Conversations with the bedouin and ansar: An analysis of rasulullah’s communication strategy

Abstract

The speech act theory examines spoken words or the performative nature of words. Such language bears the attributes of performative utterances, which express a particular communication strategy of the Prophet. This article presents comparative analysis of Prophet Muhammad conversation with the Bedouin and the Ansar. The sample of Rasulullah’s speech, taken from Sahih Bukhari, was analyzed. The aim of this article is to understand the Prophet’s sayings based on the speech-act categories presented by John Searle to see how they function within the conversation. The prophet illocutionary force of an utterance is examined to discover themes in communication style towards both groups. Analyses show that Rasulullah’s communication strategy based on speech-act theory with the Bedouin is in the form of a directive but performed as an indirect speech act. The use of indirect speech acts, including figurative language by the prophet, could be linked to the intention to be polite. The conversation with the Ansar in contrast is more direct with expressive illocutionary force. These differences in the Prophet approches could be attributed to their level of understanding and their willingness to accept the teachings of Islam. The Bedouin people are seen to have little or no knowledge of Islam and the level of acceptance of Islamic teachings among them could be regarded as very low. The Ansar, in contrast, have pledged their allegiance with the Messenger of Allah which showed their willingness and desire to accept Islam.