The FASTEST way to learn to read the QURAN and ARABIC

Imagine this - you’ve recently discovered Islam and you’ve embraced it with full sincerity. You’ve started listening to the Quran and you’ve started learning from esteemed Islamic scholars like Sheikh Mufti Menk and Dr.Zakir Naik.

But, there’s a major problem - You can’t read the Quran in its original language, and this prevents you from genuinely immersing yourself in Islam. Slowly but surely, the craving to read the Quran becomes too strong and it leads you to this article.

Well, you’ve come to the right place 😀.

This article is a full guide on how to go through your Quran-learning journey; it gives you a roadmap (telling you exactly what you need to do RIGHT NOW), a timeline (telling you exactly what to expect), many pdf and video resources, and a few tips and tricks.

MAKE SURE TO STICK AROUND TILL THE END FOR SOME REALLY HELPFUL RESOURCES.

*read on landscape mode for optimal viewing experience*

Pro tip: Don’t start this journey unless your thirst for reading the

Quran becomes genuinely unbearable

Pre-requisites

Before we dive into this journey, there are a few things we will require;

A burning desire to learn ; you can’t get anywhere without this
An even greater desire to please Allah
A Noorani Qaida (a Noorani Qaida is a small booklet used to teach children the Arabic alphabet and beginner level tajweed)
And a Quran

Now, let’s first view the roadmap, and then lay out the action steps.

Roadmap

After reviewing the roadmap, decide exactly what your end goals are and then use the given guide to determine what action you need to take RIGHT NOW.

Basically, what you need to do right now is:

Achieve Arabic Literacy

Goals:

Be able to read and write in Arabic, and identify letters in context.

Action steps:

Learn the Arabic Alphabet (Ch 1-2 of Noorani Qaida)
Learn the pronunciation of each and every letter, in each and every scenario (Ch 3 of Noorani Qaida;)
Learn the arabic vowels (Ch 5-8 of Noorani Qaida)
Click here for a full course on alphabets and here for a full course on vowels

Now, you have two options. You can either:

Focus on the Quran (classical arabic; useful if your goal is to read the Quran and to please Allah S.W.T)

Focus on MSA (modern standard arabic; useful if you want to converse with people in Arabic)

Key info: MSA and Classical/Quranic Arabic only have minor differences;

a person can simply learn one and then the other.

For Classical/Quranic Arabic

Goals:

Recite the Quran well enough to please Allah S.W.T 😊
Either memorise (hifz) or understand the Quran.

Action steps:

Learn beginner level tajweed (tajweed is Quranic grammar that allows you to recite the Quran with perfection; click here for a full tajweed course 👏; Ch 4,9-18 of Noorani Qaida; learning tajweed is difficult, it is advisable to learn from a tutor)
Start reciting the Quran - this simultaneously improves your tajweed and pronunciation

Pro tip: Listen to your favourite Quran Reciter while reciting

the quran; this will boost your recitation 10x

Start memorising the Quran if you want to become a hafiz (a person who knows the entire quran by heart)

Start learning Quranic Arabic if you want to understand the Quran

For Modern Standard Arabic

Goals:

Reach fluency in Arabic.

Action steps:

Watch this; How to learn SPOKEN ARABIC on your own (Fast!)

Pro tip: Take lessons. In your lessons, speak as little English as possible;

challenge yourself. Moreover, take notes during the lessons and review

them later.

Pro tip 2: In your own time, listen to podcasts. Listen carefully to native

Audio, write down what you don’t understand, take notes,

review them, make progress 👏.

Now that you know exactly what you need to do in order to achieve your goals, let's look at the timeline in order to know how long it will take you to achieve those goals.

Timeline

Consider these estimates as optimistic projections of the time it might take you to reach your goals. However, it's important to keep in mind that many individuals have achieved their goals much faster than they initially anticipated – and you could very well be one of them.

But it's also essential to acknowledge that everyone learns at their own unique pace.

Protip: Instead of fixating on the rate of progress, focus on the amount

of motivation and determination you possess; these qualities

will ultimately determine the final outcome

Now that we know how long it will take you to achieve your goals, I want to give you some extremely practical tips that will aid you in your Arabic-learning journey.

Key info: The next few tips are pure gold.

Tips and tricks

For modern standard Arabic:

STAY MOTIVATED. Learning Arabic is a HUGE task, and if it isn’t fulfilling, then you’re almost guaranteed to fail. Click here for some study motivation 👏
Have a structures study plan:

10 minutes of reading anything everyday
10 minutes of listening to anything everyday
10 minutes of speaking about anything everyday
10 minutes of writing about anything everyday
learn 5 new words per day
Mark your errors and make short notes in order to rehearse them. In this way, you can overcome them in no time.

Now, all you need to do is PRACTICE

For the Alphabet and Pronunciation:

Every alphabet has a different articulation point (makharij) which, after skillfully mastering, can make reciting the Quran easy. Click here for a full course on pronunciation.
As soon as you have memorised even a few letters, try to recognize them in everyday words.Start reading and actively searching for the letters you know in every word you come across.

For the Quran:

Use a colour-coded Quran

The idea behind the colour coded Quran is to colour the letters that contain a Tajweed rule, so as the reader recites the Quran, they will be able to apply the correct Tajweed rule through the colour of the letter.

There is no universal colour-coded quran; It is difficult to understand what tajweed rules the colours refer to. Therefore, it is advisable to get a tutor's help.

Furthermore, you can test ALL of your tajweed with just one short surah 👏

Links and resources

Remember when I said ,’...it is advisable to learn from a tutor’? Well, I wasn’t joking. You can only get so far on youtube videos, and that point is quite far, but there's nothing like the immersion and ease you feel when you actually talk to or learn from a native speaker. If you want to reach fluency, then learning from a tutor is a must. But I didn’t write this entire article to sell you on my classes (click here, if ur interested 😇), so here are some amazing courses that will help you get halfway through your Arabic learning journey.

This is a collection of all the resources that have been given throughout

this article, with a few extras 👀 - credit has been given where credit is due.

Courses

Essentials

Motivation 🏃

Random

NOTE: ALL ISLAMIC SCHOLARS RECOMMEND LEARNING WITH A TEACHER.

FORTUNATELY, YOU CAN GET HALFWAY THROUGH THIS LIFELONG

JORUNEY WITHOUT A TUTOR.

If you've reached this point, it's evident that your commitment to learning Arabic is strong, and you likely have a solid plan in mind. However, if you still have any doubts or questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me for further guidance. I'm here to help you achieve your Arabic/Quran learning goals :) To take the next step and schedule online classes, simply contact me here (LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE). Let's embark on this Arabic learning journey together!

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Good Muslim's guide to the Quran