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Muslims lack Arabic proficiency: Big problem?
Proficiency in Arabic does not determine the degree of a Muslim’s faith. In theory, as the vast majority of Muslims believe today, what makes someone a Muslim is as simple as described in the profession of faith in Islam (shahada). An individual is a practicing Muslim if he/she performs the five pillars of Islam.
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Honoring scripture: Participants parade to mark the start of an annual Quran reading competition in Pidie regency in Aceh on Sept. 19. Many Indonesian Muslims do not master Arabic but display religious devotion. (Antara/Syifa Yulinnas/wsj)
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n his opinion piece “Indonesian Muslims: Believers in Islam or cultural Muslims?” published on Dec. 13, 2019 in The Jakarta Post, Patrik Meyer, a visiting professor at the Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta (UMY), suggested that most Indonesian Muslims were simply “cultural Muslims”, which he defined are those who “adopt a number of Islamic traditions in his life but lacks iman (faith), Islam’s fundamental value”.
As I read it, Meyer has developed his thinking on two premises: that most Indonesian Muslims lack Arabic proficiency, which he believes is necessary to being a faithful Muslim; and that Indonesian Muslims are Muslims because they were born into a Muslim family and have never critically thought about why they decided to become Muslims.
Do these premises properly define the degree of faith that Indonesian Muslims have? I beg to disagree.
Proficiency in Arabic does not determine the degree of a Muslim’s faith. In theory, as the vast majority of Muslims believe today, what makes someone a Muslim is as simple as described in the profession of faith in Islam (shahada): if he/she believes that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Prophet, he/she is a Muslim. An individual is a practicing Muslim if he/she performs the five pillars of Islam, i.e. the shahada, the five daily prayers, the fast during Ramadan, zakat (giving alms) and pilgrimage (haj) for those who are able, financially and physically.
The primary sources of Islamic teachings contain no explicit statements to suggest that the more knowledgeable of Arabic a Muslim is , the greater faith in Islam he/she can attain. Quite the contrary: Numerous scriptural sources suggest that faith is determined by how much someone is conscious of God in his/her day-to-day life, as well as his/her actions as a consequence of that consciousness.
Meyer might say that this is merely my own interpretation of Islam. But the same criticism can be laid at his feet. At least my interpretation is supported by textual bases in Islamic sources and is shared by many, if not most, Indonesian Muslims.
