Arabic Through the Quran

Syllabus

01. The Contingent Universe

Hamza Karamali explains how the Quran uses the contingency (he tells you what this means, too!) of the heavens, the earth, the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, the mountains—everything in the universe—as evidence for the existence of God. Learn the Quranic vocabulary about the contingent universe, use it to make simple Arabic sentences, and make educated guesses about the translations of a variety of Quranic verses that argue for the existence of God.

02. Allah and His Names 

Allah Most High’s names are commonly mentioned in specific combinations at the ends of Quranic verses. Learn the meanings of these names and learn how to infer the rhetorical purpose of a verse from the names that it ends with. Use these names to explore the concept of Arabic roots and morphological patterns and to begin your study of the syntactic structure of simple Arabic sentences. 

03. Belief and Disbelief

Iman (belief) is a shining light. Kufr (disbelief) is “darknesses.” (not just a single darkness, but many darknesses). Hamza Karamali uses this to explore metaphors in the Quran, to learn the difference between sound and broken plurals, to conjugate past-tense verbs, and to understand what it means for Arabic to be an inflected language, all in the thematic context of Quranic verses about iman and kufr. 

04. The Prophet Musa (Upon Him Be Peace)

Study the story of the golden calf in Surat al-Baqara. As you draw moral lessons directly from the original Arabic of the Quran, taste the rhetorical effects of emphasis in the ancient Arabic language, and become adept at the conjugation of present-tense verbs and the analysis of more complex nominal sentences. 

05. The Prophet Nuh (Upon Him Be Peace)

Allah Most High sends messengers to convey His commands and prohibitions, and to warn us of the consequences of disobeying them. As you reflect on the mission of the Prophet Nuh (upon him be peace), study the recurring vocabulary related to messengers and divine punishment, learn how to issue commands and prohibitions, and embellish your Arabic sentences with simple adverbs.

06. The Day of Judgment

Learn why this is the central theme of Meccan suras. Analyze a selection of suras at the end of the Quran to learn the recurring vocabulary and rhetorical style of verses about the Day of Judgment. As you are moved by the terrors of the Day of Judgment, learn how to conjugate verbs in their passive forms, distinguish between the Quran words idha and idh, and taste Allah Most High’s power and majesty through the stirring eloquence of the terrifying verses.

MIDTERM

Demonstrate your memorization of key Quranic vocabulary and independently apply your toolkit of grammar, morphology, and rhetorical techniques to verses of the Quran that you have never analyzed before.

07. Resurrection

We will be resurrected after death, the Quran says, like “the dead earth is resurrected by rain.” Learn techniques for analyzing and tasting the beautiful complex metaphors in the Quran. Identify the morphological structure of words related to resurrection and begin exploring how to use root-based dictionaries of the Arabic language.  

08. Worship and the Life of this World

The Quran exhorts us to turn away from the pleasures of al-hayat al-dunya (life of this world) and to long for the akhira (life of the next world). Reflect on how worship enables this transformation as you continue using root-based dictionaries of the Arabic language to decipher the meanings of verses about worship and the afterlife.

09. Jihad

You are now an adept student of the ancient Arabic language. Hamza Karamali guides you to see for yourself that jihad is not about killing infidels, but about an inward struggle to stand firm against aggression. As he does that, he introduces you to unusual but common verbs such as `asa عسى, ni`ma نعم, and bi’sa بشس, and teaches you the subtleties of analyzing sentences that have an أن.

10. The Children of Israel

The Quran is a movement of divine revelation away from the Children of Israel in Jerusalem to the Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in Arabia. Hamza Karamali locates Judaism and Christianity in the Quranic narrative of the Children of Israel and use this as the context to analyze sentences that use the vocative (e.g., “ya bani isra’il”) and the anomalous behavior of non-Arabic proper nouns in the Arabic language.

11. Jesus

Muslims love Jesus even more than Christians do. Learn the difference between the Quranic and Biblical Jesus, analyze Quranic verses about the Trinity, and learn about the grammar and eloquence of restrictive expressions (hasr) in the ancient Arabic language.

12. Paradise and Hell

Ultimately, the Quran is about reaching Paradise and being saved from the Hellfire. Draw everything that you’ve learned in the course into an analysis of Surat al-Waqi`a, an oft-recited sura of the Quran with riveting descriptions of the afterlife.

FINAL

Demonstrate your memorization of key Quranic vocabulary and independently apply your toolkit of grammar, morphology, and rhetorical techniques to verses of the Quran that you have never analyzed before.

OPTION 1: SINGLE-PAY