The 32nd Sharjah International Book Fair opened last Wednesday, themed ‘For the Love of the Written Word’. The ten-day event is held annually in Sharjah, the third largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven emirates. Part of the aims of the fair is to enrich the Arabic children’s library. It would seem these government-led initiatives within the UAE and Saudi Arabia are finally yielding fruit. Saudi Arabia is down from an illiteracy rate of 60% in 1972 to 4% in 2013. Night schools and adult education schools established in 1984 seem to be paying off; particularly those opened at local mosques and Quranic schools.
Speaking on the occasion, Tamer Said, Business Development Manager at Kalimat Group, commented: “The Sharjah International Book Fair offers an ideal platform for us and publishers from all over the world to exhibit new works to a large number of visitors and guests, including men of letters, intellectuals and critics. The fair also offers an excellent opportunity to meet with children and their families, and listen to their opinions about our publications and the topics covered in children’s stories by our authors.”
The literacy rate in the UAE in 2007 was 91%, albeit, her native population is said to be a minute 20% of its 4.5 million people. In 2008 the UAE government declared Arabic as the official language in all federal establishments.
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Literacy drives often focus on children, yet the highest level of illiteracy in Saudi Arabia, another Arab state, is said to be around the ages of 65, to the rate of 74%. This is positive in that indicates definitive changes in youth education.
On the other hand, a 2008 UN Survey, likely more geographically exhaustive in scope and including illiterate Arabs this time, comes to a far more depressing conclusion:
The average person in the Arab world reads no more than 4 pages a year. Americans read an average of 11 books a year.
UNESCO blames it on so many Arab countries being in conflict or post-conflict zones, leaving their economies and civic resources in tatters. Surveys pointing to the scarcity of book printing in the Arab world also explain why Arabs don't read nearly as much as they could. Further, a decline in the popular and practical use of written Arabic factors.
These could be some of the reasons literate Arabs aren't voracious readers. However, it is culturally understandable when we consider that pre-Islamic Arabia, though legendary as a literature base, focused primarily on oral tradition. If this is considered we realise that elders who had no idea how to actually read could have been huffadh of the Qur’an.
“The cultured classes of many an ancient Babylonian city were of the Arabian race, springing from the intermarriage of the desert conquerors with the defeated valley folk. Yet in their own homeland the Arabs were among the last of Asiatic people to develop written literature. We come down almost to the time of Nabi Muhammad (SAW), the sixth century after Christ, before we find any written books among them.
That the Arabs were slow in creating written literature was due to their peculiar mode of life. The art of words was highly honoured among the most ancient Arab tribes, but to these dwellers amid the desert silence, the art was one of spoken, not of written words. It was an art of polished and sarcastic oratory or of passionately chanted verse. The Arab prided himself upon three virtues: his generosity to those whom he accepted as his friends, his skill in the arts of war—that is, his handling of his horse and weapons—and, lastly, his mastery of his language. When a new poet of unusual merit appeared in any tribe, a festival of rejoicing was held; and the other tribes sent envoys to congratulate the fortunate folk upon the honour and happiness that the gods had sent them.
That a people who so valued the arts of speech should have studied them for thousands of years without developing them into written forms is one of the striking oddities of literary history. Yet the causes of this oddity are obvious. The greater part of the vast Arabian Peninsula is so barren that its people had to keep ever on the move to find enough green food for the animals upon which they depended for their own existence. They had no place for the storing of books and the preservation of libraries.
Hence Arabic literature in the written form, the only form in which it can be permanently preserved, did not begin until the sixth century CE, the century just before Mohammed [pbuh]. During this period there were several tribal poets so valued, that the idea was formed of honouring them by hanging copies of their best poems in the chief religious shrine of Arabia, the building called the Kaa’ba at Makkah. Arabic literature, which we know today, is said to begin with these "hanged" poems. The beautiful Mu’allaqat, The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, the poems that were hung on or in the Ka'ba at Mecca were considered the earliest written records of the best pre-Islamic poetry.” [Adapted Text]
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Closer to home, as a result of educational deprivation in the past, there are currently 4.7 million adults in South Africa who never went to school and are totally illiterate. A further 4.9 million adults are functionally illiterate (as they left school before grade 7). While we often moan about the injustices of the past and become despondent with regards our progress in this field, it may be a good idea to look towards the growing success of the Arabs in this regard. Perseverance is paramount.
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Tips on creating and maintaining a culture of reading:
1. Positive Reinforcement.
First they need to be taught to read, and assessed to see if they know how to read. Set rewards for reading. Some kids may be motivated by a sticker on the chart, while others may need the promise of a more tangible prize, like a trip a pool, beach or or zoo to catch their attention.”
2. Surround your kids with reading material that interests them.
For example, if your kids have a fascination with dinosaurs, let them read, or at least pretend to read, their favourite prehistoric tale. If they're interested in the story, they'll be more inclined to push themselves when they stumble upon the parts they don't already know.
3. Children follow your lead.
Make time for some reading of your own, so children can see the benefit, joy and pleasure it gives you.
4. Help your kids realise that reading pertains to more than just books.
Therefore, encourage them to read everything they can, including comics, game directions, cereal boxes and kid-friendly websites. "Even having them go online and search for things—it's still reading. It's still having them comprehend and synthesize the information from what they've read.”
5. Read aloud – family time
Ta’lim time from any religious book is a perfect opportunity. It bonds parents and their children and gives them a common learning experience to discuss, let alone expand on the very first word that was revealed: IQ’ra.
Radio Islam Programming
2013.11.10
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