Learning Arabic

[maryambintjared]

I am currently working with some Arab ladies, and as a result am picking up some Arabic (their dialects are varied, but I gather that most of them are communicating in Egyptian Arabic.) As a result of my exposure to the language I am getting interested in learning it properly, and ideally would like to be able to read the Qu'raan in it's original language. A very generous and helpful charity in the UK have offered to send me a bilingual Qu'raan, and also an English language version for my son (in slightly easier language for a child.)

I've bought myself a book to teach myself modern standard Arabic, and am slowly working through it, and it's helping me more and more communicate with the Arab ladies who are so kind and helpful to me, but I wonder whether I should also purchase a book about Classical Arabic, or should I wait till I'm fluent with spoken Arabic before I tackle the Classical form? I'm about GCSE D grade with my spoken Arabic at the moment, but I've only been studying for less than a month.

Do you have any idea for good websites where I can find grammatical excercises and help with learning Arabic? It's the most challenging language I've ever had to learn, but I find it very beautiful.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

Also, I want to learn two Surahs that I've read in English. The first is the very first chapter of the Qu'raan, and the other one I want to learn I've heard described as the "Throne" suraah... I've also ordered a book about the ninety nine beautiful names, written by a Muslim sister.

Do you have a good website where I can learn the Surahs gradually, and to pronounce them well? And do I have to sing them, or can I say them? I've heard them sung, and they're heart stoppingly beautiful.

[maryambintjared]

Anyone???
:(

[maryambintjared]

Okay, never mind.

[Insaanah]

Peace, Maryam, and welcome to the forum.

It's great to see you're interested in learning Arabic.

At the moment, I'm just going to answer a couple of your questions.

should I wait till I'm fluent with spoken Arabic before I tackle the Classical form?

No need to wait, in my opinion. Classical Arabic will actually help you understand why some things are as they are in spoken Arabic, and also help you to be aware that some colloquial Arabic is actually a corruption from the classical, so learning it will benefit you on all fronts. Most importantly, it will help you understand the Qur'an, whose language is the gold standard in Arabic.

Do you have any idea for good websites where I can find grammatical excercises and help with learning Arabic?

Try this one:

http://www.madinaharabic.com/

It's the website of the famous Madinah Arabic book series that teach classical Arabic, and it starts right from beginners, with transliteration and audio to hear how words should be pronounced, and exercises to do throughout as you progress, to check your understanding and consolidate your learning.

Hope that helps a bit for now, and I will try to answer your other questions at some point inshaa'Allah.

Sorry for the delay in replying.

Peace.

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[the_middle_road]

I am currently working with some Arab ladies, and as a result am picking up some Arabic (their dialects are varied, but I gather that most of them are communicating in Egyptian Arabic.) As a result of my exposure to the language I am getting interested in learning it properly, and ideally would like to be able to read the Qu'raan in it's original language. A very generous and helpful charity in the UK have offered to send me a bilingual Qu'raan, and also an English language version for my son (in slightly easier language for a child.)

I've bought myself a book to teach myself modern standard Arabic, and am slowly working through it, and it's helping me more and more communicate with the Arab ladies who are so kind and helpful to me, but I wonder whether I should also purchase a book about Classical Arabic, or should I wait till I'm fluent with spoken Arabic before I tackle the Classical form? I'm about GCSE D grade with my spoken Arabic at the moment, but I've only been studying for less than a month.

Do you have any idea for good websites where I can find grammatical excercises and help with learning Arabic? It's the most challenging language I've ever had to learn, but I find it very beautiful.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

Also, I want to learn two Surahs that I've read in English. The first is the very first chapter of the Qu'raan, and the other one I want to learn I've heard described as the "Throne" suraah... I've also ordered a book about the ninety nine beautiful names, written by a Muslim sister.

Do you have a good website where I can learn the Surahs gradually, and to pronounce them well? And do I have to sing them, or can I say them? I've heard them sung, and they're heart stoppingly beautiful.

For learning Arabic:

Search for "The Road to Understanding the Revelation"

For learning Qur'an:

quran.com

Search for "Qur'an Explorer"

[maryambintjared]

Thank you both for answering me! I was beginning to think nobody on the forum was interested in replying to me.

Since I last wrote I've been continuing to read the Quraan in translation, and I can't understand why most (well, every) Christian I've ever met says it's not an inspired text. The Surahs have so much in common with the Old Testament... both wisdom literature (the psalms, proverbs, major and minor prophets) and history (reads very much like the Torah in many places.) When you consider that Mohommed (peace be upon him) couldn't read or write, and that he had not heard the biblical scriptures at the time the revelation started coming to him, you realise how incredible it is that there are these commonalities. I've come to the conclusion that Mohommed (peace be upon him) was in fact a prophet of God. I know that he wasn't a perfect man, but he never claimed to be, and despite what you read in the Western press, I believe he was primarily a man of peace. I've been reading a very good book by a sympathetic Western author, Karen Armstrong, and have downloaded some Islamic sources which I'm also looking at.

[Ghazalah]

I know that he wasn't a perfect man

Not to derail the thread, but the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) was perfect. Read up on the incident when Angel Jibreel opened up his chest. There's an Arabic book that comes to mind, I can give you the details so not only will you learn something new, but learn/test your Arabic, :D WahYaSay?

[maryambintjared]

Yes please, I would love to read it.

Apologies for saying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not perfect. I thought he was imperfect based on the Qur'aan, but looking at the Surah again it seems I misinterpreted the verse. I understood Surah 93.7 to mean that Allah had found the Prophet (peace be upon him) "erring" and guided him, but other translations and explanations I've read say "did I not find thee unaware and guided you." There is obviously a difference between "unaware" and "erring." This is why I need to learn Arabic!

I still find it very hard to believe that anyone was perfect, but I know that Allah can perfect whoever He wishes. When Jesus (peace be upon him) was called "good teacher" in the gospels, he turned to the man and said, "why do you call me good? Who is good but God alone." Later he said, "the Lord our God, the Lord is One." I find it hard to believe that any human being is good compared to God, to Allah. Which is why I thought the Prophet, peace be upon him, was imperfect. I didn't mean any disrespect.

I'm sure that someone can explain this to my satisfaction, I'm interested in learning more. And yes, I'd like to check out that book.

Where can I start a new thread about the perfection of Allah, and how He cleanses His servants?

[maryambintjared]

Ah! I think I understand... the angel Jibreel was sent by Allah to cleanse the Prophet (peace be upon him) and perfect him for his future mission? I know the Prophet was the most righteous man of his time... it was Allah who made him perfect. Is that right?

I need a new thread! I've thoroughly derailed this one!

[Ghazalah]

The Prophet made mistakes, but he was sinless. In that sense he was perfect. :)

[maryambintjared]

That answer clears things up... I've got to get my head around Islam's freedom from the idea of "original sin", or the heavy idea that one little sin separates you from Allah forever. In Christianity I've had it drummed into my head for decades that the smallest of sins separates you eternally from God. It always seemed that there was little hope for anyone to be saved. Islam seems to have a completely different attitude to the subject. A mistake is not necessarily a sin, and God can forgive us our sins, without needing an intermediary to intercede for us, because God loves us, and is all merciful and compassionate.

Thank you.

[Insaanah]

Assalaamu alaikum Maryam, and all praise be to Allah who guided you to Islam.

Do you have a good website where I can learn the Surahs gradually, and to pronounce them well?

I found this one, where it has the Arabic text, and each verse is highlighted as it is played (it is recited quite fast though), along with transliteration and translation. You can pause after each word if you like, and do this as many times as you need to for repetition, though when you replay it starts from the beginning of the verse again.

http://www.mounthira.com/

These ones have transliteration only (no Arabic text), but are very slow and lots of repetition if this easier for you. They contain the very first chapter of the Qur'an, Surah al-Fatiha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rywokB1vtOc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oL-w3HriEs

And do I have to sing them, or can I say them?

At this stage, concentrate on learning, pronouncing and remembering, but yes Muslims should try to recite them as beautifully as they can.

[maryambintjared]

Thank you!!!