How to Learn Quranic Arabic for Free

The basmala, or dedication to God, is a common phrase in the Qur'an and other Arabic texts.

Knowledge of Arabic language and culture is becoming increasingly important in several industries. The modern forms of Arabic are vital for business and international relations, but Qur'anic Arabic is key to understanding the Qur'an and works of classical Arabic literature. Because reciting from the Qur'an and other classical Arabic texts is essential to required and some optional forms of Islamic worship, many programs and classes are available to help people learn Qur'anic Arabic. Some of these require a fee or tuition, but free programs and classes are available online and at mosques worldwide.

Things You'll Need

• Arabic dictionary

Instructions

1. Select the tools you will use for learning Arabic. You can teach yourself Arabic using an online guide or Arabic dictionary, or inquire about free classes at a nearby mosque.

2. Learn the Arabic alphabet from an Arabic dictionary or online guide. Familiarize yourself with the appearance of the letters as they occur at the beginning, middle and end of words. Learn the shape and position of the diacritical marks, which represent some vowel sounds or double consonant sounds.

3. Test your mastery of letter identification by sounding out Arabic words in the dictionary, online guide or other source of Arabic text.

4. Learn vocabulary words by reading an Arabic dictionary or following the lessons provided by your online guide or instructor at the mosque. Guides are available for free from Sacred Learning or Madinah Arabic.

5. Learn grammar and syntax by reading excerpts of the Qur'an and analyzing the sentence structure and verb tenses, and completing lessons on grammar and syntax offered by your online guide or instructor at the mosque. Test your mastery by reading excerpts of the Qur'an or the Burda, a classical Islamic poem.

Tips & Warnings

• Islamic sermons often have passages in classical and modern standard Arabic. If you are learning both, you can test your knowledge by listening to sermons.

References

• Omniglot: Arabic alphabet, pronunciation and language
• Sacred Learning: Fundamentals of Classical Arabic

Resources

• Madinah Arabic
• Study Qur'an
• Qur'an for Busy People