The Use of Arabic Language and Its Correlation with Religious Knowledge Understanding among Islamic Studies Students

Proficiency in Arabic is necessary to engage directly with the Qurʾānic, ḥadīth, and traditional legal sources. Many Malaysian students pursuing Islamic Studies, however, lack the necessary skills to comprehend these materials completely. This study examines the connection between the frequency and context of Arabic use and students' perceived understanding and trust in basic religious topics. A composite instrument including the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Cronbach's α = 0.816), the Multilingual Language Use Questionnaire, and the Attitude–Motivation Test Battery was used to administer a cross-sectional survey to 69 Islamic Studies majors at Universiti Teknologi MARA. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were calculated using SPSS. Students reported utilising Arabic for independent note-taking most of the time, but only seldom for spontaneous peer interactions or extracurricular media. The moderate mean scores for real-time lecture comprehension (M = 3.26) and expected examination performance (M = 3.04), despite the relatively strong motivation to develop Arabic abilities (M = 3.77), may indicate a mismatch between affective and cognitive components. Overall engagement was negatively correlated with limited comprehension during lectures, whereas academic Arabic use, particularly when taking notes, was a strong predictor of confidence in receiving excellent grades (r =.74, p <.001). In addition to highlighting fragmented rather than integrated language use as a barrier to deeper understanding, the findings underscore the necessity of communicative, content-based Arabic training that incorporates actual discourse throughout the curriculum.

Islamic Studies, Arabic language usage, Malaysia, language competency, and comprehension of religious information

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