The Origins of Arabic

For everyone who is asking about the claim near the beginning that some Muslims have believed that Arabic is spoken by the angels, I suggest you listen more carefully to the words I use. "Some Muslims have believed" is not the same as affirming that this is a standard view in Islamic theology, or even that this has been a common view. Religions are diverse, and there have been Muslims who have held this view. My comment was largely based on the writings of Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (d. 1731), who argues that the sole language of communication in heaven is Arabic (from the treatise "al-Ajwiba 'ala Wahid wa Sittun Su'al"). Hence, per defintion, "some Muslims have...". As for the indication that Egyptian is a semitic language, that's just a mistake on my part.

Just one small point, regarding the beginning of your video: It is never claimed that God himself speaks Arabic only. It is mentioned in the Quran numerous times that God CHOSE to reveal the Quran in Arabic, and one of those reasons mentioned is that Mohammad is an Arab among Arabs, hence they could understand what is being revealed.

What a terrific work of scholarship. Hundreds of hours of research distilled into a beautiful 23 minute video. Thank you Filip for this gift.

Just to add to this well researched video; Fus’ha or standard/Classical Arabic is still used by almost all newspapers and news/broadcast networks. It’s what books, school textbooks and official documents are written in and It’s also almost always used for official communications. The various, regional versions of Arabic are what people use to communicate with each other informally, in everyday life.

Out of all the languages I’ve studied, Arabic script and writing feels to be the most rich, organic, and elegant. Something about it.

I am originally from Syria. I learned Arabic Grammer through out my elementary, middle and high schools. It was very dry subject to me and most and my peers, but we read a lot, memorized poetry a lot. I hated the learning of Arabic and scored so low in my final exams that I almost flunked. Now I am 57 years old and still read a lot but added the Quran to my reading every day and about seven years ago I realized how beautiful the Arabic language is, sometimes it's intoxicating and I am not joking . I feel so sorry for the years, which I wasted, not learning more about my mother tongue language. So sad.

You should read ancient Arab poems.. They're pretty mesmerizing and unique, because poetry back then used to be a common means of communication

I've studied 7 different languages and yet to find a language more expressive than the Arabic language. The Arabic language has a lot of rhetoric, inimitability and eloquence. Your pronunciation of one letter with a certain formation can change the meaning. It is also a beautiful language with many connotations and meanings, and one of the most beautiful languages ​​in which books and poems were written. I still keep in mind that different people have different opinions and tastes, and I don’t mind that at all.

I remember in middle school one of my classmates tried to teach us the Arabic alphabet. I was very closed minded at the time, and was an asshole towards this person. Watching this makes me lament my pig headed attitude at the time. The language is quite beautiful.

In proto-Semitic the definite article was “hal.” Hence “ha” in Hebrew, and “al” in Arabic.

My mind was blown when i learned the advanced grammar of the Qur’an at the high school, it’s a piece of miracle to have that much of consistency and sophistication.the amount of meanings and information that can be sorted in one sentence is incredible.

arabic has always been one of my favorite scripts of any language, up there with georgian, mongolian, burmese, and bengali. it's just the perfect script for calligraphy, islamic calligraphy is one of my absolute favorite art traditions in the world.

إن قول الحق لم يدع لي صديقا Telling the truth has left me no friends - Al-Nu'man ibn Humaydah (Pre Islamic Yemeni Poet and warrior)

as a linguist, i could not emphazise it more but languages in themselves don't exist ; they're coliving with the humans using them, and in this regard, languages are undissociable from their affiliated culture nice vid

Simply great! I love these concise yet in depth videos about one of my favorite topics (religion) You weave psychology, history, and mysticism into a comprehensive overview of our past

I can Instantly feel the love you have for the knowledge you are studying from the way you took the time to study how to pronounce names in their native language & respected them, AMAZING!!, auto subscribe!!

I like how he's pronouncing Quran and Muslims, it's very close to the accurate pronunciation in Arabic.

If it weren’t for the Qur’an staying perfectly intact in language for all these years, then Arabic would be a completely different language today. The fact that we can still read and understand a text that was revealed 1400 years ago is something truly amazing.

This is amazing. I'm learning Arabic and have converted to Islam recently so I really appreciate knowing this.

The Arabic script is one of the most beautiful.