Lisan al-Dawat
| Lisaan ud-Da'wat il-'Alaviyah | |
|---|---|
| Lisan al-dawat | |
| لسان الدعوۃ العلویۃ | |
"Lisaan ud Da'wat il 'Alaviyah" in the Arabic script
|
|
| Region | Western India, Gujarat |
| Arabic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Lisaan ud-Da'wat (Arabic: لسان الدعوة, Lisan ud-Dawat, "language of the Dawat") is the language of the Taiyebi Bohras of Gujarat, an Ismaili Shia Muslim community. It is a dialect of the Gujarati language, but incorporates a heavy amount of Arabic, Urdu, and Persian vocabulary and is written in the Arabic script. Originally a ritual language, since the period of 41st Da'i e Mutlaq Saiyedna Jivabhai Fakhruddin from 1330 AH in Vadodara it has also been propagated as the vernacular language for members of the Alavi Bohras, but the version used by the Saiyedna and his assembly members or clergy still little bit differs from the Gujarati spoken by other community members.
Some key works in Lisan al-Dawat are the translations of the Literary Master-pieces of Isma'ili Literature written during the reign of Fatimids in Egypt, its summaries and admonitions in poetic forms written by 41st Da'i e Mutlaq Saiyedna Jivabhai Fakhruddin. Some of the nasihats recited regularly by Alavi Bohras are "Aye Mumino socho zara, duniyaa che aa daar e fanaa" (O faithful, you think that this world is going to end) and "Khazaano ilm no mushkil-kushaa ni itrat che" (The treasure of knowledge is the progeny of Ali, the legatee of Mohammad Rasoolullaah).
Many in the community look upon Lisan al-Dawat as a bridge for their Gujarati community to Arabic.
The Alavi Bohra community are people who believes in Shi’a Isma’ili doctrine, beliefs and tenets. The 18th Faatemi Imaam Maulaana Mustansir Billah (478 AH/1094 AD), from the Aal-progeny Mohammad ul-Mustafa, was holding the seat of the Faatemi Empire in Egypt. He was acting as the sole authority of the Shi’a Isma’ili branch of Islam. In his era, Maulaai Ahmad مولائي احمد, on his royal decree, arrived at the coast of Gujarat (Khambhat) along with the group of traders. His responsibility was to spread the Message of the Divine Way of Life as prescribed by the Shi’i Islam in guise of doing trade. At that time Sidhraj Jaysingh was ruling there in Patan-Sidhpur, and the Isma’ili community was already residing in Gujarat, albeit they were very few in numbers. Many such representatives of Faatemi Imaam were also present in Yemen. Every Isma’ili preacher who came to India after Maulaai Ahmad, either from Egypt or from Yemen, had Arabic as his basic and main language. With the help of Gujarati Isma’ili traders they gradually learnt the local native language to propagate the teachings of the Divine Religion and its doctrines. It also happened that, in order to learn more about their religious teachings, many people from Gujarat migrated to the Da’i (representative of Imaam of Egypt) in Yemen. This took place in 10th century AH/16th century AD. This is the beginning where basic Arabic language of Faatemi Mission got mixed up with the local Gujarati language and it gave birth to a complete new form of language which got more correlative, complex and comprehensive with the passing time.
...
Wikipedia