Of the leading languages, even considered as one of the UN languages, is Arabic. The tongue which is spoken in more than 20 countries receives some mentions today, the world day of the language. I personally can say Arabic is worth shifting more light in Aceh on account of the language intriguing specialties not possessed by the other ones.
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Of the fascinating issues is that how the youth in Aceh perceive Arabic; which in turn is known the reason of why it is not as famous as English. It seems more likely that the majority of youngsters would rather pay more attention to English than Arabic; this is due to their belief that Arabic marks conservative in the midst of modernity. Associating the language with Islamic affairs, they are afraid of being labeled as too religious persons if they concentrate too much on it. Arabic, through which many people deepen their understanding of Islam, is accused of shaping the learners to be too Qur’anic and too virtuous. When talking the language, I myself sometimes receive mockings such as someone’s response by saying amiin as if my Arabic is the utterances of du’a commonly recited after shalah by the Imam. Clearly, these facts are surmised as the factors thwarting the growth of Arabic in Aceh.
In order to alter the incorrect way of thinking above, it is imperative to get people sufficiently exposed to the actual power of Arabic. The language had existed even before the starting of the epic saga of Prophet Muhammad. When Islam covers a broader spectrum of nations, Arabic came in the divine verses of The Qur’an. Since Allah guarantees that the scripture will last in a very long time, Arabic receives the miracle as well. More noticeable is that the language has contributed to the lexicon of a plethora of other languages, including Indonesian and Acehnese, on the planet. Additionally, the language possesses a science of grammatical, morphological analysis of the utterances which is dubbed i’rab. Learning i’rab, someone would address the aspects used in the complex construction of the language sentences.
Despite the quite challenging intricacy of Arabic, Acehnese people have been accustomed enough to Arabic in their education, either formally or informally. Traditional religious schools, commonly known as Dayah, have hitherto served the learners with instructional materials in Arabic written books, so-called Kitab Kuneng. The instances of the books studied are I’anatut Thalibin for Islamic jurisprudence, Ihya’ Ulumiddin for theology, Nurul Yaqin for Islamic history, Ta’limul Muta’allim for moral science, and Riyadhus Shalihin for prophetic traditions. In today’s context, the Arabic has been included as one of the subjects in senior high school and university.
At present comes a youth organisation called Polyglot Indonesia Chapter Aceh, of which I am appointed as the Arabic division coordinator, whose main concern is to serve free foreign language classes for the youth of Aceh. Of the languages taught is Arabic which was included in 2015. It is always a satisfaction I receive when obliged to teach my friends Arabic twice a week in Keude Kupi Aceh (KKA) cafe Banda Aceh. I deal with students of different levels of Arabic command, yet this will not alleviate my zest to perform teaching since it is my personal calling where no words can successfully describe it.
Briefly, my hat is off to all the upholders of The Qur’anic language. You are the genuine agents of the Prophet’s Sunnah. Arabic World Day commemoration suggest that we are counted as we will always be, Insha Allah.
Jeulingke, 18 December 2017