non-Arabs? They now form the majority of mankind, whether they live in Arab lands and speak Arabic or are non-Arab in either respect.

In language as well people fall into three groups:

• A group who speak Arabic in both wording and accent;

• A group who pronounce its words but without the native accent. These are the “Arabized,” those who did not learn the language directly from Arabs but were accustomed to another tongue and later acquired Arabic—such as most scholars who have studied it;

• A group who speak it only rarely.

Within the last two groups, some have Arabic predominating, others a foreign tongue, and in some the two stand equal—either because of ability or out of habit.

Since Arabic can thus be divided with respect to lineage, language, and homeland, the rulings vary in accordance with these distinctions, especially lineage and language.

Thus the prohibition of taking charity for the Banū Hāshim and their entitlement to a share of the khums is affirmed for them by virtue of lineage, even if their speech has become non-Arabic.

Conversely, the rulings tied to the Arabic language and to Arab traits apply to whoever possesses them, even if his origin is Persian, and they are lifted from whoever lacks them, even if his descent is Hāshimī.

What matters here is that the prohibition I cited against imitating non-Arabs is to be measured by the practice of the first generation of Islam—the earliest pioneers; whatever accords with that