Assalamu Alaikum,

I read law at the London School of Economics (1997-2000) and completed the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law (2001). I started learning Arabic on a gap year after my A-Levels during which I did the first year of the Arabic degree at the School Of Oriental and African Studies (Certificate in Arabic). I then let my Arabic tick away in my head for four years while I studied law. After that, I packed my bags and with the blessings of my parents and family, I went to and enrolled on the undergraduate Sharia programme at al-Azhar University.

I co-founded the Ibn Jabal Institute in 2001 with my friend and colleague, Mohammad Motiur Rahman, and have taught this course for the last six years. In 2004, I started writing a book on Arabic grammar which I have tentatively called 'Arabica'. Various drafts have been taught on Level One over the last few years and I have tried my best to judiciously incorporate the ideas gained from our students, their suggestions, their mistakes and of course, my mistakes. The final draft is being primed for publication later this year insha Allah. If you enrol, like previous students, you will be given a unique opportunity to participate in authoring a book on Arabic grammar.

In 2005 I fell in (arranged) love and got married in December that year. My wife says that she is my second wife, Arabic being my first. I confess it is a passionate attachment.

Wassalam
Salman Hasan

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I read Philosophy at the University of Manchester after spending a gap year travelling and learning Arabic in the Middle East. I initially enrolled at the University of Jordan and later took private tuition in Amman and subsequently in Cairo and Damascus. For a living I work for local authorities in developing educational facilities for teenagers and am pursuing postgraduate studies in Education. I also run my own property development business.

Since returning from the Middle East I saw teaching Arabic as the best way of preserving my own proficiency. My tutor in Jordan told me learning Arabic is EASY. 'It is easy if you just memorise 80 words per day, it is easy if you just learn a few rules of grammar per day, and it is easy if you just spend 12 hours studying per day...'. In applying this method with friends I was amazed at how quickly they were able to learn Arabic.

Early in 2001, over a cup of tea and hot chocolate, Salman and I concluded that everything taught in the first year of an Arabic degree, at most universities, could be covered in a matter of a few weeks with small groups of highly committed students of good academic calibre. Over the years many students have told us they'd never worked as hard and learnt so much in so little time.

Wassalam
Muhammad Choudhury

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I read Economics at University College London (1999-2002) and subsequently (2002-2003) completed a Masters in Computer Science at the same institution. I started learning Arabic during my second year at UCL. My first exposure to any formal study of the Arabic language came in the summer of 2001. During that eventful (historic?) summer, I was among the first batch of students attending the nascent Ibn Jabal Institute. I did level 1 twice to consolidate what I had learnt (mainly due to the fact that I couldn’t travel to Syria to do Level 2). I then went on to do the second level of the Ibn Jabal course during term time over the course of my third year at UCL. Simultaneously, I did the SOAS course in Classical Arabic.

After graduating, I travelled to Damascus to learn Arabic and enrolled at the University of Damascus for the Summer Course. I was admitted into the third level and before leaving Damascus, I passed through to the fourth level. While at Damascus, I also enrolled at other institutions, learning some other Islamic sciences in Arabic such as Fiqh and Tajweed.

I am honoured, particularly as I am a former student, to be part of an excellent team of teachers who are seriously dedicated to teaching the Arabic language.
 
Wassalam
Jubril Alao

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Assalamu alaikum,

My name is Usaama al-A‘zami, and I am currently at St. Anne’s College, Oxford, reading Arabic and Persian with Islamic Studies/History. I gained my initial exposure to Arabic studies during my four years of secondary education in Saudi Arabia. This was intensified considerably over two gap years (2002-04) after my A-levels, the first of which was spent at the European Institute for Islamic Sciences (France), and much of the second of which was spent studying in Saudi Arabia.

My first year in Oxford was primarily focussed on Persian acquisition. I did, however, spend several hours a week studying and attending third and fourth year poetry and literature classes, in which I studied some (pre-Islamic) jahili poetry, in particular the famous mu‘llaqat. I also frequented MPhil tutorials on Arabic Philosophical texts such as Imam Ghazali’s maqasid al-falasifa and it’s refutation, the tahafut. I’ve spent this academic year in the Middle East as part of my course, primarily in Syria, but also for a time in Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, concentrating for the most part on strengthening my Arabic.

This will be my second year of teaching with Ibn Jabal. I found last year invigorating, challenging, and instructive. It allowed me to fine tune my method of delivery, and this year I look forward to getting to know and teaching another group of dedicated students of the Arabic language.

Wassalamu alaikum
Usaama

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I read Economics and History at SOAS, University of London (2002-2005) and was subsequently elected as a sabbatical officer of the Students' Union. I am currently studying for a Masters in History with 'Islam in South Asia' as my major.

My study of Arabic until this year had been quite spasmodic but strongly formative. I learnt the Qur'an with tajweed from an early age so I have been fairly well exposed to the style and sound of the Arabic language from a young age. I believe that having this phonetic grounding has helped me greatly in my subsequent study of Arabic. In the summer of 2003 I travelled to Hadramaut, Yemen, where I took short courses in fiqh and aqeeda. It was on the Ibn Jabal summer program of 2006, where I completed Levels 1, 2 and 3 that I formally consolidated all my previous learning and added a lot of new material to my Arabic repertoire. I am currently studying Hanafi and comparative fiqh with the Ibn Jabal institute at Level 4.

I am also a student of Urdu literature and will be taking a course in Persian as part of my Masters degree.

The Ibn Jabal Institute takes a real academic approach to teaching Arabic and I am truly humbled to be among such an esteemed group of teachers.

Wassalam
Shaist Khan

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I began my epic Arabic journey with a 3-week intensive Ibn Jabal Arabic course in the Summer of 2005. I followed up this course immediately with another 3-week intensive Level 1 course to consolidate my learning. I then progressed to the Level 2 course and eventually was honoured to be able to study in Syria in the Autumn of 2005, made possible by the Bounty of Allah and the generosity of the Ibn Jabal Institute.

During my 9 weeks study in Syria, I enrolled at the 'Arabic for Foreign Language Speakers' Department in the Abu Nour University, Damascus. Because of the very well structured delivery of my Arabic learning in London, I was able to enter the course at Level 3 rather than beginning with most other new students at Level 1. Although I found my course in Syria challenging (at times mind boggling!), it was both inspirational and motivating - and my previous learning put me on a par with other students in my class.

Since Syria, I have been developing my Arabic by talking as much Arabic as I can, reading as much Arabic as I can, looking up as many words as I can, and, most humbly, teaching (as much as my 'teachers', aka students, will allow me). I am also currently studying Level 4 with Ibn Jabal, where we engage with Hanafi fiqh - and come across lots of interesting issues for discussion (in Arabic!).

My Arabic journey has provided, and still is providing, me with amazing experiences. I wish and encourage everyone out there to take a step on that journey. It really is quite an epic path to tread - I promise that you will meet lots of people with pointy ears and/or beards!

Wa ma thawfeeqi illa billah.

Ma'asalama(thi)
Ruksana Begum

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I started studying Arabic grammar and morphology from the age of ten. However, I did not have enough vocabulary to decipher the language. I started attending a more formal Arabic language course in 1994 at the East London Mosque. This course started with around 35 students and by mid 1995 there were only 3 of us left in the class!! The next year I went to university to read Electronic Engineering with Spanish.

During the summer of 1996 I travelled to Syria to study at a private sharia institute where I put what I had learnt to practice and came back speaking fluent Arabic (though the Syrian dialect) within 3 months. Thereafter, I travelled accross Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania to further my knowledge of the Arabic language and sharia sciences.

I have since studied Arabic poetry, which I find fascinating in its composition, style and power of expression. I have also studied hermeneutics and orthography as part of my study of the Quran.

I can teach classical and modern standard Arabic and the Shaami and Gulf dialects. I also teach tajweed (both Hafs 3an 3asem and Warsh 3an Nafe3) and Calligraphy (Req3a). Last year, I was invited to teach at the Ibn Jabal institute once and it was a pleasure to see so many dedicated students on a very well structured course.

Wassalam
Mustafa Al-Mansur

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I was born in Makkah and grew up in Saudi Arabia where I completed my higher education in Management and Administration. I came to the UK in 1999 for the first time. Being an Arab by birth, I was fascinated to see the number of people interested in learning the Arabic language. I have since started teaching on a one to one basis. I fluently speak classical Arabic as well as all major dialects.

Wassalam
Ahlam Yankssar

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I am currently in my 3rd year at the University of Cambridge studying Arabic and Islamic Studies. The third year is spent studying abroad in the Middle East. So far I have spent five months in Egypt at al-Diwan Language Centre, and hope to spend the next three months in Jordan studying with private tutors and possibly at the Qasid institute.

I started studying Arabic with a Qur'anic Arabic course in Manchester in 2001. The following summer I attended a 6 week Arabic course at the European Institute of Human Sciences (EIHS) in Wales, and continued the same course at 'Tajdid 2002' the next year. I resolved at that point to take my Arabic studies further and committed myself to a four year long course at Cambridge. Teaching at the Ibn Jabal Institute offers me an exciting opportunity to impart to others the knowledge I have gained over the last few years.

Wassalam
Alia Azmi

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Assalamu Alaikum,

I always wanted to learn Arabic so I could explore the Arab world for myself, and enjoy hearing its stories from Arabs themselves. I was impressed and even envious (in a good way) of some of my friends who were speaking so fluently to so many interesting people that I had little access to. It was clear that they were really content with and enthusiastic about their newfound knowledge.

I found the opportunity to take a year out after my A-levels to learn the basics. I spent a year speaking Arabic as much as I could to teachers and students alike and studying its grammar. As I was in a Muslim institute, I also had classes in the recitation of the Quran. After a few months, I was shocked to suddenly understand (almost in the same way that I understand English), at least on the surface, what the Quran was saying. I didn’t realise it could be so accessible for a layperson like myself!

I had the privilege to sit briefly with some scholars and teachers of Arabic as well as various aspects of the Islamic tradition. My time with them made me realise there is more to the ‘religious life’ than just academia. I also learned a bit about how hard some of these people work, and wondered if I would ever have their strength.

After returning to the UK, I enrolled at university in physical sciences and taught several different Arabic courses during my studies. I enjoyed it very much. I have also been a singer-songwriter producing songs in several languages including Arabic.

I have always held Ibn Jabal Institute in high esteem because I know how enthusiastic and hard-working its people are. I’m honoured to be their colleague this year. God help us succeed.

Wassalam
Nazeel al-Azami