Editing Languages of Pakistan (section)

== Other languages ==
=== Arabic ===
Arabic is used as a religious language by Muslims. The [[Quran]], [[Sunnah]], [[Hadith]] and [[Muslim]] theology is taught in Arabic with [[Urdu language|Urdu]] translation. Arabic is taught as a religious language in mosques, schools, colleges, universities and [[Madrasah|madrassah]]s. A majority of Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of Arabic as part of their religious education. However, Pakistanis do not speak Arabic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rahman |first=Tariq |date=1997 |title=Language and Ethnicity in Pakistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2645700 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=37 |issue=9 |pages=833–839 |doi=10.2307/2645700 |jstor=2645700 |issn=0004-4687|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Arabic is mentioned in the [[constitution of Pakistan]]. It declares in article 31 No. 2 that "The State shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan (a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and [[Islamic studies|Islamiat]] compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language ..."<ref>[[Constitution of Pakistan]]: [https://pakistanconstitutionlaw.com/article-31-islamic-way-of-life ''Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 - Article: 31 Islamic way of life''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826122333/https://pakistanconstitutionlaw.com/article-31-islamic-way-of-life/ |date=26 August 2018 }}, 1973, retrieved 28 July 2018</ref>

The National Education Policy 2017 declares in article 3.7.4 that: "Arabic as compulsory part will be integrated in Islamiyat from Middle to Higher Secondary level to enable the students to understand the Holy Quran." Furthermore, it specifies in article 3.7.6: "Arabic as elective subject shall be offered properly at Secondary and Higher Secondary level with Arabic literature and grammar in its course to enable the learners to have command in the language." This law is also valid for private schools as it defines in article 3.7.12: "The curriculum in Islamiyat, Arabic and Moral Education of public sector will be adopted by the private institutions to make uniformity in the society."<ref>[[Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training]]: [http://www.moent.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/National%20Educaiton%20Policy%202017.pdf ''National Education Policy 2017''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110160637/http://www.moent.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/National%20Educaiton%20Policy%202017.pdf |date=10 January 2020 }}, p. 25, retrieved 28 July 2018</ref>

=== Persian ===
{{Main|Persian language in South Asia}}
{{See also|Persian and Urdu}}
[[Persian language|Persian]] was the official of the region up until the late 19th century when the English passed several laws to replace it with local languages.   Persian had a long history in the lands of Pakistan and was the cultural language of the erstwhile [[Mughal Empire]], a continuation since the introduction of the language by [[Central Asian]] [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] invaders who migrated into the Indian Subcontinent,<ref name="BennettRamsey2012">{{cite book|author1=Clinton Bennett|author2=Charles M. Ramsey|title=South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation, and Destiny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQJHAQAAQBAJ&q=ghaznavids+brought+persian+to+south+asia&pg=PA18|date=1 March 2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4411-5127-8|page=18}}</ref> and the patronisation of it by the earlier Turko-Persian Delhi Sultanate. Persian was officially abolished as a language of administration with the arrival of the British: in [[Sindh]] in 1843 and in [[Punjab region|Punjab]] in 1849.

Today the eastern [[Dari language|Dari]] dialect of Persian is spoken by refugees from [[Afghanistan]] and a small number of local Balochistani [[Hazaras|Hazara]] community. A larger number of Pakistani Hazaras speak [[Hazaragi language|Hazaragi]] dialect.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://omniglot.com/writing/hazaragi.htm|title=Hazaragi (آزرگی)|website=omniglot.com}}</ref> In the [[Madaklasht]] valley of Chitral, the [[Madaklashti]] dialect of [[Tajik language|Tajik Persian]] is spoken by the descendants of ironmongers from [[Badakhshan]] who settled there in the eighteenth century.

=== Foreign languages ===
{{As of|2017}} some Pakistanis are learning [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] to do business with companies from the People's Republic of [[China]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Shah Meer Baloch |url=https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-pakistanis-keen-to-learn-chinese-language/a-41465711|title=Asia Why are Pakistanis keen to learn Chinese language?|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|date=2017-11-21}}</ref>