Muwatta

Learning Arabic

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

Why Learn Arabic

As Muslims it is vitally important to learn the language of Arabic. First and foremost, most of our worship is performed in Arabic. This includes the five daily prayers, reciting the Qur'an, making dhikr, listening to the Friday sermon, etc. If someone understands Arabic, they will find much more benefit in all of their worship. When you understand the words of the salah, it will become easier to focus and make yourself humble. As a result you will find tranquility and peace when you pray.

The Arabic language was selected by Allah ﷻ to be the language of the Qur'an. It is a language of eloquence and beauty unparalleled by any other language. This is the language of our Noble Prophet ﷺ and his Companions. When we read the Qur'an, we are reading the very same words that our Noble Prophet ﷺ and his Companions would read. The very same words that mesmerized the polytheists of Makkah. Maybe if we could understand the Qur'an, we too could gain from the blessings that the Noble Prophet ﷺ and his Companions received. We too would cry at night when reciting the Qur'an. We too would find our hearts softened. The Qur'an is an ocean of treasures that is waiting for us to dive into. And without learning Arabic we cannot grasp its true beauty or its heavy impact.

As Muslims, we are inheritors of a vast intellectual civilization. Our forefathers were men who loved knowledge and loved books. They penned books on diverse topics like economics, international law, and social welfare. There are libraries filled with books on topics that you've probably never even considered. The vast majority of these works are written in Arabic. Today, English is the common tongue of the world. If someone wants to learn engineering or medicine, they must learn English. Similarly, if one wants to learn the Islamic sciences, read our history, and connect with our intellectual tradition they must learn Arabic.

How to Learn Arabic

My personal recommendation is to start off with the Madinah Arabic books. These are excellent for English speakers, as they start from the very basics and build up slowly.

This channel has lecture playlists for each of the three Madinah Arabic books. The lecturer is fantastic; he explains things in great detail and goes at a slow pace so that everyone can understand. If you're a fast learner, you can speed up the videos.

You would play these videos while following along with the textbook. You can find all of the necessary resources for the lectures here. There's a main textbook that the lectures that go through, a key summarizing the grammatical rules, and a solution to the exercises. Everything is free and publicly available. However, the textbooks are large in size so you might want to get the compressed versions from here instead.

Try to make a start and spend just a few hours every week. You will quickly begin to enjoy it and see its benefits.

Summary