Intensive Arabic Courses

As the language in which the sacred Quran was revealed, and in which the majority of Islamic scholarship is conducted, Arabic occupies a very special and beloved position in the very soul of the Ummah. It is both the language in which we pray to our Creator and the gateway to the knowledge that enables us to properly fulfill our duties as Muslims. Thus it is a great honor that The Toronto Shariah Program is blessed to re-offer in 2006 a six month “Arabic Intensive Program” in the sciences related to the Arabic language using a classical approach emphasizing Sarf (Arabic Morphology) and Nahw (Arabic Syntax), with a view towards further study using source materials in their original Arabic.

Target Audience

Although anybody is welcome to join, the intensive nature and timeframe are particularly aimed at university and high-school graduates who have not yet committed themselves to full-time work, and wish to take this opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the Arabic language via a methodology used by scholars for centuries. The general goal is to get the students up to the level where they can begin study of classical texts in their original Arabic with a qualified teacher. In particular, students finishing this program should be able to join the regular Shariah Program that commenced in January for brothers and sisters.

Arabic Course Content and Methodology

The majority of the time will be spent on Tajweed, Nahw and Sarf, with a small (20%) component comprising of selected chapters from Imam al-Quduri's Mukhtasar in Hanafi Fiqh. The teaching methodology emphasizes class participation and oral recitation of what is learnt in order to truly master the matter and ensure that nobody falls behind.

In the advanced stages of the program, having taken the students through three of the five levels of Syid Abul Hasan Ali an-Nadwi’s ‘Stories of the Prophets’, students will have the opportunity to read and decipher certain classical Arabic texts in their original Arabic. Needless to say, ALL the concepts discussed in the grammar and morphology lessons will be thoroughly reinforced through the medium of these reading sessions. In addition to this, many principles of ‘balaagha’ will be introduced at the basic level.

Materials covered include:

Nahw (Arabic Grammar)

• The 3 types of words: Ism, Fi'il, Harf and their sub-categories
• Very clear introduction to grammatical states
• The 4 cases (Raf', Nasb, Jarr, Jazm)
• Jumla Ismiyyah and Jumla Fi'liyyah
• Declinable and Indeclinable (Mu'rab and Mabni) nouns and verbs
• The 22 positions of nouns in a sentence
• Sentence analysis ('Irab)
• The governing agents and their effects
• 16 types of Mu'rab nouns and their 9 methods of reflection.
• Nawaasikh al-Ibtidaa (agents which cancel the Ismiyyah sentence such as:
• Kaana and its sisters
• Inna and its sisters
• The 'Laa' of class negation
• The absolute noun (maf'ool mutlaq)
• The vocative (al-Munada)

Sarf (Arabic Morphology)

• Verb conjugation: Past (Maadi), Present/Future (Mudhari') in Jazm, Nasb, Raf', active/passive (Ma'roof/Majhool), Nun of emphasis (heavy/ light), 'Amr and Nahi
• Derived nouns such as:
• the active and passive participles, the noun of instrument, the dharf of place and time and the superlative
• Triliteral verbs (base/ increased), Quadriliteral verbs (base/ increased)
• Irregular verbs (mahmooz, mithal, ajwaf, naqis)
• The 5 regulations that govern the mahmooz
• The 25 rules of weak letters

Registration

Interested applicants can apply online, click here. Space is very limited and applicants are encouraged to apply immediately.

Once you have submitted the registration form, please send your pre-registration deposit in the form of a cheque or money order ($70 CAD or $55 US) made payable to the Toronto Shariah Program, to the following address:

Toronto Shariah Program
Suite 1018, 43 Thorncliffe Park Drive
Toronto, Ontario, M4H 1J4.
Canada

Fees have been arranged to be at the low end of the scale. ($300 per month for approximately 80 lecture hours) As a result of the current world wide recession it is not appropriate to charge high fees for courses we effectively have a monopoly over, with nobody else offering anything similar. With this in mind the fees have been set to basically cover the administration costs of the course, including the salaries of all the teachers. Students will be asked to pay in 2-month increments of $600.

Upon registering, a pre-registration deposit of $55 US (or $70 CAN) will be required. This amount will later be adjusted into the payment for the first month, when the classes commence.