List of countries and territories where Arabic is an official language
Cypriot Arabic (alongside Armenian) is one of the two recognized minority languages of Cyprus, since 2008.
[3] It is spoken by the Maronite community, which is a minority in Cyprus especially in the cities Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca.
[4] Debate exists over the extent of Arabic in Eritrea; the government position is that the language was introduced by the British and is only in use by a professional elite and the Rashaida minority, whereas others have taken the view the language acts as the lingua franca of the country's Muslims.
After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Arabic (as the language of Quran) became mandatory for pupils in Iran.
The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where Arabic has a special status according to the constitution.
c. ^ The Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People (an Israeli Basic Law which specifies the nature of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish People) states in No.
2 that "The State shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan (a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language ..."[10] e. ^ The 1987 Philippine constitution specifies "Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.
The constitution declares in Chapter II: (The Official Language, Script, Calendar, and Flag of the Country) in Article 16 "Since the language of the Qur`an and Islamic texts and teachings is Arabic, ..., it must be taught after elementary level, in all classes of secondary school and in all areas of study.
The Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People (an Israeli Basic Law which specifies the nature of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish People) states in No.
It is semi-official and used in ethnically mixed cities including Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv-Yafo, as well as on most highway signage, official websites, and public buildings in areas with significant Arabic-speaking populations.
According to the Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 the two languages Urdu (which is very close to Hindi, both also called Hindustani language which were two of the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan that time[13][14]) as well as Bengali (at that time the lingua franca in the territory which is today the independent state Bangladesh) became the national languages in the new founded state Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
General Ayub Khan the second President of Pakistan advocated the institution of Arabic language teaching as part of national planning.
2 that "The State shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan (a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language ..."[10] The National Education Policy 2017 declares in article 3.7.4 that: “Arabic as compulsory part will be integrated in Islamiyat from Middle to Higher Secondary level to enable the students to understand the Holy Quran.“ Furthermore, it specifies in article 3.7.6: “Arabic as elective subject shall be offered properly at Secondary and Higher Secondary level with Arabic literature and grammar in its course to enable the learners to have command in the language.“ This law is also valid for private schools as it defines in article 3.7.12: “The curriculum in Islamiyat, Arabic and Moral Education of public sector will be adopted by the private institutions to make uniformity in the society.“[17] In 2021, Pakistan's upper house of parliament approved the ‘Compulsory Teaching of the Arabic Language Bill 2020’ which makes the teaching of Arabic mandatory at all primary and secondary schools in the capital, Islamabad.
[citation needed] Arabic is taught for free and is promoted in some Islamic centres predominantly in the southernmost parts of Philippines.
The result was (in those areas which belonged to the Arab empire) the creation of the society that was mostly Arabic-speaking because of the assimilation of native inhabitants.
Resources from other languages began to be translated into Arabic, and a unique Islamic identity began to form that fused previous cultures with Arab culture, creating a level of civilization and knowledge that was considered a marvel in Europe and the Western world.
[26] The Arabic language remained the lingua franca of high culture under the Fatimids (909–1171), Spanish Umayyads (856–1031) in the Iberian Peninsula, and later Muslim dynasties in North Africa and Spain and of the Mamluks (1250–1517) in Egypt and Syria-Palestine.
[27] In the history, Andalusian Arabic was the official language in Spain and Portugal, formerly Al-Andalus for more than 700 years until the fall of the last Islamic state in Iberia at Granada in 1492.
Arabic (alongside English) was an official language in South Sudan from 1863 (these days a part of Egypt Eyalet (1517–1867)) until 2011 (that time the independent state Republic of South Sudan), when the former government canceled Arabic as an official language.
In 2014, Gambian president Yahya Jammeh announced that The Gambia would drop English as the official language because it is a "colonial relic".
The Knesset canceled the status of Arabic as an official language by adopting the relevant Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People on 19 July 2018.
