'Colonization of the soul': What made a European power fear this language?

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the colonial system started to collapse. Many countries in Asia and Africa gained independence in accordance with the principles of self-determination stated in the UN Charter of 1945 and a UN declaration adopted in 1960. However, decades of dependence on European powers and their policies had significantly altered the destinies of Afro-Asian peoples and disrupted historical processes that had existed prior to the colonial era.

This is particularly evident in Arab-African relations, which thrived throughout the Middle Ages. Arabic language, culture, and traditions had begun spreading on the African continent in the 7th century AD, shortly after the emergence of Islam.

In the 19th century, many European powers, including France, colonized Africa. From the outset, France waged a fierce campaign against Islamic culture and the Arabic language, striving to eliminate it from social and academic life and replace it with French. Colonial administrator Colonel Paul Marty, who served in Tunisia and Morocco and was an expert in the Arabic language, wrote about this in his book Le Maroc de Demain (The Morocco of Tomorrow), published in 1927...<<<Read More>>>...