How to Muslim
Arabic is spoken by more than 400 million people. It is also the language the Quran was revealed in, which is why so many Muslims who grew up on translations eventually want to read it for themselves.
Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an that you might understand. Quran 12:2
Arabic has 28 letters, and most of them change shape depending on whether they sit at the start, middle or end of a word. Learn the alphabet in those four forms first. Nothing else works until this is automatic.
The small marks above and below the letters are the vowels. Quranic text prints them in full, so once you can read fathah, kasrah and dammah you can sound out any verse in the Mushaf, even before you know what it means.
Most beginner Arabic courses teach you how to order coffee. If your goal is the Quran, learn Quranic words instead. A fairly small core of words repeats constantly across the text, so early vocabulary work pays off fast.
Arabic grammar splits into nahw (how words behave in a sentence) and sarf (how words are formed). This is the point where self-study usually stalls and a structured course or a teacher makes the difference. Pick one curriculum and finish it before switching.
The course side of Arabic101, taught by Muhammad Al Andalusi. Structured lessons in English covering the alphabet, grammar and reading the Quran.
Visit Arabic101 Academy →A free reading and grammar course you can work through without signing up, plus paid one-to-one lessons if you want a teacher later.
Visit Madinah Arabic →Islamic studies and Arabic curriculums you can work through at your own pace. Useful once you want the language alongside the wider sciences.
Visit AMAU Academy →Free word-by-word Arabic with translation and audio. Good for testing what you have learned against real verses from day one.
Open Quran.com →Arabic builds vocabulary from three-letter roots that carry a core idea, then reshapes them into related words. Meaning travels with the root, so once you can spot it you start reading words you have never formally studied.
Every translation is one scholar’s reading, and the notes in a good one will tell you so. Learning the language does not make you a mufassir, but it does let you hear the verse itself rather than someone’s summary of it.
English borrowed a long list of words from Arabic, usually through Spanish or Latin. Algebra, algorithm, alcohol, cotton, sugar and admiral all trace back to it.
Where English uses “love” for nearly everything, Arabic separates the senses. Hubb is love in general, wudd is warm affection, hawa is inclination or desire, ishq is consuming attachment. The Quran picks between them deliberately.
The Quran refers to itself repeatedly as an Arabic revelation, sent down in a language its first audience could weigh and answer.
Al-Fatiha is seven short verses, yet the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave it a status no other passage of that length carries.
Our own step-by-step guide: the letters, tajweed, what to say before you begin, and how to hold on to what you read.
Read the full guide →Reading the words is the first half. This piece looks at why the Quran keeps telling its readers to slow down and think.
Read the article →What regular recitation actually does, from the reward attached to it to the effect on how your week feels.
Read on Muslim.sg →New to all of this? Start from the beginning.
Where to take this further.
Nouman Ali Khan's Quranic Arabic courses, built from the ground up.
bayyinahtv.com · PaidStructured Arabic courses for reading the Quran with understanding.
store.arabic101.org