Bukhari and Tirmidhi
narrate on the authority of Kharijah ibn Zayd ibn Thabit from his father Zayd
ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “RasuluLlah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, ordered me to learn some words for him from the
language of the Jews. He [RasuluLlah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace]
said to me: ‘I take an oath by Allah that I do not trust the Jews with my
letter.’ Before half a month could pass, I learnt the [Suryani] language. After
I learnt it, if he had to write a letter to the Jews, I used to write it for
him. And if they wrote to him, I used to read their letter to him.”
Tirmidhi says that this is
a good and authentic Hadith. Al-A`mash also narrated it on the authority of
Thabit ibn `Ubayd from Zayd ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, saying:
“RasuluLlah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered me to learn the
Suryani language.”
Utilizing foreign languages
in the field of teaching, inviting and propagation when there is a need to do
so is established from the Sunnah of RasuluLlah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace.
Today, languages are key to
universal sciences which have become necessary because of us neighbouring the
non-Arabs and Europeans. Languages are a key to progress between nations. They
have become a key to mutual cooperation which has become necessary in life and
so that a person’s right will be guaranteed when he mixes with other nations.
Shaykh Safiyyuddin al-Hilli
who knew several languages says in a poem:
“The more languages a
person knows, the more he is able to benefit. These languages come to his
assistance at the time of calamities. Hasten, then, in learning new languages.
For every language, in essence, is another human.”
(Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu
Ghuddah, al-Rasul al-Mu`allim, translated by Mahomed Mahomedy and
published by Zam Zam Publishers, as Prophet
Muhammad – The Teacher and his teaching methodologies, p.159)
See also:
