The 7 Best Resources to Learn Arabic

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Overview

• Introduction

  • Arabic 101

• Classical & Quranic Arabic | الفصحى

• Dialects

  • Levantine (‏شامي)

  • Egyptian

  • Saudi

• Bonus: Books

• Conclusion

• TL;DR (Summary)

Introduction

Imam Ash-Shafi'i (رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ) reportedly said "I spent two-thirds of my wealth studying Arabic — I wish I had spent the other third as well."

Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to learn the Arabic language, especially if our goal is to simply increase our understanding of the Qur’an.

In this post, I’m going to go through some of the best resources we’ve found from our Learn Arabic collection.

Specifically, for learning Classical (or Qur’anic) Arabic. I'll include some resources on learning dialects, but the primary purpose of these resources is so that we can engage more meaningfully with the Book of Allah ﷻ.

Arabic 101

As you begin your journey to learn Classical Arabic, these are some of the subjects you'll cover;

1. Alphabet & Pronunciation

   • letters and how to pronounce them

2. Morphology (ṣarf الصرف)

   • how words are formed, word patterns, conjugation

3. Vocabulary

   • learning the meaning of words

4. Grammar & Syntax (naḥw النحو)

   • how words are combined to create sentences & convey meaning

5. Rhetoric (balāghah البلاغة)

   • linguistic tools to create impactful sentences

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. There are many other subjects you'll cover, but this will give you a general idea of what each resource is teaching.

Classical & Quranic Arabic | الفصحى

1. Usul Academy

2. Quranic & Kalaam

   • Bayyinah’s Dream playlist

But how many of us are able to understand it?

Here’s the good news: if your only goal in learning Arabic is to delve deeper with the Qur’an, you’re in luck. Why?

Generally, there are 4 key skills of language acquisition:

1. Reading

2. Listening

3. Writing

4. Speaking

But if all you want is to increase your understanding of the Qur'an & feel khushu in your prayers, you can just prioritize 1 & 2. Most of us will be reading the Qur'an, not writing it out. We'll also mostly be listening to verses being recited (either by an Imam or otherwise). Of course, we’ll recite it ourselves too, and doing so with correct tajwīd (pronunciation) is vital. But we're not going to be “speaking" to somebody in Classical Arabic. That would be like if someone struck up a conversation with you in Shakespearean English.

This doesn't mean we neglect writing & speaking; they are key aspects of learning Arabic — it just means that there are less things to focus on initially.

But if you want a rigorous program that will cover your bases, look no further than Usul Academy’s Academic Arabic program.

Usul Academy offers a comprehensive 1-year course that teaches Modern Standard and Classical Arabic. The program takes you from basic letters all the way to advanced grammar, using classical Arabic sources.

For ex. This is an exercise from their curriculum, where you extract key insights from a passage of Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine (القانون في الطب )

This approach not only helps you understand the Qur’an but also enables you to access the rich scholarship produced by Muslims throughout history.

There's another reason that learning Classical Arabic simply to understand the Qur’an is easier.

Arabic vocabulary is quite expansive. It has a litany of words at its disposal, which lends the language its remarkable expressive ability. But as you can imagine, learning all that vocabulary can be quite a challenge to the novice.

However, this is not the case with the Qur’an. The same words are used with a lot of frequency — in fact, just ~500 words make up ~80% of the Qur’an.

This is a testament to the eloquence of the Qur’an, a singular demonstration, of conveying profound meaning with remarkable brevity, of how so much has been said with so little.

And to memorize the vocabulary of this Book, I wholeheartedly recommend Kalaam App. Kalaam uses spaced-repetition to teach Qur'anic vocabulary, balancing the context in which a word is used with its range of meaning.

One of the reasons why I love Kalaam is that it addresses something Dr. V Abdur Rahim (author of the Madinah Arabic Books), in this interview. He says that “the smallest unit of a language is a sentence — not words. Words should only be learned within the context of a sentence”.

Kalaam addresses this by teaching the meaning of a word within the verse it was used in.

But my favorite feature of the app is that you can select the chapters of the Qur’an you want to learn vocabulary from first. This has been a game-changer for me, as gaining a deeper understanding of the words I’m reciting has lead me to feel more present in prayer.

The point is that the context in which you learn Arabic is really important, which leads to my next recommendation: Quranic.

The Quranic app teaches Arabic through bite-sized lessons using excerpts from the Qur’an. The Quranic app offers a complete learning journey, starting with the alphabet and advancing through grammar, emphasizing the most common words to ensure comprehension.

Ultimately, the best thing about it is that it relies completely on the Qur’an to teach Arabic (check out #4 in Bonus section for a book that does this as well).

Allah ﷻ has preserved the Qur’an itself, but one of the main reasons we’ve been able to preserve our understanding of His ﷻ revelation is because we have been able to preserve Classical Arabic.

Dialects

But many of us might want to learn Arabic for its social value as well!

This is where you’ll want to get into learning the various dialects of Arabs.

Otherwise you’ll speak Modern Standard Arabic and your friends will clown you for sounding like an Al-Jazeera correspondent.

Levantine (‏شامي)

Mango Languages: Levantine Arabic

Now let me start by saying that I was born in Saudi Arabia. I’ve had Arab friends from all different regions, throughout my life. I can say this with no bias: Levantine Arabic, without a doubt, is the most charming of all dialects.

You’re also most likely learning Levantine Arabic to speak to your friends, which is why Mango Languages’ conversational method is a great fit.

Mango Languages teaches practical conversation skills through everyday scenarios. With engaging lessons that focus on vocabulary, pronunciation, and culture, it's a fun way to learn Arabic spoken in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.

Egyptian

italki

The Egyptian dialect is particularly hard to grasp without speaking to a native, or even a local speaker.

For that reason, I’d recommend taking a class with a tutor.

italki is a tutoring marketplace that offers online Arabic classes. It provides a diverse selection of tutors, a large number of whom that teach Egyptian Arabic.

Saudi

Arabius

The great thing about Arabius is that it teaches you the dialect through teaching you Saudi culture. The vocabulary consists of words and phrases commonly encountered in everyday life in The Kingdom.

The Arabius App uses an immersive & customized learning experience to teach the Saudi dialect of Arabic, with their end goal of 'Sound Like A Saudi'.

Bonus: Books

Historically, most people have learned Arabic through textbooks. And I could’ve simply shared some of the classical recommendations, such as Bayna Yadayk. But I didn’t want to recommend a book just for it to collect dust on a bookshelf.

The purpose of this post is to share resources that reduce friction in starting to learn Arabic. For most people, that means apps & online courses.

But for those of you that enjoy learning from textbooks, here are some widely recommended resources that have stood the test of time;

1. Al Arabiyyah Bayna Yadayk العربية بين يديك

   • teaches Arabic using a conversational method - very practical as it focuses on everyday scenarios, but assumes reading ability.

   • YouTube playlist that serves as a great companion

2. Madinah Arabic Books by Dr. V Abdur Rahim

   • Set of 3 books used at The Islamic University of Madinah to teach Arabic. Emphasis on nahw (grammar & syntax).

3. Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya

   • The most widely used textbook to learn Arabic. But it is an academic resource, so it may be difficult to navigate for an individual student.

   • The first book Alif Baa is especially useful to learn the basics.

4. Arabic Through The Quran by Alan Jones

   • starts with the alphabet, and teaches grammar & vocabulary in 40 lessons using only the Qur’an.

5. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, Hans Wehr.

   • The most widely used dictionary for Arabic. But one should be aware that reading an Arabic dictionary is not as simple as using an English dictionary.

   • There’s even an entire course by Qasid Academy on how to navigate this dictionary!

Conclusion

The important thing is that any one of these resources will probably be good enough. Committing to one of them is more important than spending years figuring out what the best path is — “as you walk, the way appears”.

If you’re someone that has a problem with staying committed, I’d recommend finding a class at your local Islamic center or learning directly under a teacher.

But the important thing is to start, understanding that while the road is long, it bears fruit — each new layer of the Arabic language you uncover will reveal deeper insights from God’s final message to humanity.

TL;DR (Summary)

1. Begin exploring with Quranic App & Bayyinah’s 10-video intensive.

   • use Kalaam App for Quranic vocabulary.

   • if you prefer flashcards to memorize vocabulary, use this.

2. Start your journey to master Arabic with Usul Academy.
   

3. To learn the Levantine dialect: check out Mango Languages.

4. To learn Egyptian dialect: learn with a tutor through iTalki.

5. To learn Saudi Arabic: download the Arabius app.

6. To improve your recitation of the Quran, try Tarteel.