As a registered charity, we charge course fees to cover our running costs. However, we aim to make our education accessible to as many people as possible and are therefore able to offer a 65% fee waiver. To make use of this fee waiver, please use the code AMI65 when purchasing your courses.

Students in need of further financial assistance should contact the education team at education@almahdi.edu to enquire about the possibility of further fee waivers. 

 

This level one course is a focused and goal-oriented approach to Arabic, providing a solid foundation in Arabic grammar and language by honing in on vocabulary and texts necessary and useful for the student of Islamic Studies.  Topics covered include: divisions of words into particles/nouns/verbs, different forms of verbs, verb conjugation, learning to use Arabic dictionaries, vocabulary building, simple sentence construction, recognising the position of words in a sentence, categorization and classification of nouns, deciphering new vocabulary, deconstructing unfamiliar texts and familiarisation with Qurʾanic Arabic.

 

Lesson Breakdown

Lesson 1      Introduction, overview of Arabic alphabet and vowel markings (ḥarakāt)

Overview of morphology (ṣarf) and syntax (naḥw) and categorization of the Arabic word (kalima) into a verb (fiʿl), noun (ism) and particle (ḥarf)

Linkages of verbs and nouns through 3 root letters, patterns and scales

Lesson 2      Noun (ism) – categorization and characterization of nouns through gender, number and definiteness

Lesson 3      Case endings: nominative (marfūʿ), accusative (manṣūb) and genitive (majrūr)

Constructing sentences using subject (mubdataʿ) and predicate (khabar)

Adjective (ṣifa) and substantive (mawṣūf)

Forming nominal sentences (jumla ismiyya)

Lesson 4      Particle (ḥarf) and how nouns interact with it

The possessive construct (iḍāfa)

Lesson 5      Verb (fiʿl): their subjects (fāʿil)and direct object (mafʿūl bihi)

The simplest verb

Present tense verbs (al-fiʿl al-mudāriʿ)

Lesson 6      Using the dictionary

                     Verbal nouns (maṣdar)

Lesson 7      Pronoun (ḍamīr)

Conjugating past tense verbs (taṣrīf al-fiʿl al-māḍī)

Conjugating present tense verbs (taṣrīf al-fiʿl al-muḍāriʿ)

Lesson 8      Conjugating present tense verbs (taṣrīf al-fiʿl al-muḍāriʿ)

Combining two verbal sentences together and changes to verb if subject is explicitly mentioned beforehand

Dual nouns (al-asmaʾ al-muthannā)

Lesson 9      Vocabulary building from text

                     Duals nouns - sentence construction

Lesson 10    Sentence construction and sound feminine plural (jamʿ muʿannath sālim)

Lesson 11    Vocabulary building from text

The subjunctive verb (al-muḍāriʿ al-manṣūb)

Lesson 12    Sound masculine plurals (jamʿ mudhakkar sālim) and attached pronouns (al-ḍamīr al-muttaṣil)

Lesson 13    The particles of negation (al-ḥurūf al-nāfiyya)

Form II verbs (al-wazn al-thānī)

Lesson 14    Particles of conjunction (ḥurūf al-ʿaṭf) and practicing Form II verbal sentence structure

Form III verbs (al-wazn al-thālith)

Lesson 15    Form III verbs practice

Subjunctive particles (al-ḥurūf al-nāṣiba)

Form IV verbs (al-wazn al-rābiʿ) and Form V verbs (al-wazn al-khāmis)

Lesson 16    Jussive particles (al-ḥurūf al-jāzima)

Hollow verbs (al-fiʿl al-ajwaf)

Lesson 17    Hollow verbs continued

Commands (al-ʿamr) and prohibitions (al-nahī)

Defective verb (al-fiʿl al-nāqiṣ)

Lesson 18    Diptotes (ghayr al-munṣarif)

Relative and superlatives (ism al-tafḍīl)

Lesson 19    Form VI verbs (al-wazn al-sādis)

Form VII verbs (al-wazn al-sābiʿ)

Form VIII verbs (al-wazn al-thāmin)

Form IX verbs (al-wazn al-tāsiʿ) and Form X verbs (al-wazn al-ʿāshir)

Lesson 20    Diptotes (ghayr al-munṣarif) and their categorization

Lesson 21    Relative and superlatives (ism al-tafḍīl)

Lesson 22    Relative and superlatives continued

Exercise for practicing relative and superlatives

Subjunctive particle inna and its sisters (ḥarf al-naṣb: inna wa akhawātihā)

Lesson 23    Subjunctive particles continued

Exercise practicing relative and superlatives

Lesson 24    Subjunctive particles continued

Kāna and its sisters (kāna wa akhawātihā)

Lesson 25    Kāna and its sisters

Lesson 26    Laysa, sāra and aṣbaḥa

Lesson 27    Noun of connection (al-ism al-mawṣūl) – rules and conditions

Lesson 28    The joining hamza (hamza al-waṣl) and the dividing hamza (hamza al-qaṭʿ)

Lesson 29    Passive verbs (afʿāl al-majhūl)

Lesson 30    Passive verbs with different verb forms

Passive verb sentences in the Qurʿān

Lesson 31    Accusative nouns (mafāʿīl) and circumstantial object (mafʿūl fihi)

Lesson 32    Causal object (mafʿūl li-ajlihi)

Lesson 33    Absolute object (mafʿūl muṭlaq)

Lesson 34    State (ḥāl)

Lesson 35    State continued

 

Hours of Study

38 hours

 

Assessment Methods

Written exams (100%)

 

Course Instructor

Shaykh Muhammad Reza Tajri

Shaykh Muhammad Reza Tajri began his seminary studies at the Ḥawza ʿIlmiyya of London and went on to complete a BA in Islamic Studies at The Islamic College and Middlesex University. He then moved to Damascus to study at the Ḥawza al-Imām al-Khumaynī. Whilst in Damascus, he also studied advanced Arabic at the University of Damascus. Upon returning to the UK, he completed an MA in Islamic Studies at The Islamic College and Middlesex University and a second MA in Islam in Contemporary Britain at Cardiff University. He is currently completing his PhD at Lancaster University where he is researching evolving perceptions of Shīʿī religious authority on British university campuses. A specialist in the Arabic language, he has been a Lecturer in Arabic at the Al-Mahdi Institute since 2015. He is also the Director of both the Centre of Intra-Muslim Studies (CIMS) and the Inter-Religious Symposia Platform (IRS) and is the lead for research into comparative religion at AMI. His research interests revolve around Muslims in the UK and Europe, contemporary Shīʿism and Shīʿī identity, religious authority, and the impact of gender on religion. He has presented his research at numerous conferences across the UK.