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The prophet, peace be upon him, prayed in his native language which he can easily understand. Also there is a hadith that states you should take a breath between surahs while saying prayer and I think it is so that you can understand what you are saying. What other reason could it be? Praying in Arabic does not accomplish these things.

Is there really nothing that specifically talks about praying in Arabic, so that I feel that it is the right thing to do?

I am a "man of understanding" and do not accept someone else's interpretation when the reasoning is not clear or sensible. It is not sensible to pray in a language that you cannot understand. period.

Interestingly, the Bible has no quote of the prophet Jesus saying "Worship me". Seems the same lesson/trial/test to me. Though Id rather mess up prayers than break the first commandment :)

For sure I am not praying in Arabic if there is nothing specifically saying this in the Quran or Hadith. Thank you for the answer(s). Praise God that he has made Islam a clear religion, and truly it is a mercy upon us full of blessings and peace of mind.

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  • When Quraan was revealed, it was revealed in Arabic. And it's never accurate when translated to another language due to the vast, strong, and precise arabic terms/vocabulary which is one of the main reasons for misconceptions from non arabic speaking people. And since the muslim prayer is mainly reading Quraan, it is said in arabic.
    – Abdelrahman Ragab
    Jan 19, 2016 at 23:16
  • @azam That question's answer does not answer this question. He did ask for Quran and Hadith references but did not get any, and his accepted answer or any of them does not address this question.
    – user13203
    Jan 22, 2016 at 1:39
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    And given that the accepted answer here also doesn't contain any Quran or Hadith references (which was your explicit reason for rejecting the proposed duplicate) it is really not clear what exactly you're looking for here.
    – goldPseudo ♦
    Jan 23, 2016 at 0:52
  • @goldPseudo The answer was no so there are no references
    – user13203
    Jan 23, 2016 at 0:53
  • @goldPseudo You see the first line in the answer? Thats the only line I care about and answers my question.
    – user13203
    Jan 23, 2016 at 0:54

1 Answer 1

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Yes there is nothing in the Quran and Hadith about praying in Arabic only.

But We imitate Prophet as the method of Sala'h is not defined in Quran

The reasons for praying only in Arabic are below

  • To avoid adulteration/misinterpretations. as all the Surat/ayah we recite in prayer are from Quran and GOD has reveled Quran in Arabic so why change them.it is better to learn basic Arabic.
  • To maintain standardization for e.g. you are visiting some other place where different language is spoken then how you will join them in jamaa't as you don't want to pray in language other than your own.So there must be one standard language of prayer so that we can pray in any part of the world. and as Quran is reveled in Arabic its better to keep Arabic as that standard language of prayer.

For more elaborate answer click here

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  • Nice answer. specifically as an interesting point (from my view) as you remarked "But We imitate Prophet as the method of Sala'h is not defined in Quran"
    – اللهم صل علی محمد و آل محمد
    Jan 20, 2016 at 10:42
  • Can you put this answer in other similar/duplicate questions?
    – user13203
    Jan 20, 2016 at 12:37
  • @الشیخنمر_____المرحومالمظلوم I dont understand why the muslim layman is stuck on forcing people to practice Islam in very specific ways. Think about this. The method of salat is in Hadith but nothing about Arabic is there. What is the point of hiding that fact? To force something to be sunnah or halal to appeal to your personal feelings? Isnt it interesting that he listed "reasons" without stating that it is obligatory?
    – user13203
    Jan 21, 2016 at 1:28
  • @Jonson, Firstly: thanks for caring … ______ Secondly: … they try to guide to doing Islamic practices such as the Islam asks us, not to show it easily (easier than what it wants…). Otherwise, Islam would declare: Do the practices whatever you’d like… _______ Actually, it can be a sort of hard exercise to make the Muslims as complete submission persons in front of Islam. It can be a kind of discipline and being absolute submission in the face of Islam as it say … _____ On the other hand, (I assume) it could increase the unity between the Muslims as well (by doing the same prayer ….)
    – اللهم صل علی محمد و آل محمد
    Jan 22, 2016 at 15:48
  • I.e. : (I as an Iranian person who speaks Farsi (Persian) (or even many of non-English countries), whenever go to the Doctor: The Dr writes the my pills in English in the prescription, but I don’t ask him why don’t you write it in my language?! I don’t say that because I trust him that what he is doing is true and he knows better than me …
    – اللهم صل علی محمد و آل محمد
    Jan 22, 2016 at 15:48