Language (lughah), fiqh rulings

Lugha, in lexicon, is the tongue: sounds by which each people expresses its aims, a form from lagha, to speak ¹. It overlaps with kalam in some senses; bayan is narrower, meaning manifestation and uncovering ².

The views differ on who set the language: al-Ash'ari and his followers hold that God set it, so it is by revelation; Abu Hashim and the Mu'tazilites hold it is by convention; others hold that the start was by revelation and the rest by convention, or the reverse, or that the words signify by themselves, or that the question is open; al-Ghazali held that to go into it is idle ².

Learning a language is lawful and in general required. Arabic has a precedence over other tongues, being the tongue of the people of Paradise, on the hadith to love the Arabs for three reasons, and because the Qur'an and the Sunna came in it; so every Muslim learns enough to bear witness, recite the Qur'an and say the prescribed words, and mastery of its sciences is a communal duty ^{2 3}. Learning other tongues is lawful for individuals, and a communal duty for public good, such as guarding against enemies; the report of Zayd ibn Thabit (may God be pleased with him) learning the Jews' writing for the Prophet ﷺ, and conveying the message in a language people understand, is a communal duty ³.

Arabic words have a primary and a secondary signification, and al-Shatibi set out the ruling on translating them ⁴. It is a duty of judges to appoint an interpreter when a litigant does not know the tongue: the Hanafis require two just interpreters, though Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf accept one just man; the Malikis accept one trustworthy Muslim, two being preferable; the Shafi'is advise appointing one, requiring justice, freedom and two; the Hanbalis treat interpreting as testimony needing number and justice ^{4 5}.

Most jurists forbid reciting the Qur'an in any tongue other than Arabic, and the prayer is not valid with the opening chapter in another tongue even for one who cannot speak Arabic, on the verse of the surah of the Enwrapped (verse 20) cited without quoting; a view of Abu Hanifa allows reciting in Persian where translation is possible ⁵.