Arabic, is it older than hebrew? كن أول من يقيّم
Salaam,
I am sorry I can't use arabic script and would be grateful if someone can translate what I say.
Just saying that Arabic is older does not hold ground, if not supplemented by evidence.
I don't necessarily know the correct answer, and I don't want to be an arabic fanatic either, but I have some clues.
I have always maintained that arabic is older than hebrew and here are my reasons.
From an islamic as well as from a hebrew perspective, we all agree that the hebrew race only came to being after Prophet Isac (Ishaaq) the descendand of prophet Abraham. We also know that Prophet Ischmael (Isma'il) the brother of Ishaaq was at least 13 years older than him (read the bible: Genesis-if you like). Now, Muslims generally, and arabs in particular, maintain that Abraham, through Isma'il, is their Father. There is no reason to refute this claim. In fact, the hebrew bible itself proclaims this prophecy.
Moreover, it is historically correct that Arabs existed long before the arrival of Abraham to Mecca, though they did not live there- what we sometimes call 3arab 3aaribah and 3arab musta'ribah.
These came from other parts of Arabian peninsula. In any case, they existed long before Abraham, although the Arabic language after them went through modifications and adaptations. Abraham himself was from Iraq, and the hebrew language came much much later, well after the emigration into Egypt of the Israelites- We read in the Bible that in total all who emigrated to egypt-that is the Whole Israeli descendants of Abraham- were only about 75 souls. this is in the Bible itself, in Genesis the very first book of the bible.
I am sorry I haven't got much time left, but I would draw your attention that in addition to this, the claim that arabic descended from hebrew just on the ground that they are similar is something for the bin. The fact that they are similar does not mean one descended from the other, necessarily. In fact, two twins look identical but neither comes from the other. This is exactly the case here. Both arabic and hebrew come from the Afrom-asiatic family of languages, and much older languages existed before both of them e.g. Akkadian in Syria, Sumerian etc.
Please visit this site: http://www.krysstal.com/#language
Wassalaam,
Abdulghani |