[AR] al-Lughah al-’Arabiyyah wa Dauruha fi Ta’sis Khilafah Sokoto al-Islamiyyah

The Arabic Language and its Role in Establishing the Sokoto Islamic Caliphate

Abstract

Arabic is a language that has been spoken for more than sixteen centuries, and the Noble Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through Angel Jibril in Arabic language, which Almighty Allah  promised to preserve and take care of, due to His saying: {An Arabic Qur’an without any crookedness (therein), so that they may avoid all evil which Allah has ordered them to avoid, fear Him and keep their duty to Him} [Al-Zumar:28], and He also said: {Indeed, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e the Qur’an) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption.).[Al-Hijr:9]. This language has become one of the official languages decided to be used by some international organizations like Africa union (AU), United Nations (UN) and many others. It should be noted that some of the local languages ??in Nigeria are influenced by Arabic, such as Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Nupe, Igbo, Fulani, and others, and they have taken many Arabic words remarkably; Perhaps that was the commercial relationship that existed between African countries and the Arab world and between Morocco and West Africa since ancient times, until the Arabic dialect was included in some of the dialects of the Nigerian tribes. Despite this, Sheikh Uthman bin Fodio established the Sokoto Islamic Caliphate at the beginning of the nineteenth century AD, and the war raged between Sheikh Uthman and the kings of the Kingdom of Gobir. Finally, Sheikh overcome and gained the victory; he therefore, established an Islamic state in Sokoto-Nigeria. In this regard, Islam played a prominent role in spreading the Arabic language in Nigeria in general, and also made a significant contribution to the Sokoto caliphate in particular. The growth of the Arabic language is developing in the Northern states such as Borno, Katsina, Bauchi, Zaria, Kano, and others. The development of teaching and learning Arabic language during the Sokoto caliphate, which was carried out by Sheikh Uthman bin Fodio, flourished in the country until it became an official language of the state. In addition, this research attempts to study the contributions of the Arabic language to the establishment of the Islamic Sokoto Caliphate in Nigeria.