KARACHI: At the 38th annual convocation of The Society for the Promotion of Arabic (SPA) on Friday evening, former chief justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali spoke about the necessity of adopting the Arabic language as a means of communication in the modern world.

The SPA, which works towards successfully and effectively propagating the importance of Arabic language in Pakistan, was of the foremost organisations in the country that functions without any government support, he explained.

“More than 42,000 students have done certificate courses from SPA and have benefitted from the organisation. The SPA not only works locally but also has organised international conferences.”

Mr Jamali, who was chief guest at the programme, was of the opinion that knowledge of Arabic if encouraged in society, would improve the standards of education which would in turn have a positive impact on the society at large and help battle ignorance and intolerance.

“There is a rising difference between the rich and the poor, as well as those who have access to proper education and those who don’t. I am confident that had our elders recognised the importance of the Arabic language in time and given it space in the curriculums in schools, the state of education in Pakistan would be very different.”

Arabic was an international language, he said, lamenting that the language in the country was only being rote learned and not understood.

Mr Noor-i-Helal Saifur Rahman, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh and dean Consular Corps, lauded efforts of the SPA.

Certificates were awarded to students who had completed diplomas or short courses in Arabic. Those who had achieved a certain level of proficiency were asked to perform plays, give speeches as well as recite poems in the language. The basic thrust of all these activities was to highlight how Arabic has become an international language of communication used in education, social circles along with acquiring importance in the economic centres of the world.

Deputy Consul of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Naif Muhammad Al Ghamdi congratulated the students who received certificates from SPA. He recognised that the students who had performed or spoken in Arabic had admirable mastery of the language and he was greatly impressed.

Vice Consul General of Bahrain Ameer Jasim AlKhal spoke about how Arabic is fast gaining importance all over the world and also in Pakistan. Even on social media Arabic is increasingly popularised and overall the language is being translated all over the world because it is a language of love and friendship.

According to SPA president Zafar Iqbal, “the society was established in 1973 for the purpose of popularising Arabic in Pakistan in order mainly to enable people of Pakistan to read and understand the Holy Quran. Besides, the other important purpose was to expand and strengthen through Arabic language fraternal, economic and commercial ties between Pakistan and Arab countries.”

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2018