Ibrahim Farooqui (Fawa'id)

A Message from Ustadh Zubair Shahid Ustadh Zubair Shahid studied the Arabic sciences under scholars in the UK, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. In Naḥw, from al-Ājurrūmiyyah and Qaṭr al-Nadā to the Alfiyyah of Ibn Mālik. In Ṣarf, Matn al-Bināʾ and al-Taṣrīf al-ʿIzzī, alongside classical Arabic literature and lexicography. This month, he begins teaching Madinah Book 1 at The Arabic School with a fresh methodology, from someone who has walked the path himself. Watch the video below. The registration link and full details can be found here: https://forms.gle/Hhb5ywjo7s37BfN36 The Arabic School

Progress Update: Dars-e-Nizami Arabic Level 1 (End of Week 5) Alhamdulillah, our Dars-e-Nizami Arabic Level 1 students have now completed five weeks of study and will begin Week 6 on Monday. Their progress in the discipline of Sarf (Arabic morphology) has been steady and well-consolidated through continuous weekly assessment. They began with their first text, The Essential Sarf Baha'i, which they have completed in full. Throughout this text they were supported with prepared notes and assessed each week. Having passed these assessments, they progressed to the next stage of the curriculum. They then moved on to Mizan al-Sarf, and by the end of Week 5 they have covered most of the text. Alongside the detailed lectures, students were provided with a translated, textbook-style edition of Mizan al-Sarf prepared in-house by The Arabic School, Alhamdulillah, to aid their understanding. Weekly assessments have continued throughout this stage. They are now close to completing Mizan al-Sarf and will shortly begin al-Munsha'ib, In Sha Allah. Looking ahead, upon completing al-Munsha'ib the students will progress from Sarf into Nahw (Arabic syntax), beginning with Nahw Mir and continuing forward through the curriculum from there. This is a sincere, structured path through the classical sciences, taught step by step with support at every stage. If you have been intending to begin your journey in classical Arabic, there is no better time than now. Join us and study alongside a committed group of students. Register here: https://forms.gle/sx9i2uHnL7b45v4Q6 To book a consultation, email info@the-arabic-school.com

Learn Arabic Properly. Start with Madinah Book 1. Without Arabic, you are always reading someone else's understanding. With it, the Qurʾān, the Sunnah, and the words of the scholars open before you directly. The Arabic School presents a complete, structured study of Madinah Book 1 with its supplementary companion book. Instructor: Ustadh Zubair Shahid, who studied the Arabic sciences from the Ājurrūmiyyah to the Alfiyyah of Ibn Mālik under scholars in the UK, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. What the course includes: • Complete study of the book, lesson by lesson • Focus on applying grammatical rules • Key vocabulary and sentence structures • Activities, worksheets, and guided notes • Discussion group for your questions • Recordings after every live session • Certificate upon completion Schedule: Every Monday and Wednesday, 7:00pm UK time Duration: 24 to 30 sessions Level: Beginner Fee: 100 USD per month Live on Zoom. Recorded for your review. Taught with patience and rigour. Seats are limited to keep the class engaging and interactive. Register here: https://forms.gle/Hhb5ywjo7s37BfN36 The Arabic School www.the-arabic-school.com

Qurʾān Classes | The Arabic School Reading the Qurʾān correctly is the right of the Book upon every Muslim. Some of us learned as children and never refined it. Others never had the chance. Wherever you stand, there is a path forward. We offer one-to-one Qurʾān instruction, from the Qāʿidah to fluent recitation with Tajwīd essentials. What you get: • Private sessions with an experienced instructor • Structured progression from Qāʿidah to fluency • Clear, practical Tajwīd • Individual correction and pronunciation practice • Flexible pacing and scheduling • Live on Zoom, recorded for review • Certificate upon completion We do not promise shortcuts. We promise sound instruction and steady progress, by the permission of Allah. Register: www.the-arabic-school.com The Arabic School For more details: https://forms.gle/xwwH888KEyx2TRcY7

Alhamdulillah, all praise belongs to Allah alone. Learning Arabic is not a race. It is a path walked step by step, lesson by lesson. Two of our students recently described their journeys, and we share their words as encouragement for anyone who feels their own progress is slow. "Studying al-'Arabiyyah Bayna Yadayk, I have noticed a slow and gradual increase in several skills: my vocabulary, understanding, listening, writing, translation, and speaking skills." Harun Verstaen, Private Lessons "My proficiency in i'rāb was super poor before taking the course. Now, I am more confident and have gained more understanding of the i'rāb of each word and sentence, alhamdulillah." Muhammad Ammar Firdaus, Private Classes in Sharh Miat 'Amil If you are ready to take the first step, whether with the basics or with the classical texts of Naḥw and Ṣarf, we would be honoured to assist you. Message us to learn about our courses and private lessons. The Arabic School

Alhamdulillah, all praise belongs to Allah alone. From time to time, we ask students to share their experiences of studying at The Arabic School. We share a few of them here, not as praise for ourselves, but as encouragement for anyone who is hesitant to begin their journey with the Arabic language. Whatever benefit these students found is from Allah alone. "Before the course, much of the grammar I had learnt was just rules I had memorised blindly. After studying at The Arabic School, I am not only filling the gaps in my knowledge, with countless lightbulb moments when reading the Qur'an, but I am also learning the reasoning behind the rules. It has allowed me to appreciate the language at a much higher level." Jahangir Ahmed, Al-Mutammimat ul-Ajurrumiyyah "I have learned a great amount of grammar, have increased my vocabulary immensely, and would recommend these lessons to anyone interested in learning the Arabic language." Abbas Khan, Private Lessons in Arabic Grammar "Ustadh Ibrahim is an excellent teacher, extremely clear and efficient in his teaching approach. Before starting with Ustadh Ibrahim, I had been learning Arabic online without a teacher. After a year of studying Arabic with Ustadh Ibrahim, I realised I would have needed two or three years of self-study to achieve the same level of understanding of the Arabic language. Since learning Arabic with Ustadh Ibrahim, I am able to read and understand intermediate-level Arabic, speak and write at a slow but consistent pace, listen to intermediate-level content, and translate accurately many verses of the Qur'an and analyse them grammatically. He brings a unique ability to teach the Arabic language to non-native speakers. I highly recommend Ustadh Ibrahim. You will, inshaAllah, go very far with him as your teacher." Asim Succarie, Private Lessons We ask Allah to accept the efforts of our students and to make this language a door to His Book for them and for us. If you wish to begin studying Arabic, whether from the very basics or with the classical texts of grammar and morphology, we would be honoured to assist you. Message us to find out about our courses and private lessons. Contact Details: info@the-arabic-school.com WhatsApp: +92-324-794-0805 For Private Lessons: https://forms.gle/GY8qDRpWyAqLno1v7 The Arabic School

Curriculum, Teacher, Method. We Kept Two and Lost One. The classical Dars e Nizami was not just a curriculum and a teacher. The method of study itself was part of the system. Each lesson passed through three stages. Before the lesson The student went through the portion the teacher would cover. He read it, underlined it, and highlighted the parts he did not understand. He came to class having already engaged with the text. During the lesson The student listened to the teacher with complete focus. In many cases, teachers did not allow note-taking during the lesson. Nothing but attention and understanding. The student kept the book open in front of him, his highlighted portions marked, and followed the explanation until the difficulties were resolved. After the lesson The student reread the portion and checked whether the areas he had highlighted were now clear. Had he understood the text? Had he grasped the concepts? Then came Takrār (تکرار), repetition. Within the study group, one student would re-explain the lesson as the teacher had, while the others listened. Each student would then write his notes, which the teacher would later check. Reading, listening, revising, reproducing. This was the standard method for every lesson, for every text. Some teachers and students follow it, some do not. Some institutes follow it, some do not. But this is the ideal way of studying texts in the Dars e Nizami. For private lessons and group classes at The Arabic School contact us. info@the-arabic-school.com WhatsApp: +923247940805

A common question students ask: where do I get started? For Ṣarf: Matn al-Amthila For Naḥw: al-Ājurrūmiyyah For Balāgha: Taysīr ul-Balāgha For Arabic Vocabulary: Muthallath Quṭrub You can view the details of these courses and a sample lesson for free, via the details below. Matn al-Amthila: https://forms.gle/CzkYUJhrKQvrF1c76 al-Ajurrumiyyah: https://forms.gle/t18dHJk7NArygBqs6 Tayseer ul-Balaghah: https://forms.gle/wqMwTkgaAnhQcX5Q9 Muthallath Qutrub: https://forms.gle/DKFqU3NFZbd8ni8e9

Ṣarf: The Overlooked Engine of the Arabic Language Ask most students of Arabic what they are studying, and they will tell you about Naḥw. Grammar. I’rab. The subject that gets all the attention. But quietly sitting beside it is a discipline that does just as much heavy lifting, often with none of the credit: Ṣarf. Ṣarf is the science of how words are built and transformed. It teaches you to take a single root and conjugate it, shape it, and bend it into dozens of different words. Past tense, present tense, command, the doer, the thing done to, the place, the tool, all of it flows from patterns that Ṣarf hands you like keys. And this is where its real power shows. Once you know the patterns, you are no longer memorising vocabulary one word at a time. You are producing it yourself. Give a student of Ṣarf a root, and they can form the words from it at will. Your vocabulary stops growing by addition and starts growing by multiplication. Consider the division of labour between the two sciences. Naḥw concerns itself mainly with the final letter of a word, the ending that shifts as the word's role in the sentence changes. But everything before that final letter, the entire body of the word, is the domain of Ṣarf. In other words, Naḥw governs the last step, while Ṣarf builds everything that leads up to it. There is something even more beautiful here. The patterns themselves carry meaning. A word on one pattern signals a doer, on another a place, on another an instrument. Learn these patterns, and you gain a quiet superpower. You can meet a word you have never seen before, recognise its shape, and decipher its meaning on the spot. The pattern tells you what the word is doing before you reach for a dictionary. So why is this treasure so often pushed to the side? Many treat Ṣarf as a minor subject, a footnote to grammar, something to skim through on the way to "real" study. That is a mistake. Ṣarf is not a side subject. It is the foundation that makes the rest of the language legible. If you are serious about Arabic, give Ṣarf the seat it deserves. It is the discipline that quietly takes your Arabic to the next level. This is exactly the kind of foundation we build at The Arabic School. Our Dars e Nizami Arabic Level 1 program teaches the language comprehensively in the traditional Darsi style, giving Ṣarf and Naḥw their proper place side by side, so you learn not just to read Arabic but to understand how it is built from the ground up. If you want to study Arabic the way it was meant to be studied, this is where you begin. Enrol in Dars e Nizami Arabic Level 1 with The Arabic School and take your Arabic to the next level. Dars e Nizami - Arabic Level 1: https://forms.gle/7sg4wX46LKsNnoGWA info@the-arabic-school.com Ibrahim A. Farooqui The Arabic School

Alḥamdulillāh! Today I completed the final preparation, editing, and revision of the English translation of Mīzān al-Ṣarf. The translation preserves the classical Arabic iṣṭilāḥāt (technical terminology) from the Taʿrīb of Muḥammad Ṭāhir al-Arkānī, while incorporating the valuable questions and exercises of as-Sayyid ʿAbd al-Rashīd bin Maqṣūd al-Hāshimī. The result, alḥamdulillāh, is a well-structured textbook that presents this classical work in the style of a modern learning resource without sacrificing its traditional character. Originally authored by Sirāj al-Dīn Muḥammad ʿUthmān an-Niẓāmī (d. 758 AH), Mīzān al-Ṣarf has remained one of the foundational texts for students beginning their journey in Arabic morphology. My hope is that this translation will make the work more accessible to English-speaking students while preserving the precision and terminology of the classical tradition. May Allah accept this humble effort, place barakah in it, and make it a means of benefiting students of the Arabic language for years to come. الحمد لله رب العالمين.

Teaching Grammar: Why Eliciting Answers Beats Simply Telling One of the most effective techniques in teaching grammar is also one of the most underused: making students 'think' their way to an answer rather than simply handing them the answer. Let me be clear from the outset. There is nothing wrong with the lecture style. Grammar is, at its heart, a theoretical discipline. A lecture-based class has real value: the teacher can lay out concepts systematically, the student can take notes, and where recordings are available, the student can return to them and revise. This is a perfectly legitimate and beneficial way to deliver the theory. But theory alone does not build skill. For a student to actually develop the ability to apply grammar, something more is needed: activity, engagement, and a steady supply of practical examples drawn from the living language. And one of the simplest, most powerful ways to achieve this in the classroom is to ask relevant questions and elicit responses, rather than telling students what the answer is. An example In an earlier post, I discussed the first skill of teaching grammar: identification. Imagine a teacher working through Ājurrūmiyya (or an equivalent text) with students. They've been given a set of examples, lines from the Qur'an, or lines of poetry, and asked to identify which words are ism, which are fiʿl, and which are ḥarf. Now a student claims that a particular word is an ism. The temptation is to say "correct" and move on. Don't. Instead, ask: Why? Why is it an ism? This single question does two things. It forces the student to connect the theory to the example in front of them, and it shows you, as the teacher, exactly how much of the earlier theoretical discussion the student has truly absorbed. Working it through There are two ways to determine whether a word is an ism, fiʿl, or ḥarf: 1. By way of the technical definitions (the standard definitions found in al-Kāfiya, Hidāyat al-Naḥw, and other grammar texts). 2. By way of the ʿalāmāt, the distinguishing signs unique to each. Suppose the student is looking at al-ḥamdu lillāh and you ask about al-ḥamd. They say it's an ism. Good. Now push further. The complete answer is twofold: First, the definition applies. An ism is a word that denotes a meaning in itself and is not, by its very structure or coinage, tied to a time frame. Al-ḥamd fits this exactly. Second, the signs apply. There's an alif-lām on al-ḥamd. Remove it and you can say ḥamdun with tanwīn; it can also take a kasra, and so on, all signs that mark it as an ism. Why this matters: When a teacher takes a student through this process across several examples, two things happen: First, any lingering doubts in the student's mind are cleared. They stop guessing and start reasoning. Second, the teacher gains certainty, not hope but certainty, that the student has genuinely understood the definitions and the signs, and has learned to apply them successfully. Telling gives a student an answer for today. Eliciting gives them a method for every example they'll ever meet.

The First Skill in Naḥw, and Why It Cannot Be Rushed I like to think of learning Arabic grammar not as a single subject to be absorbed, but as a sequence of distinct skills, each one acquired in order, all of them building toward a single goal: the ability to perform a full إعراب (grammatical analysis) of any line of Arabic, and therefore to read it correctly, with sound vowelling, even when no vowels are written on the page. The very first of these skills, the one we emphasize from the opening pages of الآجرّومية, is deceptively humble: distinguishing between the اسم, the فعل, and the حرف. On the surface this sounds trivial. Surely anyone can look at a word and say this is a noun, this is a verb, this is a particle? But for the beginner and in many cases even intermediate students, it is rarely so simple. Place an unfamiliar line in front of a new student and you quickly see where they stumble, words like إذا, لدى, الذي , إياك and the like, which do not announce their category as plainly as a learner expects. These are precisely the points where hesitation occurs. This is why, before moving an inch further, we have students do extensive practice, drawn from the Noble Qur'an and other examples, in identifying and sorting words into these three categories, applying the distinguishing signs (علامات) of each. The اسم has its markers, the فعل has its own, and the حرف is known by the absence of both. Knowing the definitions is not enough; the student must be able to apply them, on sight, to a text they have never seen. Everything that follows depends on this. The rules of grammar are category-specific: you cannot apply the rule for a noun until you are certain the word in front of you is a noun. A learner who is shaky here will carry that weakness into every later stage of إعراب. So my advice to every teacher working with beginners is this: do not pass over this skill lightly. Teach the definitions of اسم, فعل, and حرف, teach their distinguishing features, and then give your students enough guided practice that the distinction becomes second nature, long before they need it under pressure. Master this first skill properly, and the road ahead opens. Neglect it, and the student struggles needlessly for years. This is exactly the kind of foundational work we move through, step by step, in our study of الآجرّومية. If you want to study Arabic, contact us via our email below: info@the-arabic-school.com If you wish to complete your study of al-Ajurrumiyyah thoroughly: https://forms.gle/bLjAQuFh5wGPVeov6

In recent years, I’ve become convinced that success in Nahw & Sarf has little to do with intelligence or which book is studied. It has a lot to do with studying in the right sequence. Learn the foundations. Master the terminology. Understand the concepts. Then break down the text. Then apply it. Then read… a lot. This is why two students can spend the same number of hours studying Nahw & Sarf, yet after two years one can be in a good position when it comes to reading classical texts while the other is still asking, “Where do I start?” If you want guidance regarding the right sequence and what to study, feel free to contact us, details below. info@the-arabic-school.com

True story: I used to hate Nahw. Even though I had been studying Arabic and Arabic grammar since around third grade, I used to hate the grammar part. Arabic reading, writing, literature, and other aspects of the language—I always enjoyed those. But Nahw? I couldn’t stand it. One of the main reasons was that it simply didn’t make sense to me. Even when I started studying al-Ajurrumiyyah, and many things had begun to fall into place, Nahw was still a subject I just wanted to get through so I could move on to what I considered the “real” sciences: Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Hadith, and Tafsir. I never imagined that one day I would focus on Arabic grammar, let alone teach it. To me, Nahw was like high school mathematics: something I wanted to finish and never look at again. Then came a turning point. I took the advice of a friend and travelled to study with a particular teacher of grammar. By the will and favor of Allah ﷻ, just a few sessions with him completely changed my relationship with the discipline. The interesting thing is that this teacher wasn’t doing anything extraordinary. He simply possessed two qualities that are rarely found together: He had mastered the subject. He knew how to teach it. And that second point is crucial. Knowing a subject is not enough. Teaching is a skill of its own. At the beginning, he would ask me all sorts of complicated questions. Honestly, it bothered me. In my mind I was thinking: “Why are you asking me all these questions? Just tell me what this line in the book means so we can move on.” But those questions were part of his method. Through them, he forced me to think, connect concepts, and engage with the subject in a way I never had before. Slowly, by the grace of Allah ﷻ, the doors of this discipline began to open. Around that same time, I also used to make a lot of du’a in sujud, asking Allah ﷻ to make the study of Nahw and Sarf easy for me. And alhamdulillah, Allah answered. Today, Nahw has become one of the subjects I most enjoy studying and teaching. So if you’re someone who finds Nahw difficult, don’t lose hope. Find a good teacher. Study patiently. Make a lot of du’a to Allah ﷻ. You never know when the doors of the discipline will open for you. Perhaps one day you’ll look back and wonder how you ever found it difficult. If you’d like to begin that journey, try one of our courses such as al-Ajurrumiyyah or Nahw Mir. Or start our Dars e Nizami Arabic Level 1 for just 80 USD a month. The key is not giving up before the doors open. al-Ajurrumiyyah: https://forms.gle/EiKUivLBaTKMNUyGA Nahw Mir: https://forms.gle/3ftrUKrnyZGE5uYv8 DN Arabic Level 1: https://forms.gle/dwr6GfP4TsfC7jQp8

Alḥamdulillāh, the students of our Dars-e-Niẓāmī Arabic Level 1 Program have successfully completed the first module (Week 1 & Week 2) of the program and finished their study of Ṣarf Bahāʾī, the first text in the traditional Dars-e-Niẓāmī curriculum of Arabic morphology (Ṣarf). The students have completed the text and have now received their certificates for this module, alḥamdulillāh. As we enter Week 3, students will begin studying Mīzān al-Ṣarf, the second text traditionally studied in the classical Dars-e-Niẓāmī sequence. This text lays the foundation for mastering Arabic conjugation patterns and understanding how words are formed and derived. One of the distinguishing features of our program is that the classical texts are taught alongside carefully prepared handouts, and supplementary material, helping students bridge the gap between traditional scholarship and modern methods of study while remaining faithful to the original curriculum. May Allah bless our students, increase them in beneficial knowledge, and make this journey a source of benefit for them in this life and the next. 📚 You can still join the Dars-e-Niẓāmī Arabic Level 1 Program. For more details: https://forms.gle/G9VxBvss6mksi83A7 For queries and monthly instalment options, email us: info@the-arabic-school.com

What is Kalam? | Lesson from al-Ajurrumiyyah https://youtu.be/Py8pXQTDei8