The world celebrates the International Arabic Language Day on December 18 every year. The Arabic language is one of the languages that strongly contributes to cultural diversity. Honored with the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, the Arabic language enjoys a prominent position among the languages of the world, as it is the language of Islamic worship and culture for the countries of the Islamic world and the mother tongue of the countries of the Arab world.
Today, there is more than 400 million people speaking Arabic. Thousands of Arabic vocabulary have also entered many foreign languages. There is more than 144 languages using Arabic letters as their alphabet around the world.
Importance of Arabic language in cultural communication:
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- There is a huge wealth of intellectual and cultural heritage that has grown and flourished in the history of the Arabic language.
- The Arabic language is a platform for culture, science and literature and a legacy for generations to pass down.
- It is a means to promote the etiquette of dialogue and lay the foundations of peace..
- Plenty of sources of different sciences and arts have been translated from and into Arabic.
- Arabic language is one of the sources on which the West relied on in establishing their scientific renaissance.
Why December 18?
It is the date on which the United Nations General Assembly has issued a decision No. 3190 of 1973 to adopt the Arabic language as one of the official and action languages of the UN, following a proposal from Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Thus, the Arabic language joined the six languages adopted by the United Nations, together with English, Chinese, Spanish, French and Russian.