Sentences R constructed and wrote in Arabic - learning how the ends of words change as a result of grammar in the sentence.
I haven’t posted about Arabic for a while on here. R does Arabic 3 days a week and on those days she only does one other academic subject and her normal daily Quran murajaah and hifdh as I want it to be intense Arabic lessons.
I believe Arabic is very very important for our children. I was at a course a few months ago and the Sheikh was saying that, ‘Non Arabs give up too easily when it comes to learning Quran and Arabic.’ He even went as far as to say ‘Shame on non Arabs who have been Muslim for many years or practising for many years and do not know how to read the Quran’. It hit me hard but it was so true. Alhamdulillah, I can read Quran but my Arabic is very very VERY basic. I can see now how limited my connection with Allah is due to not understanding Arabic. But the least I can do is give that to my children inshaAllah.
Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed us with the advantage of my husband speaking fluent Arabic but anyone who is married to an Arab knows the struggle to get them to speak in Arabic to the children or even to do some Arabic work. I think it would be less of a struggle to do it ourselves!
It pains me when I see sisters give up so easily and choose another language to teach their children instead of the language of the Quran. Why should we give up? There are so many courses, tutors online and in person. This is my opinion – but if we don’t strive and struggle to teach our childen Arabic we are seriously depriving them of a) a true understanding of the Quran – which is a criterion for their life, b) a deeper understanding of their religion.
I know as a nonArab how I struggle to attain khushoo based on the poor translation of what I say in my salah, how I struggle to really relate to the Quran etc. Do I want this for my children? No way!
At the end of the day, everything I teach them whether it is academics, Islamic Studies, hifdh – it is all preparation for them for the next eternal life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Arabic is the be-all and end-all. It isn’t – the many non practising Arabs are proof of that. But what I do hope is that in addition to guiding them to be practising with knowledge of the Arabic language will surely aid them in developing a thorough and deep attachment to Allah’s book and Allah azzawa jaal Himself.
It is a struggle for many – but we shouldn’t give it up. I believe it is one of the rights of our children to learn this language. And just as we struggle in many other areas such as teaching them to read, Math, taking them to swimming classes etc, then so must we exert effort if not more so, in them attaining this wonderful language.
May Allah help us all. Ameen.
Ummi Homeschools Me 
As salaamu alaikum, Great post 🙂 I’m glad I found your blog! I wanted to run something by you, regarding Arabic, that I think you might be interested in. How can I contact you? Or can you send me an email?
Walaikum assalam, Sure you can email me at ummraiyaan@googlemail.com
AS salaam u alaikum,
This is what i`ve been struggling with too. My husband and I don`t know any Arabic and what little i get from translations and tafseer is hardly enough to make that deeper connection with Quran. Even though my children go to an Islamic School but their Arabic if far from where i`d like it to be. You mentioned that there are many resources out there to help u in this endeavor of learning the language. Can you elaborate more on that? Do you have any recommendations, online resources to help with that?Also is there any curriculum you follow when you teach your kids Arabic? My kids are still young at 6 and 5 years old.
JAK for your efforts.
I will do a separate post listing courses available inshaAllah. Hope this helps. x
Assalaamu Alaikum sis
Masha Allaah so nice to see R doing well in Arabic. Allaahu Baarik lahaa, Do you teach her Arabic or you get someone to teach her? We are struggling too but till we find someone we are using resources from the net and learning, now that my daughter is a bit bigger it feels like I have got a companion to learn together and we practice talking together too Innal Hamdalillaah, long way to go ….
Ws, Jzk. I used to teach her Arabic but now my husband teaches her alhamdulillah. And I find myself learning with her too. x
Asalamu Alecum sister Alhamdulliah my husband does teach my children the arabic and Quran side and they read the Quran as this is something we decided we would work on that first before anything else. But now I need to work on my own Arabic and Quran Inshallah.
Tell me about it sis – me too!
Assalamualaykum,
The problem is that it takes years of consistent learning, and that consistency is extremely difficult to obtain. Even families who have lived temporarily in Muslim lands for the purpose of learning Arabic can struggle to continue on returning to the UK and their children do not always end up as fluent speakers. Aren’t the online courses generally aimed at adults?
Not necessarily Umm Rashid. We have to remember that with the tawfeeq of Allah, anything is possible. I know a sister whose husband (european revert) learnt Arabic in 6 months and maintains it to this day despite living in the UK! I have also seen non Arab children who have learnt in the UK have a good level of speaking mashaAllah. We can use the ‘consistency’ argument for many things but if we really think about it just as we are consistent with other subjects, whats the difference. Sometimes we put a ‘block’ when it comes to Arabic but really it is just like anything else. And with Allah’s help it is most definitely possible. A lot of the families I know who struggled to continue on returning to the UK struggled because a) they learn the colloquial Arabic and not fusha, b) they had the idea that going abroad was enough and so didn’t have a back up ‘maintaining Arabic plan’ for when they came back. And no, there are many online courses for children now alhamdulillah. x
Asalaamu alaikum sis,
Interesting post sis and something which has been on my mind for some time! Learning Arabic is so important for us all – and people learn new languages all the time mashAllah – so why do so many of us (Muslims) make learning Arabic seem difficult?
Much of the “arab world” as we know it today, adopted Arabic as their language after accepted Islam subhanAllah!
Abu Hurayah said ” whoever speaks Arabic is an Arab” http://www.salafimanhaj.com/pdf/SalafiManhaj_TheDefinitionofanArab.pdf (go to footnote on page 9 for the full reference)
xx
Jzk for your comment sis. x
Assalam u ‘alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh sister
I don’t comment on your every post cos I mostly read to learn from you, not a mum yet 🙂
But today I just wanted to say that I love you for the sake of Allah swt and I’m proud of mothers like you, alhamdulillah atleast I know some of them online! 🙂 I honestly truly appreciate what you’re doing for your kids and especially how considerate you’re in everything you do. That’s the most important thing. MashaAllah you’re truly incredible. May ALlah swt give you more barakah in your life. aameen
InshaAllah when I have kids, I’d love to teach them Arabic, I’m learning myself too at the moment. InshaALlah I plan to start speaking before having them so I can actually speak with them too, easy to pick that way, otherwise we can always introduce bits n pieces here and there and when they get a bit older we can start something formally.
Also, as some people might worry that we’ll actually forget it if we lose touch, but all we can ‘forget; is spoken Arabic, the classical arabic that helps us to appreciate the Qur’an and Islamic gems will stay in our heart inshaALlah. As long as we stay in touch with salah and Qur’an. Although I know some sisters and their kids who are not arabs and are not living in arab lands but speak arabic fluently between themselves. mashaALlah
Ws, May the One for whom you have loved me love you in return. Ameen. Jzk for your comment sis – some valid points made mashaAllah. x
i couldn’t agree more,, arabic at their prime time to memorize,,
بارك الله في كم في عين ما كنتم
Jzk
As salaamu alaykum,
I was just discussing the struggles with khushoo with my husband – your blog post resonates strongly with me. We’ve enrolled the children in an online course for their Quran and Arabic and they are making fantastic progress, AlhamduLillah. I’m glad because I too wish to avoid the language struggles for them.
So nice to read a comment from you sis. Hope you are well. Did M get R’s letter? Couldn’t agree with you more!
Umm Maryam
Could you kindly post the link for the online Quran and Arabic course that you are using with your children?
JZK
Assalamu alaykum,
This is a post which I truly enjoyed reading. MashaAllah. I purchased Rosetta Stone software 2 months ago and we are all learning with it. After using it for 2-3 days the kids started using simple sentences between themselves.
It is true that there is a blockage when it comes to arabic. I think it comes from the way some arabic speaking people present arabic. Sometimes it is presented as a language which is impossible to learn or be fluent in. I think knowledge of islam in general is often presented to reverts as something which is impossible to attain. This creates blockage and one can find themselves learning with ease anything else but when it comes to Arabic and Deen they would feel discouraged and give up too easily.
It is sad that brothers who speak arabic would not teach their own children. I had the same problem and I thought I am the only one. Anyway, I truly believe that when a non arab mother struggles to find ways to teach her child arabic, quran and Deen in general she will have much bigger reward because of the difficulty. InshaAllah.
I think we should all try to learn arabic and start speaking it at home inshaAllah. I am on the same page sister. You have my big support!
May Allah grand us knowledge of His Deen and Arabic…Amin
Jzk for your comment sis. May Allah make it easy for us all. Ameen.
The Arabic language is the language of the Noble Qur’an, and with it, the Qur’an was revealed upon the seal of the Messengers, so attention to the Arabic language is to have attention to the Book of Allah the Most High and the studying and the practicing of it helps in the understanding of the Noble Book of Allah and the narration of the master of the Prophets, Muhammad (Peace be upon him). It is also the language of our esteemed Islamic law (As-Shari’ah), so when we defend it we are not proceeding on a path of nationalism or racism or culturalism, but in fact we are defending the language of our religion (way of life) and it is the cloak of our Islamic Civilization.
SubhanAllah, jzk for this very strong comment – how true.