Arabic Grammar level 4

(Level Four (Established) - Arabic Grammar)
Learn Arabic to understand the Holy Qur’an and the Noble Hadith

“And thus have We sent it (the Qur'an) down to be a judgement of authority in Arabic. Were you (O Muhammad SAW) to follow their (vain) desires after the knowledge which has come to you, then you will not have any Wali (protector) or defender against Allah.” [13:37]

Mustafa Sādiq Ar-Rāfi'ī said:
“Never was the language of a people degraded, except that they became humiliated. And never did it (a people’s language) decline except that their condition was in a state of confusion (literally: coming and going). In the midst of this, the foreign coloniser forces his own language upon the colonised people, and sets it upon them. He (the coloniser) makes them feel his greatness through it (the new language). He annexes them (to his own way of life) by means of it. And so with just one action (that of forcing a new language on people) the coloniser renders three effects upon them: As for the first, it is the imprisonment of their own language (classical Arabic) within the occupier’s (foreign) language – a perpetual imprisonment; the second, to sentence the people’s culture and history to death – rendering it erased and forgotten; and thirdly, to bind the people’s future in fetters shaped forged by the coloniser (i.e. the coloniser shapes the future of the colonised). So their condition after all this is one of subservience” (Waḥy-ul-Qalam vol. 3, pgs. 33-34)

Aims

The course is aimed to be a revision of all aspects of Arabic Grammar covered in levels 1 – 3c, of Madina Books. It is designed over 1 semester for students to revise, implement and increase their understanding of the rules already learnt. This also prepares them to study Foundation level Islamic Studies, predominantly in the Arabic language.

At this level the course is taught mainly in Arabic with limited use of English, for explanations only. There is a balance between communicative activities, structure practice, grammar and vocabulary. Class size is limited to 20 students to maximise interactive learning.

Content

Students will revise all the grammar and linguistic structures which they have already learnt in level 1 - 3c. These are the following:

KALĀM (Speech) and its Constituent Parts / الْكَلام وأَقْسَامُهُ
The Insignia of Nouns / عَلامَاتُ الاسْمِ
The Insignia of Verbs / عَلامَاتُ الْفِعْلِ
The Particle / الْحَرْفُ
Inflection (I‘RĀB) / الإعْرَاب
Identifying the ‘ALĀMĀT AL-I‘RĀB / عَلامَاتُ الإعْرَابِ
- The Insignia of the Nominative / عَلامَاتُ الرَّفْعِ
- The Insignia of the Subjunctive/Accusative / عَلامَاتُ النَّصْبِ
- The Insignia of the Genitive / عَلامَاتُ الْخَفْضِ
- The Insignia of the Jussive / عَلامَتَا الْجَزْمِ
The Inflected / الْمُعْرَبَات
The MU‘RABĀT (the Inflected) BIL-HARAKĀT and the MU‘RABĀT BIL-HURŪF)
Verbs / الأَفْعَال
The Rules governing the Verb / أَحْكَامُ الْفِعْلِ
Nouns / الأَسْمَاء
The Rules governing the Noun / أَحْكَامُ الأَسْمَاء
The MARFŪ‘ĀT AL-ASMĀ’ / مَرْفُوعَات الأَسْمَاء
- الْفَاعِل
- نَائِبُ الْفَاعِل
- الْمُبْتَدَأ و الْخَبَر
- نَوَاسِخُ الْمُبْتَدَأ و الْخَبَر
- النَّعْت
- الْمَعْرِفَةُ والنَّكِرَة
- الْعَطْفُ
- التَّوْكِيد
- الْبَدَل
The MANSŪBĀT AL-ASMĀ’ / مَنْصُوبَاتُ الأَسْمَاء
- الْمَفْعُولُ بِهِ
- الْمَصْدَر
- ظَرْفُ الزَّمَانِ وظَرْفُ الْمَكَانِ
- الْحَال
- التَّمْييز
- الإسْتِثْنَاء
- The chapter on "لا"
- الْمُنَادَى
- الْمَفْعُولُ لَهُ
- الْمَفْعُولُ مِنْ أَجْلِهِ
The MAKHFŪDĀT AL-ASMĀ’ / مَخْفُوضَات الأَسْمَاء

Pre-requisite

This course is aimed at students who have successfully completed all level to 3c with SAIS or a suitable equivalent.

Materials

In this Level we will be using the classical book titled, ‘al-Ajarumiyyah’ by Ibn Ajaroom d. 723. This text book will be given to each of the students on his/her first Arabic lesson.

Other texts will also be used throughout the course to aid learning. However it will not be necessary to buy these books or for SAIS to provide different textbooks, as photocopies and handouts will be given out when other material is used by the teachers.

Presentation and Homework

Homework will be given every lesson in order to help students to connect with the subject and consolidate what they have learnt. This will be based on one particular book, titled ‘Rashid and the missing body’, where they will be required to translate the English text into Arabic. This will carry 48 % of the total pass mark.

The knowledge of the students will be assessed through a presentation they will be asked to make at the end of the course. They will be given enough time to prepare for this. At the beginning of the term, each student will be asked to:

Choose any surah from the Qur’an, from numbers “az-Zalzalah” to “an-Naas”,
Translate its tafseer from Arabic to English using Ibn Kathir.
Add the ‘harakaat’ on the Arabic text of the tafseer.
Give the ‘iraab’ accordingly.
Make a 15-20 minute presentation to the class, explaining in summary form, all of the above.

This presentation will carry 52 % of the total mark.

Course References

There are many references to support students in this level, but most of these are in the Arabic language. For further information, please consult the detailed course references list. Here are some of these books,

“Sharh shodhor adh-dhahab”
(By Ibn hisham al-Ansari (d. 761))
“Sharh Qatr an-Nada”
(By Ibn hisham al-Ansari (d. 761))
“Lesan al-Arab”
(By Ibn Mandhoor (d. 711))

Students can purchase these from SAIS, if they wish. These references are also available in the classroom and can be used by teachers and students.