the foundations of a world- language and culture based on our own’.”

The British are still Active The Guardian Weekly, November Opportunities in Saudi Arabia ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING ADVISERS British Council Saudi Arabia is managing a Global Opportunities Fund project. This fund is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s principal programme budget and its purpose is to promote global action on issues of strategic importance to the UK. The British Council is the UK’s ’international organisation for educational opportunites and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity’.

Promoting English is Easy: Offer $$ TEFL IS A VEHICLE. The industry is promoted.

Unstitching Linguistic Imperialism It requires resources; we can reduce its funding by non-participation, i.e, do not fund English It requires infrastructure; we can reduce its infrastructure by not depending on it except when necessary; we can deglorify English It is legitimated as normal, but learning English is not really normal for a Muslim; actually, it is a specialisation, not a basic requirement of life English Language Imperialism works by giving speakers of English more rights; we do not honour this; we honour the ways of Islam

Language Policy Tips Be sure that Arabic is the language of Muslims, and love it; it is the language of your daily prayer, the language of the last prophet, and the language of your people The gateway to English is your iman, your faith in your heart, not your tongue, and the Qur’an is the backbone of our English Look at the language environment: is your school / company / family stronger in English than Arabic? Ask Allah for help if needed

Islamic Perspectives on The English Language Situation Remember Allah:

Islamic Perspectives on The English Language Situation