Message from Ayatullah Seestani

Since I heard this with my own ears, I feel obligated to convey it -- especially because I had the distinct (and slightly terrifying) honor of translating for Ayatullah Al-Uzma Seestani in Najaf Al-Ashraf! Ayatullah Seestani was asked to send a message to the Muslims in the West. He said that, first and foremost, Muslim parents in the West need to teach their children their native languages because Islamic resources are lacking in English (you can say THAT again). I then abused my translator's privilege and asked what the Muslims whose native language IS English should do, and he replied that we need to learn Arabic to the degree that we can read Qur'an and tafsir.

I've been reflecting on that message for the past few days. On the surface, it seems simple. But a number of issues get in the way. For one thing, most parents just assume that their children will just pick up their native languages, but that does not happen beyond a very basic level unless the parents take the immense amount of effort required to teach their language at a level of literacy AND the children take the immense amount of effort to learn it. However, the more I think about what he said, the more I realize he was correct, because even I -- a native English speaker -- would have a much shallower understanding of my religion if I could not understand Arabic and Farsi.

Along these lines, I do have to comment on two counterproductive trends present in many Muslim communties in America. On the one side, there are those Muslims who believe that religion on exists in their native language and that everything has to be in Urdu/Arabic/Farsi/Urdu/Gujrati/Urdu/whatever. This way of thinking simply does not work in the West because not everyone is fluent in Urdu/Arabic/Farsi/Urdu/Gujrati/Urdu/whatever (partcularly the youths), and ALSO because we have a responsibility to do da'wah. However, on the other side, there are those Muslims who harbor suspicion and resentment towards other Muslims who speak languages that they do not, and they are always pressuring them to abandon their native languages and use English only. I don't see why we can't have a happy medium -- for example, do most of our religious programs in ENGLISH, but some also in other languages so we can appreciate the beauty of each other's languages and be encouraged to learn them.