His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah welcomed the guests at the commencement of the ceremony, stating that the efforts of scholars in linguistic academies and their coming together in Sharjah are an immense benefit for the service of the Arabic language. His Highness expressed his gratitude and admiration for individuals who have made scholarly and academic contributions in domains relevant to the Arabic language.
The work of these centres, which represent a genuine renaissance in the Arab world and serve as hubs for intellectual and cultural exchange, needs to be sustained, according to His Highness. "We must revive this language and its literary canon, including poetry, stories, novels, and other genres, to restore the momentum and revive this legacy once again," he said. And with the efforts of honourable people and scholars, we have begun to do so," he said, adding that centres for Arabic culture, language, and related fields like Arab theatre, poetry, and literature, among others, are already in development. He concluded by stating that "I take the Arabic language seriously, and I do not consider it on the sidelines of life because it is part of our faith, and every Muslim must learn and speak the Arabic language."
In his speech, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah highlighted how the award will provide the specialised Arab library with diverse, high-quality research on a wide range of subjects that were previously inaccessible. Helping scholars publish their extensive findings and make them accessible to readers through various channels is an important requirement, His Highness emphasised, as it would help both Arabic language enthusiasts and researchers.
His Highness extended his congratulations to the deserving recipients of the six-annual awards, praising their efforts and enthusiasm for enhancing the Arabic library's scholarly collection.
"Applied Linguistics and Teaching Arabic to Speakers of Other Languages" by Dr Muhammad Mawlay Abu Bakr Ismaili took first place in the linguistic studies category, while "Concerns with Teaching Arabic to Non-Native Speakers" by Dr Muhammad Al-Subhi Omar Baazawi took second place in the category "Studies that dealt with learning the Arabic language and teaching it to native and non-native speakers."
Dr Maytham Muhammad Ali won the first place award in the "Creating a Linguistic Dictionary: Researching and Composing" category of lexical studies for his five-part work, "Abu Al-Ala’s Dictionary of Al-Fusul Wa Al-Ghayat" (Paragraphs and Periods). Dr Mahmoud Al-Ashiri, Dr Abdul Ati Hawari, and Dr Muhammad Al-Badrishini won the second-place award for their co-authorship of the book "Audio Linguistic Corpus."
Dr Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Al-Asmi, director general of the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS), talked at the event and lauded His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah for his visionary leadership and the positive impact he has had on the cultural and knowledge sectors, especially in regard to the Arabic language.
The Sharjah Award for Linguistic and Lexical Studies has helped to encourage scholars to achieve even greater success, as Al-Asimi pointed out, and the sponsorship and honouring of geniuses and scholars who excel in the Arabic language also helps to develop efforts to disseminate the language and conduct studies on it. Al-Asimi discussed Sharjah's efforts in many fields related to the Arabic language. The coordinator of the award, Dr. Abdul Fattah Al-Hajmari, spoke on behalf of the jury to describe the advantages of the award to the field of Arabic language and literature. The ceremony, which takes place on December 18—International Arabic Language Day—has helped elevate the award to a prominent position among Arab and international accolades.
Your Highness, Ruler of Sharjah, you have shown great generosity towards the Arabic language and its preservation, and you have often affirmed Arabic's superiority over all others, according to the award's coordinator. Every nation has benefited from it, and it has grown in prominence because it recites the Holy Qur'an, declares the call to prayer, opens and concludes prayers, and contains works from all areas of knowledge, including the arts, sciences, and history.
According to Al-Hajmari, the purpose of the award is to encourage academic work on the Arabic language within a respectable and productive framework, and it has helped to spark a new wave of interest in the subject, which has led to more research into the language's linguistic and lexical features.
A few examples of past award themes include: the Arabic language in relation to contemporary linguistic theories; the historical dictionary of the Arabic language; Arabic linguistics and discourse analysis; and, in addition to the Arabic dictionary, modern techniques, styles, and stylistics in analysing Qur'anic discourse.
At the end of his address, Al-Hajmari thanked His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah for his considerable interest in this award, which has broadened its reach to all Islamic and Arab nations. He praised the worthy recipients of the award and said that it has inspired linguists and academics to work harder in their fields and to advance ideas related to Arabic language and thought.
On behalf of the other awardees, Dr Maytham Muhammad Ali thanked His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah for supporting scholars and encouraging them to do research. The participants were delighted to receive the recognition and noted that the event would serve as an incentive to conduct even more research in Arabic, a field that is undergoing a scholarly renaissance thanks to Sharjah's initiatives.
The Arabic Language Award has become a haven for linguistic researchers, who eagerly await the award each year to take part and learn about its two new themes, and he lauded the award's qualitative contribution to the Arabic library for encouraging them to write in various precise branches of knowledge within this rich and fertile field.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, following the award ceremony, had a commemorative photo with the awardees, the award's Board of Trustees, and the Scientific Committee.
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