Understanding Quranic Arabic & Beyond

Acknowledgements

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All praises are for Allah, the Exalted, Lord of the worlds, who has given us the inspiration, opportunity and strength to complete this volume. Blessings and peace be upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad whose path has been chosen by Allah, the Exalted, for the salvation of mankind.

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We would like to express our deepest appreciation to the entire ShaykhPod family, especially our little star, Yusuf, whose continued support and advice has inspired the development of ShaykhPod Books. And a special thanks to our brother, Hasan, whose dedicated support has elevated ShaykhPod to new and exciting heights which seemed impossible at one stage.

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We pray that Allah, the Exalted, completes His favour on us and accepts each letter of this book in His august court and allows it to testify on our behalf on the Last Day.

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All praise to Allah, the Exalted, Lord of the worlds and endless blessings and peace by upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad, on his blessed Household and Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all.

Compiler’s Notes

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We have tried diligently to do justice in this volume however if there are any short falls found then the compiler is personally and solely responsible for them.

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We accept the possibility of faults and shortcomings in an effort to complete such a difficult task. We might have unconsciously stumbled and committed errors for which we ask for indulgence and forgiveness of our readers and the drawing of our attention thereto will be appreciated. We earnestly invite constructive suggestions which can be made to [email protected].

Introduction

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The aim of this book and curriculum is twofold:

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Learning the foundations of Arabic grammar so that one can easily recite the Holy Quran and read the Hadiths of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, in Arabic and with understanding, with the hope this leads to acting on these two sources of guidance.

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Taking a first strong step in understanding Arabic grammar so that one can study Arabic texts, such as interpretations of the Holy Quran and the Hadiths of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

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Therefore, this curriculum has been structured to achieve these two aims. Anything beyond the scope of these two aims has been omitted and should be pursued by those interested, after completing this curriculum.

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A Video series has been created which goes through this curriculum in detail and can be viewed with the following link:

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https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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We highly recommend using the Table of Contents Sidebar in order to switch between the relevant chapters throughout the book and the Vocabulary List chapter at the end.

Nahw – Syntax

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The Arrangement of words and phrases to create a well-formed sentence

Different Types of Words

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Video series link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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There are 3 word types in Arabic:

Ism (Noun) - اِسْمٌ

Fi’l (Verb) - فِعْلٌ

Harf (Particle) - حَرْفٌ

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Ism (Noun) - اِسْمٌ

Noun – including idea, place, thing, adverb and adjective

Can be:

Common e.g. Garden

Specific - Yusuf (name of a person)

Idea – intangible things  e.g. information, knowledge, education

Adverb – describes a verb e.g. quickly, badly,

Adjective – describes a noun e.g. cold, tall, loud, angry

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Fi’l (Verb) - فِعْلٌ

A doing Verb – Past, Present or Future tense used (Present and Future tense combined in Arabic)

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Harf (Particle) - حَرْفٌ

A word which is completed when an Ism or a Fi’l comes after it.

e.g. if, until, unless, from

NOTE: It is vital to become familiar with the Vocabulary List chapter at the end of this book. This should be reviewed regularly, ideally at the end of every session this curriculum is studied.

Ism (Noun) – اِسْمٌ

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Ism has 4 properties

Status - الإِعْرَابُ

Number - العَدَدُ

Gender - الجِنْسُ

Type - القِسْمُ

Status – الإِعْرَابُ

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Video series link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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The Status is connected to the role the Ism is playing in the sentence

Ism - has 3 Statuses

Rafa (the Doer) – رَفْعٌ

Nasab (the Detail) – نَصْبٌ

Jar – جَرٌّ

Rafa (the Doer) – رَفْعٌ

It is the Default Status of Ism – must have a reason to be Nasab or Jar Status otherwise it is Rafa

If an Ism is in Rafa status it is called Marfooun - مَرْفُوْعٌ

Rafa refers to the one who does the action – the Doer

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Examples

I bought a house – the Doer is I

She carried a bucket – the Doer is She

Yusuf went to school – the Doer is Yusuf

Nasab (the Detail) – نَصْبٌ

Gives information/details about the Action

If an Ism is in Nasab status it is called Mansoobun - مَنْصُوْبٌ

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Example

Jar – جَرٌّ

If an Ism is in Jar status it is called Majroorun - مَجْرُوْرٌ

This Status is used after the word of in the English translation

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Example:

Owner of the house

the house is the word after of – then the house would be in Jar status

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Sometimes rearranging the sentence to observe the of in the sentence is required

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Example

My house

My house is arranged to – house of mine – the word mine is therefore after of and will be in Jar status

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When possession observed within a sentence e.g. my, our, his, her, etc, then it can be rearranged to show the of

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NOTE: It is vital to become familiar with the Vocabulary List chapter at the end of this book. This should be reviewed regularly, ideally at the end of every session this curriculum is studied.

Finding the Status of the Ism

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Video series link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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Two Markers to indicate Status of Ism:

Ending Sounds

Ending Combinations

Both markers change depending on:

Gender – Male or Female

Number – Single, Dual or Plural

Unlike English, Arabic has separate words for Dual and Plural

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Example charts below is using مُؤْمِنٌ (a believer) as a starting point. Anything after the last letter - ن – is part of the status marker - whether it is a Harakat or extra letters

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Masculine Chart

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NOTE: The Dual and Plural for Masculine & Feminine Ism Chart is the same for Nasab and Jar Status (Blue highlight) – differentiating between the two will be discussed later on.

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Feminine Chart

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NOTE: The Dual and Plural for Masculine & Feminine Ism Chart is the same for Nasab and Jar Status (Blue highlight) – differentiating between the two will be discussed later on

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Deeper Look

Singular Masculine

Status Marker is on the last letter - ن – this is called Ending Sounds (Blue highlight)

Singular Feminine

Singular Ism becomes Feminine by adding  ة at end of the Masculine version (Purple highlight)

The letter before the addition of  ة - the ن - gets a Fatah on it (Blue highlight)

Status marker is on the last letter - the ة -  this is called Ending Sounds  (Red highlight)

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Dual Masculine

The base is مُؤْمِنٌ - everything after the base is the Status marker

The base is still present in the below table – only the last letter in the base - ن - has been given a Fatah (Blue highlight)

Status marker – is made up of more than one letter – so it is called Ending Combination (Purple highlight)

Rafa – انِ

Nasab – يْنِ

Jar – يْنِ

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NOTE: The Dual is the same for Nasab and Jar Status – differentiating between the two will be discussed later on

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Dual Feminine

The base is مُؤْمِنَةٌ everything after the base is the Status marker

The base is present in the below table – only the last letter in the base -  ت - has been given a Fatah (Blue highlight)

ة has become a ت also

Status marker – is made up of more than one letter – so it is called Ending Combination (Purple highlight)

Rafa – انِ

Nasab – يْنِ

Jar – يْنِ

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NOTE: The Dual is the same for Nasab and Jar Status – differentiating between the two will be discussed later on

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Plural Masculine

The base is مُؤْمِنٌ everything after the base is the Status marker

The base is still present in the below table – only the Harakat on the last letter of the base - ن - changes (Blue highlight)

Status marker – is made up of more than one letter – so it is called Ending Combination (Purple highlight)

Rafa – وْنَ

Nasab – يْنَ

Jar – يْنَ

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NOTE: The Plural is the same for Nasab and Jar Status – differentiating between the two will be discussed later on

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Plural Feminine

The base is مُؤْمِنَةٌ everything after the base is the status marker

The ن in the base has Fatah on it in all 3 statuses (Blue highlight)

ة has become a ت also

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Status marker – is made up of more than one letter – so it is called Ending Combination (Purple highlight)

Rafa – اتٌ

Nasab – اتٍ

Jar – اتٍ

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NOTE: The Plural is the same for Nasab and Jar Status – differentiating between the two will be discussed later on – Quick Tip - when determining status – look for Ending Combinations before looking for Ending Sounds

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Questions

Decide if the following Isms are رَفْعٌ (Rafa) , نَصْبٌ (Nasab) and/or جَرٌّ (Jar) status

NOTE: in some cases  نَصْبٌ and  جَرٌّ look the same

And decide if the Ism is Masculine or Feminine

And decide if the Ism is Singular, Dual or Plural

Key

R: Rafa - N: Nasab - J:Jar

M: Masculine - F: Feminine

S: Singular - D: Dual - P:Plural

Answers:

NOTE: It is vital to become familiar with the Vocabulary List chapter at the end of this book. This should be reviewed regularly, ideally at the end of every session this curriculum is studied.

Status: Heavy vs Light

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Video series link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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Whether Ism is Heavy or Light is connected to its Status (not a property of Status – only a sub topic)

Heavy is the Default for an Ism

Ism only becomes Light for specific reasons – which will be discussed later

Heavy words make a n sound at the end – e.g. ظَالِمٌ (a wrongdoer) – Zaleemun – end sound is n

To make Ism Light – remove the n sound at the end

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2 ways to make Ism Light

If the Ism ends with double Harakat at end (which is heavy state -Purple highlight) – then remove one Harakat only.

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In Isms with Ending Combinations (not Ending Sounds) that have a ن at the end – remove the ن to make it Light.

Ending Combination with a ن has been highlighted purple

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ال - The

When ال is added to an Ism – it is no longer called Heavy or Light

Tanween (Double Harakat) and ال never come together

Example

المُؤْمِنٌ - The believer - is wrong

المُؤْمِنُ – The believer – is correct

When ال is added only single Harakat remains (Yellow highlight)

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In Ending Combinations with a ن – it stays on even when ال is added to it

Example

المُؤْمِنُوْنَ – The believer – is correct – the ن at end stays on

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Questions

Decide whether the following Isms are Light, Heavy or Neither (because of ال)

Key:

L: Light – H: Heavy – N: Neither (because of ال)

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Answers

NOTE: It is vital to become familiar with the Vocabulary List chapter at the end of this book. This should be reviewed regularly, ideally at the end of every session this curriculum is studied.

Status: Flexibility

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Video series link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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Flexibility of an Ism is connected to its Status (not a property of Status – only a sub topic)

The Flexibility which will be discussed is connected to Ending Sounds (not Ending Combinations)

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Masculine Chart

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Feminine Chart

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3 Types of Flexibility

Fully Flexible - مُنْصَرِفٌ/مُعْرَبٌ

Non-Flexible - مَبْنِيٌّ

Partly Flexible - مَمْنُوْعٌ مِن الصَّرْفِ

Fully Flexible - مُنْصَرِفٌ/مُعْرَبٌ

Default State is Fully flexible

Fully flexible – Single Ism has 3 different endings (appearances) for 3 different Statuses – see table below

Example

مُؤْمِنٌ – A Fully flexible Ism

Non-Flexible - مَبْنِيٌّ

They do not show their Status in all 3 appearances i.e. in all 3 statuses they look the same

Words ending in Alif Maksura ى or a Alif ا are Non-flexible

Examples

عِيۡسَى – ﻣَﺘَﻰ

In all 3 statuses it appears the same

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How to determine the Status of Non-flexible Isms will be discussed later on

Partly Flexible - مَمْنُوْعٌ مِن الصَّرْفِ

Status is shown in 2 appearances only (not 3 appearances like Fully flexible)

Only shows – dhamma or Fatah

Never shows Tanween– as they are Light (not Heavy)

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Example

Partly flexible Isms – Nasab and Jar looks the same - Fatah (Blue highlight)

Differentiating between Nasab and Jar will be discussed later on

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2 Ways to Turn Partly Flexible into Fully Flexible Isms:

By adding ال (which means the) on it 

Example

ثَمُوۡدُ is Partly flexible but can become Fully flexible when putting ال on it

الثَمُوۡدُ – Fully Flexible

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By making the Ism a Mudhaf (this will be discussed later on)

Some Groups of Partly Flexible Words

Non-Arab Names (Arabic names are Fully flexible)

Feminine Names and Unique Masculine Names

Proper Names of Places

Non-Arab Names

Arabic names are Fully flexible

Non-Arab names are Partly flexible

Exception = Three letter name with Sukoon in the middle = Fully flexible even if it is non-Arab name e.g. لُوْطٌ

Examples

Partly flexible Isms – Nasab and Jar looks the same - Fatah on last letter (Blue highlight)

And never have a Tanween because they are Light (not Heavy)

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Non-Arabic names made of 3 letters with Sukoon in middle = Fully flexible

Feminine Names and Unique Masculine Names

All Feminine Names are Partly Flexible

Unique Masculine Names –have no female counterpart  = Partly flexible

Exception = Three letter name with Sukoon in the middle = Fully flexible even if it is female or unique masculine name

Partly flexible Isms – Nasab and Jar looks the same - Fatah on last letter (Blue highlight)

And never have a Tanween because they are Light (not Heavy)

Partly flexible Isms – Nasab and Jar looks the same - Fatah on last letter (Blue highlight)

And never have a Tanween because they are Light (not Heavy)

Proper Names of Places

Proper (not Common)

If it has ال on it = Fully flexible

Exception = Three letter name of place with Sukoon in the middle = Fully flexible

Examples

Partly flexible Isms – Nasab and Jar looks the same - Fatah on last letter (Blue highlight)

And never have a Tanween because they are Light (not Heavy)

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Questions

What are the following Isms – Fully Flexible (F), Partly Flexible (P) or Non-Flexible (N) and Why? (the last Harakat has been removed from each Ism)

Answers

NOTE: It is vital to become familiar with the Vocabulary List chapter at the end of this book. This should be reviewed regularly, ideally at the end of every session this curriculum is studied.

Pronouns

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Video series link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1Vizm7rRKZrtKPBbXLjOrbp24dnmb_n

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Pronouns do not follow the rules of Status discussed earlier

They do not show their 4 Ism properties (Gender, Number, Type and Status) in the standard way.

They are always Proper (Ism Type)

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2 Types of Pronouns (the others will be discussed later)

Independent Pronouns  - الضَمائِر المُنْفَصِلَةِ

Attached Pronouns -الضَمائِر المُتَّصِلَةِ

Independent Pronouns  - الضَمائِر المُنْفَصِلَةِ

They are a Ism by themself

Do not attach to other words

Always Rafa رَفْعٌ in status

Table below for Independent Pronouns shows Gender, Number and Grammatical Person

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Independent Pronoun Chart

Masculine Plural - Third Person هُمْ and Second Person أَنْتُمْ - is used for a group (more than 2) including Males and Females

Feminine Plural - Third Person هُنَّ Second Person أَنْتُنَّ only used for a group (more than 2) of Females only

Attached Pronouns - الضَمائِر المُتَّصِلَةِ

Each Independent Pronoun comes in the form of an Attached Pronoun

They attach to: Harf, Fi’l or Ism

The Attached pronoun is always: Nasab نَصْبٌ or Jar جَرٌّ Status (never Rafa رَفْعٌ)

Determining if Attached Pronoun is Nasab or Jar will be discussed later on

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Independent and Attached Pronoun Chart