Islam Creator of the Modern Age
3. Muslim Contribution to Science
~ 118 ~
That human languages have been the object of
superstitions for thousands of years is a matter of
historical record. It was supposed that certain
languages had a divine origin, and that their
speakers enjoyed a special status above others. For
instance, for centuries the Greek language had been
supposed to be superior to other languages, Greek
being the language of the gods, while other
languages were those of barbarians.
The same was the case with Hebrew. In the Jewish-
Christian world it was an age-old belief that
Hebrew was God’s own language and that it was
the first language to be used in the world. Wonderly
and Eugene Nida, who have made a detailed study
of the influences of Christian beliefs on languages,
have made this analysis:
One of the factors, which retarded linguistic
progress, was the belief among early Christian
writers, and persisting well into the
Renaissance era, that all languages were
derived from Hebrew.
55
The concept of ‘divine’ language was wholly a
product of superstitious beliefs, having nothing to
