My journey with Arabic Language.

Assalamoalaikumm

Welcome to another blog on writings by Rabeea Sangani.

Before I begin, I should confess that this shall be one of the dearest writings to me, that I have ever done or will do. And before these words are written here, they have remained with me and experienced all that they will express today. They have thrived under my thoughts, or perhaps, my thoughts have thrived on them.

With the grace of Allah, its been a few years now since I have gotten the opportunity to be a student of the blessed language of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Every proceeding day, I admire this language a little more and with every new step, I unfold another page of my ignorance.

Without any further ado, let’s cut to chase.

I grew up listening to my father praying for me to learn Arabic. I never took it seriously. All my struggles were dedicated to my worldly education. I used to exhaust myself with hours of reading and writing during my O’and A’levels. It is not reminiscent of any hurtful memories. However it does, often, make me a little regretful. I regret the time, I did not give to Islamic knowledge. I regret the time I did not give to Arabic. Today, I speak English better than I do Arabic. Though, it could have been the other way round. Hence this blog is for people younger than me to save themselves from this remorse. It is for people older than me who haven’t regretted yet.

It was only a few years ago, when my heart began to feel an irresistible inclination towards learning the Arabic language. Ever since, nothing is the same.

When a person learns Arabic, he realizes, what he has been missing out on most of his life. Arabic, if learned for conversation, can be one of the most joyful experiences. It is like solving a puzzle, fitting different categories of words into different contexts and sentence constructions, and joining the dots to create a sensible piece of data. Unlike various languages, Arabic stands out as a very phonetically consistent language, to the extent that even the exceptions to certain rulings have been explicitly and categorically mentioned in books. .

One of the most honorable Arab scholars, while speaking on the importance of the Arabic language, made us practice the following.

Let us do some reflective work. Think of a hadith in Arabic. Read it in Arabic without any translation. Now just imagine that these are the words that were said by the best person on Earth. They have not been changed to another language. They have not been adjusted to some other phonetics. They are Prophet Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم words. Now imagine, you repeated this piece of speech using the same words as him. You repeated it the way companions  رضي الله عنهم had quoted it. Isn’t that enough of satisfaction. Isn’t that enough of a reason to learn Arabic.

If repeating the beautiful words of Prophet can be so comforting, what feeling would it be to have portion of understanding.

As Muslims, Arabic is more than just a mode of communication. We honor this language for it being the language of our deen. But as they say, real knowledge is what makes you realize that you are ignorant. One thing that I have learned throughout my journey is that the vastness of the Arabic language and its eloquence is one of the reasons you should not be reading the Quran and sunnah yourself, but under expert scholars and with authentic exegeses (Tafseer). Ever since, I began at excelling in Arabic, I do not articulate opinions and thoughts about any ayah of the Quran unless I have read authentic Tafseer of it. But even then, the understanding of any verse of the Quran or any hadith, in Arabic, is undeniably another form of learning than it is in translations. No matter how great the translation is, it may not capture the essence of Arabic.

You must have heard, with language comes the culture. As soon as you dedicate your time to Arabic, you realize that you are also understanding the context of Arabs and their culture. You begin to recognize the circumstances and the backdrop of the Prophetic era and prior to that. This assists in the understanding of our religion.

As of my personal experiences, Arabic has been life-changing. For many reasons, of course, but mainly because it has given me access to a whole new library. Enriching life with a whole new arena of knowledge, Arabic just keeps on teaching me all that I am ignorant about and all that I could have stayed unaware about, had it not been for it.

The one and only purpose of this blog is to invite all of you a step closer to this language. I hereby beseech all my readers to not continue scrolling without having given this blog a thought. Life is short. The time is ending. Make sure, 10 years later, you are not regretting that you did not give it a shot.

If you do not, support people who can. Be a part of the good cause one way or the other.

Islam has, and will survive without us. We although, will be destroyed without it.

Now, I would like to share the few things I have done to assist this passion of mine. Firstly, Alhumdulillah, my Darse Nizami course includes Arabic language under the guidance of expert teachers, which may not be an option in various other institutes. Secondly, with unwavering support from my family, I was able to enroll into a specialization course which was considerably helpful. YouTube and the bayans of shuyookh have been huge pillars to rely on. (but be careful of who you are listening to).  And, most importantly, there is still a long way to go.

In all this while, with infinite blessings from, Allah, I have gained considerable command at speaking which has also been a cause of motivation  for people around me. So when you learn Arabic and inspire people around you, it will be a sadaqah-e-jariyah inshAllah. May Allah add barakah to it.

Those are all the steps that have facilitated my journey.

Almost, 4 years ago, I and my brothers co-founded an academy named as ’international Islamic Academy’. Through this platform, I have gotten chances to conduct one-on-one and batch courses for beginners and intermediate level Arabic.

If any of my sisters is reading this and is sincerely interested in learning Arabic, but is doubtful or looking out for assistance, I personally and whole-heartedly invite you to share your concerns. We shall try to help in all our capacities. Also, if you wish to start with us, international Islamic academy warmly welcomes you.

Let us end our blog with the wisdom-filled saying of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم:

أحب العرب من قلبك

رواه الحاكم في المستدرك