Islamisasi Bahasa Melayu dan pengaruh tradisi keilmuan Islam dalam kitab 'Pengetahuan Bahasa' oleh Raja Ali Haji (1808-1873)

Abstract

The contribution of Islam towards languages is immense. So much so, that it has produced several influential linguistic traditions of the world. However, the discourse on the influence of Islam on the foundational worldview and the framework of the linguistic tradition is not widely discussed. Historically, Islam has played a major role in the development of the Arabic language, and also other Islamic languages, such as the Malay language. Therefore, this thesis conducts a content research on the worldview and the framework in the work of Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa by Raja Ali Haji (d. 1873M), a Malay scholar of the 19th century. This research is based on descriptive method, relying on the primary and secondary literatures, which explain the process of Islamization of languages that changed the foundational worldview of Arabic and Malay languages. This research also elaborates in detail the general framework of Islamic scientific tradition, which is based on tafsir-ta’wil rooted from al-Qur’an. Through the literature study, a brief history of the specific framework of Arabic and Malay linguistic traditions was summarised. Next, the content analysis of Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa was conducted, to determine the underlying worldview and framework used by the author. The research concludes that the process of Islamization of language has a major role in uplifting Arabic to become the first Islamic language and establishing a monumental Arabic linguistic tradition, which in turn influenced the Malay language. The Islamization of the Malay language continues to occur through the introduction of key Arabic-Islamic terms and the shift of meanings and concepts of the available Malay key terms based on the worldview of Islam. Following its Islamization the Malay language was then influenced by the framework of Islamic scientific tradition, which is based on the tafsir-ta’wil method, as demonstrated in the works of Malay scholars starting from the 15th century onwards. Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa is a testament to the undergoing process of Islamization of the Malay language and the influence of the framework of the Islamic tradition. This can be seen from Raja Ali Haji’s detailed definitions of the seven key terms of the worldview of Islam, his interpretation of the Malay words from the Islamic traditional branches of knowledge, and his usage of Arabic grammar to systematise Malay grammar.