Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Why must prayer be in Arabic?

“Allah speaks all languages, so why is it compulsory to recite Salah and Quran in Arabic? Many people recite without understanding. Why can't a person pray in a language they understand to remove misconceptions?”Asked by Sohail Ahmed

He answers at 55:59 in The Concept of Divine Help · 2 min 51 sec

His answer, in his own words
55:59
maulana, agla sawal hai suhail ahmed sahab ka. unhon ne location nahi likhi hai. un ka sawal hai: "I wanted to ask this question for a long time, which is that Allah speaks all languages in the world, so why is it compulsory to recite namaz and Quran in Arabic? The reason for asking this question is that many people in my locality just recite namaz and Quran for the sake of just recitation and without knowing what they are reading or reciting. Why can't a person pray in whatever language he or she understands it, which can help in removing misconceptions in Islam?" dekhiye, aap is sawal mein is liye phanse hue hain ke aap namaz ko form samajhte hain. namaz ko form samajhte hain, is liye phanse hue hain.
56:54
yaad rakhiye, arabi mein namaz parhna bhi namaz nahi hai. sare munafiqeen arabi mein namaz parhte the, un ki namaz allah ne qabool nahi ki. yeh mat samjhiye ke arabi mein parh liya to namaz ho gayi. na arabi mein namaz hai, na farsi mein namaz hai. namaz jo hai qad afalahal mominoon allazeena fi salatihim khashaoon khasho ki zuban mein jo namaz parhe, woh us ki namaz namaz hai. aap samajhte hain ke bas arabi alfaz jo hain, khoob qirat se parh gaye to namaz ho gayi.
57:33
main aap ko aik waqia batata hoon: masjid nabwi mein rasool allah the, aik shakhs wahan aya, namaz parhi. idhar arabi mein namaz parhi thi us ne, kyunke woh to arab tha. aap ke paas aya to aap ne kaha ke irji' fasalli fa'innaka lam tusalli jao phir se namaz parho, kyunke tum ne namaz nahi parhi. to namaz na arabi mein, na farsi mein, na angrezi mein, na hindi mein. namaz hai khasho ki zuban mein. wah! khasho ki zuban nahi to namaz hi nahi hai. yeh quran o hadees sabit hai. quran mein dekhein, ayat hai fawaylul musalleen kharabi hai namaziyon ke liye.
58:17
yeh kaun namazi? arab namazi jo arabi mein parhte the, namaz. yeh bilkul be buniyad qism sawalat hain. yeh hai shift of emphasis. aap sochte nahi ke asal cheez khasho hai, to yeh sab sawalat aap dimagh mein aate hain. agar aap asal yeh yeh sochein to kuch yeh sawal aayega nahi. yeh sab, yeh sab shift of emphasis ki surat se, shift of emphasis ki bana par yeh sab sawalat aate hain. aap ko dua hogi.
58:50
maulana, agla sawal lene se pehle aik comment parhna chahenge jo abdul basit umri ne bheja hai doha, qatar se. unhon ne likha hai: "maulana, aaj ki taqreer se mere andar dobara naya azm paida hua.
All questions he answeredThe whole lecture, from this momentWatch on YouTube

Machine transcription. These are his recorded words, written down by software from the Urdu he speaks — so a line may carry a misheard word. Every timestamp above opens the video at that second: one tap and you can hear him say it. Quote it as speech, and link to the moment.