Doha, Qatar: The Department of Islamic Research and Studies at the Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs is set to organize a symposium on the present and future of the Arabic language in the Islamic world, on November 4, 2025.
The event will gather an elite group of researchers and academics specialized in the Arabic language and its sciences from Qatar University.
Director of the Department of Islamic Research and Studies, Sheikh Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Ghanem Al-Thani, clarified that the symposium is part of a series of annually organized events, held in the ministry's recognition of the importance of the Arabic language, which deserves to be elevated since it is the language of the Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah.
This language has been the driver of the advancement of sciences, history, and Islamic civilization, as the key component in crafting the civilizational, intellectual, and cultural incubator of individuals, the community, and the Muslim nation, Sheikh Dr. Ahmed underlined.
He emphasized that the department considers this symposium a cultural contributor to the ongoing efforts aiming to revive the Arabic language so that it may flourish once again and be reintroduced to the Muslim world as an imperative for life and a requisite for reviving the nation and setting it back on the track of resurgence.
The symposium is indeed a serious conversational project that primarily aims to rebuild the culture of the Muslim nation and reinforce the components of its identity, Sheikh Dr. Ahmed pointed out.
The symposium, to be held immediately after the Isha prayer at Imam Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahhab Mosque, will tackle three main themes. The first theme will be presented by Prof. Dr. Luay Ali Khalil, Professor of Cultural Criticism and Narratology, focusing on the nexus between the Arabic language and the civilizational identity of the Ummah.
This will be explored through three subtopics, the connection of Arabic to the Holy Qur'an as a source of cultural and intellectual unity, the role of Arabic in building the comprehensive identity of the Ummah across the ages, and the impact of linguistic decline on weakening identity and diminishing belonging.
The second theme, presented by Dr. Mahrous Breik, Professor of Arabic Grammar and Linguistics, delves deep into the contemporary challenges facing the Arabic language in Muslim societies.
It will unpack three subthemes addressing the current state of Arabic usage across media, education, and the digital sphere; the growing sway of globalization and foreign languages, and the marginalization of Arabic and its far-reaching impact on rising generations.
The third theme, delivered by Dr. Muhammad Khaled Al Rahawi, Associate Professor at the College of Arts and Sciences, drills down on Arabic and the future of intellectual and scientific renaissance, envisioning the prospects of the language amid accelerating cognitive and digital transformations.
Dr. Al Rahawi underscores the pressing need for a civilizational project aimed at localizing science and knowledge in Arabic, an imperative step toward the intellectual revival of the Ummah.
