1. We need to take into account that while Arabic is the language of the Qur'an, it is not the 1st language of a good portion of the ummah.
2. Privileging Arabic ignores that there is not equal access to Arabic language instruction. Middlebury costs $13k.

3. Privileging Arabic centers MENA as the home base for *real* Islam/Muslims. This means a lot of scholars who study Muslims and Islam outside of MENA and have varying degrees of Arabic mastery are viewed as less legitimate in the field, by specialists and non-specialists alike.

4. I sat in on @ProfIRMF AAR presentation on IS job ads (that's the paper I have to read) and she pointed out the role non-specialists play in creating the definition of Islamic Studies specialists. One of the main ways is Arabic.