Doha: The activities of the World Arabic Language Day celebration, organised by the Qatari Forum for Authors in cooperation with the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, kicked off on Thursday and will continue until March 1, which coincides with the Arab Day of the Arabic Language.
The events began with a virtual symposium entitled “The Arabic language in the culture of light towards civilized communication,” which witnessed the participation of a number of representatives of regional and international organizations and federations and Arab linguistic academies. The symposium included three sessions, which discussed Unesco’s celebration of the World Arabic Language Day under the theme of “Arabic Language, a bridge between civilisations”.
During the symposium, writer Maryam Yassin Al Hammadi, director of the department of culture and arts at the Ministry of Culture, and Director-General of the Qatari Forum for Authors, underlined the importance of the Arabic language, which is spoken by 400 million inhabitants of the world, and its cultural and religious dimensions.
Al Hammadi emphasised the interest of Qatar in the Arabic language as it was the first Gulf country and the second Arab country to issue a law to protect the Arabic language, which is Law No. 7 of 2019 issued by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to protect the Arabic language and strengthen the state’s efforts to advance the Arabic language, in addition to launching the Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language.
Al Hammadi affirmed the support of the Qatari Ministry of Culture and the Qatari Forum for Authors for all local, Arab and international efforts to protect and promote the Arabic language through a series of activities that will continue until March 1, which coincides with the Arab Day of the Arabic Language.
Acting Secretary-General of the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science Abdullah Khamis Al Kubaisi touched on the importance of the Arabic language and the topics of the symposium, which is held in conjunction with the selection of Doha as the capital of culture in the Islamic world 2021, noting the role of the Arabic language in bringing peoples and civilisations closer together, thanks to the translation that spread during the middle ages and the Islamic eras.
He affirmed the State of Qatar’s keenness to protect the Arabic language and work on its dissemination and use in all transactions within the country.
