Conditions for Learning Arabic Among Mawali and Arabs in the Early Days of Arab-Islamic Civilization

In the early days of Arab-Islamic civilization, society embraced learning Arabic language. This study aims to uncover the circumstances surrounding the study of Arabic among non-Arabs (mawali) both Muslim and non-Muslim and Arabs in different regions. The study employed a descriptive-analytical approach to reveal the social conditions and motivations. The study concluded with several important findings: The new Muslim converts faced several religious issues related to Arabic language, which was a religious motivation for them to learn Arabic, with implicit encouragement from the jurists. Muslim and non-Muslim of mawali turned to learning Arabic for worldly purposes, such as: government writing, medicine, translation, and paper-making. Christians taught Arabic and the Quran in their schools, and they also sent their children to Muslim schools. The Mawali were involved in the general movement to learn Arabic, and there was no special educational direction for them. Arabs of all kinds embraced learning Arabic, including urban Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula, urban Arabs outside of it, and Bedouin Arabs. This last type also had to learn Arabic, for reasons including the nature of standard Arabic, and the fact that innate knowledge of the language differs from specialized scientific knowledge.