In his article, "Petro-Linguistics: The Emerging Nexus Between Oil, English, and Islam," Karmani (2015) deems oil wealth in the region of the Arabian Gulf a magnet for further Western linguistic, religious, and economic imperialism. He draws parallels between the capital-intensive approach on which oil-rich rentier systems are based and the preference in the area to export native English language instructors rather than invest in local language experts. While this prejudice in the job market is a Western economic win, the West—according to Karmani—harvests further advantages from the seemingly epidemic spread of English in the Arab Gulf States; most prominent of which is the dissipation of the Arabic language and—thus—of Islam. Therefore, with the blessings of Western powers, more secular schools, universities, and colleges that intensively incorporate English are mushrooming in the area.
I see the writer's point about the skewed hierarchy between native speakers and local language experts in the job market, yet such a prejudice is equally evident in many other second language teaching settings—no matter the language that is being taught. I also see why some researchers would raise a red flag when a pedagogical institution inadequately teaches Arabic or Islam, but so is the case if English is not taught well enough to help students survive a globalized world. Most importantly, the genesis of the problem in this article is the underlying assumption of predation—the obsessive illusion of a lingo/religio-conspiracy that similarly permeates many Muslim Arab communities as well. Indeed, to test the validity of this assumption of predation, questions like the following can be helpful: Is English exclusively Western anymore? Is Islam inherently Arabic? Are we talking Islam or Islamic extremism and can English curb the latter? Can't English and Arabic co-exist?
Is English Exclusively Western Anymore?
Throughout history, people in the periphery tended to converge linguistically to those in the center. However I think that English—in particular—is starting to increasingly lose such a centric connotation. Indonesians, Indians, Arabs, Israelis, and other nonnative English speakers (whose number exceeds that of native speakers according to ethnologue.com) speak this global language with their respective voices and accents and even enrich it with their linguistic innovations: they are being their own centers. Canagarajah's world Englishes and other terms describing this gradual, yet steady decentralization that is stripping English from its Western exclusivity and, thus, of the suggested imperialistic connotations are gaining wide precedence in the literature of linguistics and applied linguistics. Therefore, when children are taught a lot of English in school, we could deconstruct the assumption of predation and rather think of English as a neutral international code of communication that will help those children go on with their professional life later on.
Is Islam Inherently Arabic?
The ghost of English prowling around the fortress of the Arabic language has been haunting speakers of Arabic for quite a long time, especially due to the ideological weight that is typically given to the latter as the language of Islam. Karmen's argument builds on this ideological association: more English means less Arabic and, eventually, less Islam. However, the presumption of an inherent relationship between Arabic and the Islam, in my opinion, is another deconstruction-worthy point. Most of Muslims are not Arabs: according to Pew Research Center, two thirds of Muslims are from the Asia-Pacific Region, where languages other than Arabic are dominant.
Indeed, not only do the prolific translations of Islamic literature dissolve the claimed the exclusive bond between Islam and Arabic, but so do the hereditary nature of the religion: more of non-Arabic speaking Muslim parents pass the spirits of the texts to their children in everyday interactions without necessarily delving into the archaic Arabic texts or the Arabic language itself. Furthermore, after the advent of modernity, the intellectual growth in the Islamic world calls for a hermeneutic approach that takes a step-back from the specificities of linguistic literalism when dealing with Islamic religious texts—and rather moves towards considering the Islamic literature as a whole and preserving its general language-less moral spirit.
More significantly, forging an exclusive connection between the Arabic language and Islam is in itself of an imperialistic nature: it is an act of disowning Coptic, Christian, Jewish, Atheist, and Agnostic native Arab communities who have the right to the language as much as any Muslim Arab does.
Are We Talking Islam or Extremism? And Can English Curb Islamic Extremism?
Interestingly, except for four mentions of the "War on Terror" (p. 87,99 , 100), Karmani throughout his article keeps referring to the ultimate enemy that English is to defeat as Islam, rather than Islamic extremism: "opting for 'more English and less Islam.'" These loose references pose the question of whether the writer is confusing or equating Islam with Islamic extremism.
However, if Karmani actually intends to point out English as a means of fighting Islamic extremism (rather than Islam as a whole), this is still a straw man argument. For one thing, one might contend that English can be an eye-opener that helps people connect with other cultures, and thus develop tolerance. Nonetheless, this result is not always guaranteed. In fact, many terrorists, whether Muslims or not, spoke fluent English (e.g., Adam Yahiye).
Actually, the spread of English in areas where Arabic used to be the only language might very well amplify the sense of the "other," of the myth of an "invader" to stand up against, and thus aggravate tendencies towards terrorism. Besides, studies show that structural factors in a society, including the chance to receive secular education (which would typically entail extensive English training), is never a sure predictor of whether someone will or won't fall for extremism (Banihashimi, 2016, p. 3).
Can't English and Arabic Co-exist?
After the deconstructing the relationship between English and imperialism, between Arabic and Islam, and between secular education and the prevention of Islamic extremism, I think that it would be more appropriate to adopt a translanguagage attitude towards the spread of English in the Arabian Gulf Region and in among Arabs in general: one socially named language does not naturally push away another—they are all equal communication devices.
Many assume that the spread of one language naturally leads to the incapacity to keep another, a fear that is fed by clips like this) at 4:09-5:41). In this video, children who are seemingly educated in international schools are unable to complete the simple task of identifying animals in Arabic. However, in this other clip, an Arab child growing in the US shows off his Arabic; his full acquisition has not overtook the capacity to learn Arabic (or practice a religious recitation of Quran—to tie it with Karmani's article). That's because—at the end of the day—if parents care enough to educate their child in both languages, no Western conspiracy can stop that. Both languages end up as parts of the child's skill repertoire, of his/her idiom, and his/her acquisition of a certain named language does not push away another: it's all one toolbox of communication tools
In fact, preserving our individual identities—our ideolects that reflect our experiences—is no less significant that preserving named languages. It is indeed the essential concern and the real way to show reverence to each member of the community—and thus the community as a whole.
Conclusion
Illusionary monsters can seem as real to societies as they would to children—only on a larger scale. As for the illusionary monster of English pushing away Arabic and—thus—Islam in area of the Arabian Gulf. This monster will definitely vanish if we turn on the lights in our heads and question the presumed exclusive relationships between English and the West, Arabic and Islam, English and extremism, and the emphasis of named languages over idiolects.
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