ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday passed the ‘Compulsory Teaching of Arabic Language Bill, 2020’, which aims at making the teaching of Arabic compulsory for the students of all educational institutions both in public and private sectors in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The bill was piloted by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi in the upper house of the parliament. The bill was approved near-unanimously by members of the Senate, with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani offering the sole dissenting note.
On the other hand, Senators Mushtaq Ahmed, Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, Sirajul Haq and others also appreciated Abbasi for bringing the bill in the house and supported the bill.
Similarly, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan categorically supported the bill and said this step should have been taken 70 years ago.
He added that Arabic should be taught as a compulsory language in all educational institutions and it would also help address many issues faced by the people.
According to Khan, learning Arabic was crucial to “become a good Muslim […] and understand God’s message”.
The text of the bill says that Arabic should be taught from the first to the fifth grade and Arabic grammar should be taught from the sixth grade to the eleventh grade.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, besides having religious importance for the Muslims, Arabic is among the top five spoken languages of the world.
Arabic was also an official language of 25 countries, Abbassi pointed out. He added that he was in favour of multiple languages being taught such as Russian, Spanish and English. “No one objected to this [teaching of English] and said that English shouldn’t be taught.”
A large number of people from around the world seek to do business and obtain employment in the rich Arab states. Thus, knowledge of Arabic language will not only enlighten the understanding of Islam and the message of Holy Quran, it will also broaden the employment and business opportunities for the citizens of the Pakistan.
The bill will help the students to understand the divine message enshrined in the Holy Quran and also Hadith of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) besides widening their employment and business opportunities in the future.
