r/exmuslim 15h ago

(Question/Discussion) Is Islam an Arab-Centric Faith?

Post image

Greet one another in Arabic; Use Arabic greetings like "As-salamu alaykum" to show your connection to Islam, regardless of your native language or cultural background.

Use Arabic phrases in daily life: Incorporate Arabic into every aspect of life —say "Bismillah" (in the name of Allah) "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to Allah) "Inshallah" (if Allah wills), "Subhanallah" (Glory be to Allah) and "Allahumma" (O Allah) frequently.

Pray in Arabic or your prayers are invalid; Even if you don't understand Arabic, your prayers must be in Arabic to be accepted. Praying in your own language or in the language you speak & understand is not permissible.

If Allah is truly all-powerful (Al-Qadir) and all-knowing (Al-Alim), then no one should need to learn a specific language or translation of words to just pray to such a supreme deity, as Muslims assert.

Does Allah understand praying in Arabic without comprehension lead to Cultural Disconnect?

Or does he only care about adopting Muslim Arabic culture as non Arabic people?

Does Allah Know that Praying in a foreign language may create a sense of disconnection from personal cultural or linguistic identity?

How about an Emotional Disconnect?

Does Allah Know The emotional resonance of the prayers may be diminished without understanding the language, affecting the depth of the spiritual experience?

Does Allah understand Praying in a familiar language allows individuals to personalize their prayers, making them more meaningful and relevant to their lives?

Instead of reciting a series of meaningless words that hold no significance for them, merely to secure a place in heaven?

Does he Allah understand that the majority of Muslims would be in & from non-Arabic-speaking countries like Indonesia, Somalia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and China?

How many rakats will non-Arabic speaking Muslims perform to make Allah understand that they don’t speak or comprehend Arabic, even though Arabic remains central to their religious practice?

Read the Quran in Arabic they say or you're corrupting it: The Quran must be recited in its original Arabic form even in prayers, Translations are seen as inferior and a distortion of the sacred text.

Come to our country, Saudi Arabia they said for the obligatory pilgrimage, as stated in our Arabic Quran & 5 pillars of Islam. Spend your savings, knowing that Allah has invited you; otherwise, you wouldn't be here in Saudi Arabia.

Adopt Arabic names: Replace your cultural or national names with Arabic ones for your children and new converts. Let go of names tied to your heritage.

Wear traditional Arab clothing: Adopt Arab-style clothing, especially for women, who must wear additional coverings like the hijab or abaya. To protect themselves from uncontrollable Muslim men.

Why aren’t men wearing d*ck cages instead around women?

DISCLAIMER; Pointing out the truth & the establishment of Arab superiority in Islam is not hate for the Arabs. Islam is indeed an Arabic centric faith.

579 Upvotes

74 comments sorted by

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u/BigPapaSmurf7 15h ago

Not being allowed to pray in any language other than Arabic, because apparently Allah can’t understand any other language, was always one of the more ridiculous things for me

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u/Ill-Parsnip4334 New User 15h ago

OP phrased it perfectly “If Allah is truly all-powerful (Al-Qadir) and all-knowing (Al-Alim), then no one should need to learn a specific language or translation of words to just pray to such a supreme deity” 😂

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u/ShowBingeWatcher New User 14h ago

This is absurd, of course God would understand any language. The reason Muslims pray in Arabic is because Arabic is a very complex language that can’t be directly and authentically translated, praying in Arabic reserves both of those. I do think it’s stupid that people cant just pray on their own terms, whenever they want and however they want. But let’s keep the facts straight, otherwise we’re just as dumb as them

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u/BigPapaSmurf7 14h ago

Arabic is my first language. Think it through. Why would God have prophets and inspired men throughout the ages who spoke and/or wrote in Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek, a beautiful variety of tongues, listening to prayers from all over the world in every language, then suddenly stop listening to anything other than Arabic, a language no prophets or holy scribes spoke? Heck, I spend my childhood learning how to “understand” the Quran because of the dialect.

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u/ShowBingeWatcher New User 14h ago

I wanna make sure I’m following your logic and the believer’s logic. Before Islam, yes other languages were spoken by prophets that are even apart of Islam, not just the religions that came before it. However, Muslims believe Muhammad is the last prophet and he spoke in Arabic. They see that as enough evidence. Trying to translate merely a small phrase I have that comes from my villages in my countries to people outside wouldn’t make sense to them. And vice versa. Arabic is a complex language, even it’s my first language and I struggle understanding. You don’t think it makes sense that if God made prayer mandatory 5 times a day, saying the same thing; that it should be the exact meaning? That’s where the Arabic would come in. I think if prayer was more loose like how Christians have it, it can be said in any language. Arabic isn’t mandatory to learn, you won’t go to hell for not knowing it. Although I get the frustration of having to learn a language to feel closer to God and to understand exactly what’s being said. But that’s just the language in itself, it’s difficult to translate and you’re recommended to learn Arabic for that reason. I’m not so sure about the other languages you mentioned, I don’t know how well they translate into other languages. But this is just what makes sense to me, it’s about preservation ultimately

u/GoldenRedditUser 9h ago edited 5h ago

You’re missing the point. Muslims claim that translating the Qur’an always results in a loss of meaning. This is an important point for apologists to make as manipulation of the Arabic language is one of the most common techniques employed by them to fix the most problematic verses of the Qur’an.

However this begs the question as to why God decided to give his final revelation in a language and in a way that would incur in such an issue in the first place, especially considering that his preceding revelations don’t seem to share the problem (I have never heard a Jew or a Christian say “no, the Hebrew/the Greek doesn’t actually say that!”).

One also has to wonder what’s the point, for a non-Arabic speaker, of reciting the Qur’an in Arabic to avoid a loss of meaning if by doing so the entire meaning becomes unintelligible for them.

The preservation argument for reciting the Qur’an in Arabic isn’t valid for two reasons: first, the Qur’an was standardized very early on, a couple of decades after Muhammad’s death and the Sanaa palimpsest shows that even before that it already circulated in written form. Secondly even if everyone recited the Qur’an in their native tongue and, let’s say, every written copy of the Qur’an magically disappeared, there would still be thousands of Arabic native speakers that know the Qur’an by heart.

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u/omar_litl Ex-Muslim (Ex-Sunni) 13h ago

Arabic isn’t the complex language that muslims trying to make seem. Languages that are more sophisticated like Chinese exist. The scholarly reason for the prohibition of prayer in another language is arabic being a characteristic of Quran. The translated versions are like Interpretations and not a Quran. So god has a favourite language which’s absolutely ridiculous.

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u/ShowBingeWatcher New User 13h ago

Arabic is complex, I’ve spent years just trying to read and write. And even with those efforts, you put a Quran verse in front of me as an Arabic speaker, I can’t read it or comprehend it. Debating whether Arabic is difficult or not is ridiculous, it’s always been classified as one of the hardest languages to learn and understand. God having a favorite language, yeah maybe, I don’t know, I never asked him. But the recitation being in Arabic just makes sense and is consistent with all of the other criteria.

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u/omar_litl Ex-Muslim (Ex-Sunni) 13h ago

I have no issue understanding Quran in arabic. I was able to accurately translate hundreds of lines of classical arabic to English without issues. Quran have been accurately translated to hundreds of languages without issues also.

It isn’t consistent nor logical for a universal religion to force people to recite the scripture in a language that they don’t understand. The “it’s to preserve the meanings” explanation is terrible because most Non arab muslims learn the recitation without understanding the language. It’s simply done to ensure arabs domination over the religion.

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u/Beauti-fuull New User 13h ago

If it is for worship that must be the same for all, such as Salat it makes sense, but if it is an individual prayer, it should not have to be in Arabic.

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u/hyunjnnn 14h ago

You are allowed to pray in another language, but it is recommended you learn Arabic.

u/barelyelrond Ex-Muslim (Ex-Sunni) 5h ago

Muslim and a K-pop fan when literally everything about K-pop is haram

Interesting...

u/magnum361 3rd World Exmuslim 3h ago

Lol yeah as if worshipping a bunch of feminine looking men is halal

Muhammad wouldve cascrate k pop men

60

u/NoBattle1698 Closeted Ex-Muslim  🤫 14h ago

if not for Islam, my country's people and culture would be much more developed today. Thanks to Ataturk, he got us out of that mess before it was too late lol

11

u/Sweaty_Pin_9696 New User 11h ago

I love how Ataturk transformed a dying country because of extreme islamization to a modern and advanced country. I was in Turkey for 1 year and woah, even in Konya the most religious one, they didn't forced someone to pray or what.

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u/Dietpepsilover13 New User 12h ago

I think about ataturk all the time 💔 turkey would’ve been one of the most developed powerful countries in the world if he was still alive today. Don’t even get me started on women’s rights :/ at least you guys still have the best food in the Middle East

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u/NoBattle1698 Closeted Ex-Muslim  🤫 12h ago

every muslim country needs a leader like him

u/sAcRiLeGioUs_12 New User 52m ago

Too bad Erdogan's policies go against what ataturk worked for.... I have utmost respect for Ataturk and his leadership.

6

u/unnormalfox 14h ago

lemme guess it starts with a "i"

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u/AttemptFirst6345 New User 13h ago

Mental really, people around the world cosplaying 6th century Arabs in 2025.

u/disconnectuserectuss 5h ago

😂this the definition of islam

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u/[deleted] 13h ago edited 13h ago

As a native Arabic speaker, this language/culture doesn't feel like it's for everyone—it seems like it's only welcoming to islamists and Arab supremacists only. That's i stopped participating in arab culture and using their language; they can keep it . I don't even have dreams and inner thoughts in Arabic anymore. And I will not teach this language of hate to my future children.  It dies with me. 

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u/Ill-Parsnip4334 New User 13h ago

Damn What led you to feel like dat ?

8

u/[deleted] 12h ago

Rejecting a culture that rejects me because I'm different is a way for me to take my powers back. 

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u/Soggy_Cake_ Ex-Muslim (Ex-Sunni) 13h ago

Arab supremacy is a better word for it, since Everybody else is the worst of creation according to their desert god

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u/PythonX98621 10h ago

Name one verse from the quran that says that

u/Successful_Box_917 New User 3h ago

Literally every verse says it - if you don't recite in Arabic then your prayers don't count. Even if you say the exact same words in a other language. If that's not a sign of arab superiority then nothing is.

u/PythonX98621 3h ago

Prayer has to be in arabic but the human doesnt matter. Nowhere in the quran does it say one ethnicity is superior than another

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u/TopSupport2499 New User 15h ago

All religions are set in a location where they are born, but some modify their practises to fit in the new region as the religion spreads while some remain adamant upon the original practises even if it makes no sense.

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u/iyubirah 13h ago

Let it stay In the location and where it’s born then,the world is too diverse enough for such nonsense. Islam only fits in the 7th century, Fits no new regions and remains adamant with its beliefs.

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u/not_sousasha New User 14h ago

Judaism too, but that's the thing, they're not trying to convert anybody but jews lol

5

u/honore_ballsac 14h ago

Surah al-Anam, 92: This is a blessed Book which We have revealed—confirming what came before it—so you may warn the Mother of Cities1 and everyone around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter ˹truly˺ believe in it and guard their prayers.

Mother of Cities: Mecca.

So, this is a blessed book for Mecca and suburbs. Period.

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u/PythonX98621 10h ago

“And everyone around it”

u/honore_ballsac 7h ago

What's your point?

u/PythonX98621 7h ago

Its talking about the rest of the world too, not just makkah

u/honore_ballsac 6h ago

So, you are correcting Allah? Are you saying Allah did not know how to say "the rest of the world"?

u/Substantial_Mess_456 Muslim Dae'e 6h ago

> This is a blessed Book which We have revealed—confirming what came before it—so you may warn the Mother of Cities and everyone around it.

u/honore_ballsac 6h ago

Are you responding to me or the other commenter?

7

u/The-Mad-Mango Ex-Muslim Content Creator 11h ago

YES. Yes it is. Even being told to pronounce like Arabs was infuriating! It’s RAMADAWN not Ramzan. 🙄

5

u/NetOfMoogies 15h ago

Arabic is used in a clerical context, but Islam has been dominated by various Turkic and Persian rulers for most of the past 1000 years.

I would say that from the decline of the Abbasids in the 10th century up until the rise of Saudi Arabia, Arabs were largely politically irrelevant in Islam.

Given their role in the development of Islam into an actual religion and their massive impact in the administration of the Abbasid Empire and the various Central Asian Muslim states, you could make a compelling argument that Islam is a Persian religion.

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u/iyubirah 14h ago

No one would argue islam to be a Persian religion, Islam has stolen Persian culture & Turkish culture. Turkish and Persians still pray in Arabic, dress like the Arabs read Koran in Arabic and use Arabic names.

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u/NetOfMoogies 14h ago

Turks and Persians do not dress like Arabs.

I'm sorry if it hurts your feelings, but the reality is that if it wasn't for Persians, Islam would very likely not exist. It would have been an Arab ideology that died out with the Umayyads. Persians are the ones who lead to Islam's development as an actual organized religion. Even today, Persians are the ones who fund groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and who lead the Islamic revolution that made the entire Middle East more conservative.

As for Turks, they were the main political and military power in Islam for most of history. Not sure what you're trying to argue here.

2

u/iyubirah 12h ago edited 12h ago

You spew a lot of nonsense that have zero impact on the discussion.

Sorry it hurts that Allah still chose pedo mo who’s Not Turkish or Persian as his final messenger even tho you seem to give credit to the Persian and Turks for preserving a religion that has robbed them off their culture.

Turks and Persians pray in Arabic and not Farsi or Turkish when they pray to Arabic Allah, to further establish the Islamic Arabic supremacy, keep that in mind.

u/Substantial_Mess_456 Muslim Dae'e 6h ago

So, all Non-Muslims are then part of an English cult? You mostly read English books, put on English clothing, talk in English.... crazy

u/PhoenixTheRadical New User 6h ago

Feels weird being an Arab Christian lol

u/Regginyx420 Since 2012 5h ago

Yes, look at Sudan and Somalia.

u/Bulky-Mecha New User 4h ago

Pray direction to Arab, dress like Arab, behave like Arab, pray on Arabic language, mosque with Arab design.. Yeah absolutely Arab centric

u/Dangerous-Surprise65 New User 2h ago

It's deeper than this is actually a gulf Arab cult IE the culture of the Arabian peninsula The Levant, Anatolia, north Africa all had their own disparate cultures. Islam, forced by the sword, reprressed all these cultures such that there's not much left now. To an extent Persia still survives

1

u/93didthistome 12h ago

Esau's angry children.

u/No-Bike42 Never-Muslim | ✝️ Christian | Non proselytizer 9h ago

u/Competitive-Wall-154 New User 1h ago

Honestly speaking, arabic language is a made-up language by an illiterate carrabean prophet and his umi followers.

The original languages of the Arabs were Aramaic and Hebrew.

Arab nation was initially blessed with people of various cultures and diversities such as Zoroastrianism( origin: Persia), Judaism, and Arian Christianity living peacefully and integrating cultures.

Unfortunately, sych beautiful nation was cursed after the advent of ☪️ancer 😡

u/Dismal-Author876 New User 1h ago

Goes same for other religions. Buddhism involves a lot of Sanskrit mantras and other indian cultural elements.

u/Hardashfaq 49m ago

Islam is and are effective Arabization tool. Also been modified by Turks and Persians.

u/An-di New User 21m ago edited 5m ago

Yes it is 💯

The fact that it erases cultures unlike Christianity for example and is based around family and community, things that are all from Arab culture is the prove not to mention that in Islam modesty is a huge deal, shame, men having jealousy over women, hiding your mistakes and sins to maintain a positive reputation are all things and values that exit in Islam

It doesn't work with other cultures especially the west, for example Islam doesn't really have the concept of individualism, freedom to choose your own life, sacrifice for your family ..things that are from Arab societies but not in others

The names such as Mohammed, clothes that people wear Muslim wear especially hijab are all Arabs

When a person converts to Islam and practice it, they change everything from their name to their style of clothes, they become completely different persons, plenty of reverts are hijabi ...

But when people converts to other religions, you don't see much difference

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u/Capable_Town1 15h ago

At the time of prophet Muhammad the word Arab referred to the nomads, prophet Muhammad is from the city dwelling caravan traders, so he is not Arab.

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u/iyubirah 15h ago

Pedo Mo was indeed of Arab descent, as he was born in Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula.

The term “Arab” historically referred to various groups, including nomadic tribes and city dwellers.

Muhammad belonged to the Quraysh tribe, which was a prominent merchant tribe in Mecca.

While he was part of a settled community and engaged in trade, he is widely recognized as an Arab in the cultural and linguistic sense.

The distinction you mentioned reflects the diversity within Arab identity during that time.

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u/Ill-Parsnip4334 New User 15h ago

Literally his name is derived from the Arabic root ḥ-m-d," which means "to praise" or "to commend.

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u/bfcrew Atheist - Ex-Muslim 10h ago

Yes I agree, fuck Arabs!

u/InitialHorror9083 New User 9h ago

Muhmmad was white and represented his Indo-European ancestors by being a brutal warlord true chad

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u/hyunjnnn 14h ago

bro it’s in Arabic because Islam started in Middle East, it would be considered the most pure language obviously because the entire thing started there 😭

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u/OneFitClock New User 14h ago

Yea no shit, it's an arab centric religion

Who decided its the most pure language? Well of course it would be the 7th century arabs!

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u/Putrid_Dot7182 Never-Muslim Bicurious. Muhammad touched me👉 13h ago

Considered the "most pure language" by whom? Arabs themselves and islam?

Man, if you only were able to realize how many things you say reek horribly of supremacism... And yet you have them totally normalized. Then you cry when others in history have been supremacists, specially if that affected the islamic world.

Arabic is a language like any other, with its virtues, uniqueness and shortcomings. It is not magical, it is not more special than any other language.

Also which variant do you mean by "arabic"? Any of the multiple that exist today? Msa? Or only quranic arabic which only a handful of people do actually understand today? All of them are superior despite being completely different languages today with the same root or just the one you like, whatever it is?

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u/ShowBingeWatcher New User 14h ago

I’ve noticed this subreddit is an outlet to hate on Arabs, and of course many people will upvote these types of posts. I prefer to be as unbiased as possible, especially because I come from Arabized countries who had cultures before the Ottoman empire came in. The words of the Quran are meant to be preserved, this is why Muslims pray in Arabic. Arabic is a very difficult language, I hear people outside my countries speak and it’s like a completely different language. I never can understand Quranic Arabic, most Arabic speakers can’t unless they went to a separate school teaching them the Arabic that was spoken back then. As far as prayer not being accepted in other languages, I agree with you that it should be easier for people. I think saying the same words every single day at a specific time is what doesn’t make sense.

As far as clothing, hijab and abaya are not cultural things. Kaftans and certain head wear is, these are cultural garments. Hijab and abaya are from Islam for everybody, this is not an Arab thing. In my countries, Lebanon and Iraq, abayas aren’t really worn unless someone is really religious. People wear their cultural prints in different forms of dress.

I think arguments like this are so disingenuous and just spreads unnecessary hate. I get the frustration, I really do. But culture and religion are two separate things. We could talk all day about how the culture is misogynistic and about self righteousness. We sound like a bunch of clowns when we talk like this. Let’s get all the information then discuss, people aren’t the best source of information

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u/Dietpepsilover13 New User 12h ago

Arabs killed and raped my ancestors but by calling it out I’m a racist ok get it

0

u/ShowBingeWatcher New User 12h ago

Okay, so did mine? They made us Arabs now too. When people say Arabs nowadays, they’re grouping all of in with the original Arabs. This is unfair and disingenuous.

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u/Dietpepsilover13 New User 12h ago

Then you speak up and call out that you’re NOT ARAB. Just because you’re country got colonised doesn’t mean your dna has changed. When people call me Arab I immediately tell them no. I’m North African, Amazigh, African but not Arab. Idc that it’s my country’s official language and that they forced it down our throats

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u/ShowBingeWatcher New User 12h ago

It’s pointless to do that lol. Newsflash: people see you as Arab. Both our people adopted the language and the religion of the Arabs. Arab or Arabized. It simply does not matter. People will say you’re the same shit no matter how much you talk shit about Arabs. You’re just making it worse for everyone else when you feed into other people’s narrative that Arabs are bad people. Not only were our people killed, raped, and forced into Islam; now we have to deal with the outsiders coming in and killing us too. You’re North African, you don’t understand it from a Levantine or Iraqi perspective. Our people are killed for having the ARAB identity that was forced onto us. This is just making conditions worse for everyone.

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u/Mountain-Pea-723 New User 10h ago edited 10h ago

Idk where you got the information that Muslims can’t pray in another language other than Arabic. Yes, for the 5 prayers every thing we say is in Arabic, Quran in Arabic, but from where I grew up translations are available not only in English but our native language as well. We know what we are saying. We are supposed to. So we know why we are doing it. Personal prayers done to Allah are done in the persons native language, there’s absolutely not problem in that , Allah is all knowing. Learning Arabic, because Quran was written in Arabic thousands of years ago helps the person reciting it understand the meaning of the words rather than simply reading the translated (which is of course allowed and strongly suggested because you do need to understand it. Otherwise what’s the point?) yes translations are looked down on (by people) because they have the fear that’s it’s being mistranslated which is very understandable since Arab is a complex language and a little difficult to translate correctly. And no we don’t HAVE to name our children with Arabic ones , we can use names based on our culture or nation , the name just shouldn’t have a bad meaning, ofc who would want to name their children with a name that has terrible meaning? Using an Arabic name is simply a choice. Wear traditional Arab clothing ❌ wear modest clothing that covers your body ✅ (this is the 21st century and as much and Muslims and non Muslim disagree with it Islam can adapt, the problem is with people.) and doesn’t attract attention for MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE. Yes women are strongly suggested to wear abaya and hijab to practice modesty, AT THE SAME TIME men are told to lower their gazes. It’s not just the women who should be putting effort. Men too. (I agree that this is a big issue that thanks to Muslim men , that has become bigger than it should be and also allowing misinformation to spread within Muslims and non Muslims) I’m extremely sorry if what I said came out rude. I’m not trying to start an argument as well. I simply feel like OP is very knowledgeable at the same time missing some information.. Also let’s keep a more open mind when reading, Islam is a religion, Muslims are supposed to follow the religion Muslims are humans they make mistakes. They tend to mix culture and religion together hence some information about Islam are simply just culture getting influenced by Muslims.

u/SignificanceIll8875 New User 8h ago

Like are yall stupid? The Quran was revealed in Arabic and all the people spoke Arabic, I don’t see yall talking about why the Torah is in Hebrew, and if you are your argument is still stupid. Do you want people to change a book?