İslamiyet Öncesi Dönemde Araplarda Salika

Saliqa is an Arabic term that means “inherence” and is used often among learners of the Arabic language, who will say, “He speaks Arabic by saliqa.” The prevailing belief about the concept of saliqa in the classical Arabic language involves proficient usage and natural production of the classical Arabic language where speakers do not understand the characteristics of their speeches. Arabs still spoke Arabic by saliqa during the Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic) and early Islamic eras. Long ago, the Arabic tongue was pure and had no place for defects or linguistic mistakes; Arabs spoke their language correctly without knowing any of the rules that would be developed later to guide pronunciation. Those rules would be used once Islam spread and Arabs mixed with other nations by those who were not fluent in Arabic in order to correct their tongue, and this led to the spread of errors and distortions in the language. By examining the Arabic concept of saliqa and its use by ancient and modern Arab speakers, some questions emerge that need answers and many clarifications. What is saliqa? Is it a mysterious or magical matter confined to the Arab race, and if not, how does it occur? Can saliqa be gained by learning grammar rules and practicing? What is the evidence for the existence of saliqa? What is the reason for its corruption? Does a saliqi [someone who speaks Arabic by inherence] make mistakes? Does the ancient and modern linguistic conceptualization of saliqa apply to dialects or just to the classical language? In other words, does an Arab’s saliqa occur in regard to classical Arabic or to the local dialect used in one’s daily life with family and the society in which one lives? Was classical Arabic the only language for all Arabs in the time of classical Arabic when the Qur’an was revealed, after which grammarians set rules for it? Or if not and the Arabic language was a group of dialects, then was linguistic saliqa also a group of saliqas? These questions and inquiries arose in my mind while working on this issue. I hope to succeed in answering them in this research.