The relationship of Islam and the Qur'an to Arabic involves more than just the use of a language to communicate a divine message. There are a number of factors which set this relationship apart from that which exists between other holy books and the languages in which they appeared, for Arabic has come to be closely associated with Islam, and in this way has acquired a semi-official status. It is implicit that anyone professing Islam cannot ignore the role Arabic plays in his faith. Embracing Islam, therefore, entails exposure to, and familiarity with, the Arabic language. Such familiarity is necessitated by the fact that memorization and recitation of Qur'anic verses in their original language is necessary for the performance of the daily rituals. It has often been the case that a holy book appears in a given language and is then translated into other languages, in which it continues to be read and recited during the performance of rituals, but, in the case of the Qur'an, although it has been translated into many languages, these translations cannot replace the original language as a language of worship, which continues to be Arabic for all Muslims, native speakers and others.
Arabic as a Unifying Factor
Ninety percent of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic as their native language. Yet in daily prayers, when reading the Qur'an, or even in simple conversations with each other, Arabic trips off any Muslim's tongue readily. It may be broken or heavily accented, but most Muslims regardless of their geographical areas make the attempt to speak and understand at least few words of Arabic. Regardless of their linguistic, cultural, and racial differences, Muslims form one community of believers. This community is based on their shared faith in One Almighty God, and the guidance He has sent down to mankind. His final revelation to mankind, the Qur'an, was sent over 1400 years ago in the Arabic language. Arabic thus serves as a common language among this diverse community of believers. Arabic can bring Muslims together. It serves as a unifying factor for different group of Muslims who do not share similar customary.
Arabic as the language of the Divine Message
The Qur’an is the word of Allah; a direct message from Allah to us His creation and Allah chose the Arabic language as the language of this message. Indeed Allah tells us this in the Qur’an emphasising to us that to understand the message in its fuller form one must understand the language:
“Indeed we have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an, in order that you may understand” (Surah Yusuf, Aayah 2)
“And thus we have inspired to you an Arabic Qur’an so that you may warn the mother of towns and all around it” (Surah ash-Shura, 7)
Arabic and the message of the Qur’an cannot be separated and translators throughout the ages have tried to convey to the non-Arabic speaking people the beauty of the meaning of the Qur’an but have always called it ‘The translation of the meaning of the Qur’an’, emphasising the fact that the Qur’an’s direct translation is not possible, because so much of the potency and splendour of the words and their meanings which are inextricably linked to the Arabic language are lost in English or any other language. Indeed to even appreciate the poetic beauty of the Qur’an one needs to have an understanding of Arabic.
1. Read as much of things in Arabic as you can, particularly the Quran. Start by reading books with simple content and write down the new words and underline the words in the book. Try finding the meanings of them and memorize so that when you revise later, you will remember the meaning of the words underlined.
2. Quantity has no meaning when it is done very inconsistently, so read always! Reading increases your vocabulary and ensures mastery over the language.
3. Learn through listening to familiarize yourself with the way Arabic is spoken. Remember, the one taught at school is not the one used in speech!
4. Read and listen to the al-Quran with the attempt to understand. You will understand it better with deeper knowledge of the language.
5. When you have acquired the vocabulary, try talking to Arab to practice your language skill. This will also boost your confidence!
Instant Arabic: How to express 1,000 different ideas with just 100 key words and phrases!
This book is small enough that it can fit in your pocket. It is very practical that it makes it much easier to learn Arabic in an instant!
BBC Phrase Book This Arabic phrase book familiarizes new learners with the phrases used commonly in Arabic language. The content is presented in a simple way to engage the interest of the learners.
Arabic-English Lexicon (Dictionary)
This is the most scholarly dictionary of the Arabic language available. This work is the product of over thirty years of unrelenting labour. It is a work of such unique greatness that, since its first appearance almost 150 years ago, it has remained to this day supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography.
Arabic Verbs and Essentials of Grammar
It is a concise book on verbs and grammar of Arabic language. The explanations are supported by numerous examples to help you master the different concepts.
Arabic For Dummies
Arabic For Dummies presents the language in the classic, laid-back For Dummies style. Taking a relaxed approach to this difficult language, it’s packed
I was very young when I started to learn Arabic. It was a compulsory subject in my school and I have no choice about it. My parents made me learn the language and I can still remember how I always tried to find excuses to skip the Arabic class and the school. Little that I know about the importance of the language during those days. Different people have different intellectual processing. I don’t know why but I am so bad with Arabic even until now. The Arabic teachers were unprofessional. I have to memorise all the vocabulary and grammar even when I have no idea about it. They forced me to understand about what have been taught and whenever I admitted that I could not understand it, they made me stood on the chair. All of these have made me become demoralized and I never bothered to learn and understand Arabic when I was at school.
IIUM however, has different techniques and approaches in teaching Arabic. The professors here are very professional and full of patience in giving instructions and educate us. There are so many workshops held throughout the semester that can enable me to enhance my Arabic skills specifically in reading and writing. Friends here are also very helpful and generous in sharing their knowledge.I no longer regard Arabic as a burden but a language to be continuously learned since it helps me in at least, understanding the literal meaning of Qur’an. There is no word to describe my satisfaction and happiness if I manage to understand some of Arabic words while reciting the Qur'an. I believe that learning Arabic is not just for the sake of passing your exams but is should be taught and learned because it is the most beautiful language,the language of our Prophet and his companions, the language of heaven.
MASTURA MAHTAR
I was a dummy in Arabic. Yes, I could read the Quran quite nice but I never understood the meaning. I had zero vocabulary of Arabic in mind except for the Arabic words which have been absorbed into Malay. I only learned Arabic when I was 19 and IIUM Matriculation was the first place where I began being exposed to the Arabic...
Based on my on-going experience learning Arabic, I found that Arabic has an interesting set of rules which differ from Malay and English. For a dummy like me, of course it was very difficult initially. The most thing I feared was that to compete with the students whose already had a basic in Arabic. I felt really small as compared to them when being in the Arabic classes. I couldn’t understand and respond to what the lecturer said. When the exam was around the corner, I felt like giving up when seeing all the friends whose had had a basic in Arabic performed well in the class. In my mind, I was thinking that this was unfair, putting myself in the same class with those who were already good in Arabic. I thought, I definitely was going to lose. But then I realized, that was a very negative thought that should never came across the mind of IIUM student like me. I should take the challenge. I should prove to myself that I could do good in Arabic.
From that point, I put an extra effort in the Arabic subject. My initial intention was to compete with my friends but later after having through one sem to another sems being in the Islamic environment of IIUM matriculation, I changed because I realized that as a Muslim, learning Arabic is a requirement in order to understand the teaching of the Quran. I began to like this language and I began to pay more attention listening to other students whose native language was Arabic.
I agree with a research that said, the greater difference between the first and the target language, the easier the acquisition of the target language will be. I learned a totally new vocabulary as well new rules and grammar. I believed that people were more aware if they learned something that are totally different from what they already knew. Thus, I found that I had improved in this language from time to time! Undeniably, it was because of my lecturer too. She was the one who was motivating me toward this language. And now I could say that I’m may be not a proficient Arabic speaker, but I am not a dummy anymore. I could understand Arabic and when reading the Quran, I could catch up the words. As my Arabic is still in an on-going process of learning, it is going to improve and improve until I can read a book in Arabic without translation. This is what I promise to myself.
MUNA SAMSUDIN
My first experience learning Arabic was when I was in my first year in matriculation back in 2004. That was my first time learning the language. At first, I was afraid and worried that I cannot get along studying Arabic as one of the course in my study plan. I do not see any relevance of learning the language until I discover that after I learned Arabic, it helped me to have a better understanding in Qur’anic text.
As the first time learner that has zero knowledge about Arabic language, I faced challenges and difficulties to understand the words and the usage. The grammatical structure of Arabic language is complicated as compared to English. Thank God that my lecturer at that time was very good and patience to teach us, especially me. She taught us the easy way to remember the principles and the use of the right word in the right context.
Even now, I am trying hard to put the right word in the right context and I still make the same mistakes. I have forgotten the entire lesson that I have learned during my matriculation day as I have left the lesson for about one and a half year after I entered the main campus. Until now, it is still hard for me to score high in Arabic language course. Lastly, I really hope that I can get a good result in my Arabic course this semester.
LIYANA SUHIMI
I began studying Arabic 4 years ago when I started my matriculation year in Matriculation Center of International Islamic University Malaysia. I remember entering my first Arabic class feeling so worried that I might not be able to cope with the subject. I learned that many of those who enrolled in MCIIUM came from religious school and that they studied Arabic at school before.
The fact did not demotivate me however. i continued studying Arabic trying as best as I could. I was frustrated I only managed to get B+ for Arabic 1 but that did not stop me there. I knew i had to prove to my friends and my parents especially that I could do with Arabic. I wanted to prove to them I could master any language I wanted.
I improved a lot in my second level of Arabic. I could see a big progress in my study. Since then, I set my own goal not to get worse than A- in future Arabic courses. Alhamdulillah, I achieved my goal so far. Now that I'm doing the 6th level of Arabic, the final one, I hope I will pass the subject with flying colours.
Upon receiving this assignment, we were quite worried as none of our group members had experience in creating a blog. The first challenge in completing this assignment was to find a suitable topic or theme for our group’s blog. Dr. Rozina asked us to find a topic that is related to the course in our department. At first, we were not sure about the topic we would like to do, and we chose Language and Brain which is under the area of Psycholinguistics. We have chosen the subtopic of Second Language Acquisition and Dr. Rozina would like us to do on Arabic as it will be interesting. However, we felt that Arabic is not an interesting topic to be discussed on. We have problems in searching for suitable sources that can be put in our blog. We feel quite disappointed at first as we could not find any interesting sources that are related to our topic. We had found one blog on Arabic acquisition but it disappoint us as it only includes the owner’s opinion about learning Arabic, his experiences in Arabic countries, and so on. We feel like giving up doing this theme, and would like to change our topic. But we are worried if Dr. Rozina will not like the idea of changing the topic. We proceed with our theme and try hard to finish it. When we were at the half way of completing this blog, we have made a decision to switch our theme to the field of Varieties of English. We chose to do on Kamtok, and we proceed doing the blog for that topic. We decide to change the topic only on last Saturday, 28th March! And we managed to create our blog in two days though it is not 100% finish. We went to see Dr. Rozina on Monday to propose our new theme, and as we expect, Dr. Rozina was very angry because we did not consult her earlier to change our topic. She said that she will not mad at us if we have consulted her earlier, not 4 days before our presentation. We went back and decided to switch back to our first topic after our second meeting with Dr. Rozina on Tuesday evening. To be frank, we have difficulties in completing this blog as we get stuck with the theme. We were not sure about what to be included in the blog and how to make this topic interesting. After we met Dr. Rozina and told her our problem, she has suggested us some points to be included and she has changed our perception towards our own theme. Thanks Dr. Rozina and forgive us for not consulted you earlier. We started working on with our first theme right after our consultation. All of us were working on the blog from 8 p.m. until 12 a.m. and continue our work on the following day. We work hard on it as we only have 1 day to finish it before our presentation on Thursday evening! We kept in mind that Dr. Rozina advised us not to be ambitious to compete with other groups’ blog after all problems we encountered. In the process of making this assignment, various problems occurred. The BIG problem we encountered was time constraint. Considering the workload that we are carrying this semester, this assignment is quite challenging as it is time consuming.We could not manage to gather as a group since four of us have been carrying 22cdt hours in this semester. However, the journey of making this blog is remarkable as we treasured challenges, obstacles together as a group. We have gone through the process of trial and error, and explored everything to familiarize us with the process of creating this blog. We have struggled to distribute time, sacrificing our time and energy as we have commitment to other courses’ classes and assignments as well. In addition, the creating of this blog has taught us to be cooperative and be more responsible towards our own work. We learned to be tolerate and considerate to each other and attend to other people’s opinion. This task had also challenged us on our patience and spirit of teamwork. Without patience from all group members, we do not think that we will manage to complete this task on time. It also teaches us to manage time properly and not to delay work until the very last minute. In brief, it has been a great pleasure to do this assignment as it exposed us to the wide application of technology in language learning. We are proud of our blog even though it is not at par with other groups’ blog considering the problems that we faced and the workload that we are carrying this semester. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Rozina for assisting us in completing this assignment, and for the time she sacrifices to attend to our problems in completing the blog. BIG apologise from us for what has happened. We admit our mistakes and regret it.
This website is designed to promote the beauty and usage of Arabic language as well as to attract more learners of Arabic as a second or foreign language.We have chosen this theme because Arabic is very significant to Muslims and it is closely related to us, IIUM students.
