The Benefits of Learning a New Language: An Islamic Perspective (UK British Muslim Guide)

Why learning a new language matters for British Muslim families

The Quran, the Sunnah and the entire history of Islamic civilisation place language learning among the most rewarded acts a person can undertake. The Prophet ﷺ told Zayd ibn Thābit (RA) to learn the language of the Jewish community of Madinah so that he could read their letters — and Zayd learned it in 17 days. The early Muslim community produced scholars fluent in Persian, Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Latin and Sanskrit, alongside their native Arabic. The Islamic Golden Age was, among other things, a multilingual translation movement on a scale not seen again until the modern internet era.

For British Muslim families today, learning a new language — and particularly Arabic — is not just a practical or academic skill. It is a continuation of the Islamic tradition.

What the Prophet ﷺ said about language

The Prophet ﷺ instructed Zayd ibn Thābit (RA): "O Zayd, learn for me the writing of the Jews. By Allah, I do not trust them with my letters." Zayd reports: "So I learned it for him in less than seventeen days, until I was the one writing his letters and reading them when they came to him" (Bukhari and Tirmidhi). The instruction is specific — it is not merely permitted but actively encouraged for a Muslim to learn the language of others when there is benefit.

The wider hadith tradition preserves the principle that knowledge is not the property of any one community. "Wisdom is the lost property of the believer; wherever he finds it, he is most entitled to it" (Tirmidhi 2687).

The languages worth learning for a British Muslim

Language	Why it matters
Arabic	The language of the Quran, the Sunnah, and the entire classical Islamic intellectual tradition. Without it, you are reading every Islamic text in translation. The single most important second language for any serious British Muslim.
Urdu	For British Muslim families with Pakistani heritage; opens access to the substantial South Asian Islamic intellectual tradition (the Deobandi and Barelvi corpora, the work of Mawlana Mawdudi, etc.)
Bengali	For British Muslim families with Bangladeshi heritage; preserves the language of family elders and opens access to substantial Bangladeshi Islamic literature
Persian (Farsi)	Opens the entire Persian Islamic tradition (Hafiz, Rumi, Saʿdī, the Persian tafsir tradition); particularly valuable for families with Iranian, Afghan or Tajik heritage
Turkish	Preserves access to the Ottoman intellectual heritage; particularly relevant for British Muslim families with Turkish or Cypriot heritage
French / Spanish / Mandarin	Major international languages with substantial Muslim populations; useful for travel, business, and engagement with global Muslim communities

Arabic specifically — why it deserves first priority

For most British Muslims, Arabic should be the first second language pursued seriously. The reasons:

• Direct Quran access. Reading the Quran in its original Arabic produces a different relationship with the text than reading any translation. The translations are aids; the Arabic is the Quran.
• Direct hadith access. The major hadith collections (Bukhari, Muslim, the Sunan) exist in Arabic. Translations are useful for orientation; serious engagement requires the original.
• The salah is in Arabic. Every Muslim recites Arabic in their daily prayer; understanding what you recite transforms the experience.
• Connection to global Muslim community. Arabic is the lingua franca of the global Muslim world from Morocco to Indonesia.
• Intellectual heritage. The classical Islamic tradition produced an extraordinary body of work in Arabic across philosophy, law, theology, sciences and literature. Translation captures only a fraction.

How British Muslim families can approach Arabic learning

Stage 1: Quranic Arabic (months 1-12)

Learn to read the Mushaf with proper tajweed first. This is the foundation. Without it, comprehension Arabic is built on sand. Eaalim teachers handle this stage with structured one-to-one instruction.

Stage 2: Comprehension Arabic basics (year 2)

Begin Arabic grammar and vocabulary. Books like al-Ājurrūmiyyah for grammar; structured vocabulary courses for word acquisition. Bayyinah Institute, the Cambridge Muslim College, and the Markfield Institute all run courses suitable for British Muslim adults.

Stage 3: Quran tafsir engagement (year 3+)

Begin reading classical tafsir works directly in Arabic — starting with Tafsir al-Jalalayn (the most accessible) and progressing to Ibn Kathir and ultimately to al-Ṭabarī.

Stage 4: Wider classical literature (lifetime project)

Hadith collections, fiqh manuals, classical Islamic philosophy and theology, and Arabic literature beyond the strictly religious texts.

The wider benefits of any language learning

Modern research on language learning shows substantial cognitive benefits beyond the practical use of the new language:

• Improved executive function and attention
• Delayed onset of dementia in older adults
• Enhanced understanding of one\'s native language through comparative awareness
• Increased empathy through engagement with another worldview
• Career and economic advantages in an increasingly globalised job market

For British Muslim children, learning Arabic also produces specific religious benefits — but the cognitive benefits accrue from any genuine language study, including Spanish or French at school.

Frequently asked questions

Where to go next

For more on Arabic specifically, see our guides on Tajweed UK, Quran Recitation, and Learning the Quran for Beginners. For the wider scholarly tradition, see Quran Sciences (ʿUlum al-Quran). To begin Arabic study with an Al-Azhar-graduate teacher, book a free trial lesson.