Manama: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, deputy premier and interior minister has told all government and private agencies to use the Hijri (Islamic) calendar and Arabic language in official dealings.
Arabic should also be to used to communicate, mainly in companies and hotels, Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, said, local daily Al Sharq reported yesterday.
The decision was taken after the authorities noticed a violation of the royal orders governing the use of the Hijri calendar and Arabic language, and the massive use of English in the receptions of hotels and companies, the daily said.
The use of the Islamic calendar will help preserve the history of Islam while the use of Arabic will reinforce pride about the country’s national language, the crown prince reportedly said.
The Gregorian calendar could be used whenever needed, on the condition that it is associated with the corresponding Hijri date.
Saudis have often stressed the robust link between the Hijri calendar and the Arabic language with the status of their country in the Arab and Islamic world.
Reacting to the report, Thamer Bin Mohammad, a blogger, said that Saudis had a moral duty to “preserve and protect the Arabic language.”
“Arabic should not be replaced by English or any other language in Saudi Arabia,” he wrote. “We have started to feel like strangers in our won land, especially with the tsunami of foreigners who resort to marginalising Arabic in local and foreign companies and in hotels. They even try to impose their language at the university as part of a long-term plan to make the Saudi market wide open for foreigners and limit competition from Saudi nationals,” he wrote.
A deep penetration of foreign language in the Saudi society will also marginalise its religion and culture, he said.
