Senate passes bill for compulsory Arabic teaching

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Monday passed a bill providing for compulsory teaching of Arabic in all educational institutions. The proposed legislation, which aims at better understanding of the guidelines enshrined in the Holy Quran, was moved by PML-N Senator Javed Abbasi and was supported by the government benches.

However, opposition to the bill came from the PPP, which contended that teaching of a language had nothing to do with religion. The bill says that besides having religious importance for the Muslims, Arabic is among the five largest spoken languages of the world. A large number of population from around the world seeks to do business and employment in the rich Arab states. This knowledge of Arabic language will not only enlighten the understanding of Islam and message of the Holy Quran, it will also broaden the employment and business opportunities for the citizens of Pakistan.

This bill will make teaching of Arabic compulsory to the students of all educational institutions, both in public and private sector in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), institutions owned and controlled by the federal government, wherever they may be, and all educational institutions affiliated with the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.

“Moreover, it will help the students understand the divine message enshrined in the Holy Quran and also the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), besides widening their employment and business opportunities in future”, the statement of objects and reasons of the bill reads.

Speaking after passage of the bill, Javed Abbasi said, “A foundation has been laid and hopefully it will shortly sail through the National Assembly as well”.

Supporting the bill, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that one needs to understand Arabic to be a good Muslim. “You cannot understand the message of Allah, if you do not know Arabic,” he believed.