Discovery

Ahsant! I started to take Arabic classes.

How it happened. When I was in Lahore, I got an email from Mariam with the brochure of Arabic course. Timing was fantastically perfect: 15 days starting from 6th of June till 21st, so I decided to give it a shot.

First of all I called the teacher to find out details about the course.

I: As’salam maleikum.

Teacher: Waaleikum assalaam, sister.

I (surprised by the title): May I know the structure of the course and expected outcome? What will students know by the end of it?

Teacher: It’s the course from the University of Medina, course for beginners.

I (not getting the point): Do you think I will be able to speak basic Arabic by the end?

Teacher: InshAllah.

I (still trying to get more details): And.. Will I be able to read and write basic things as well?

Teacher: InshAllah.

Frankly speaking, I expected a different answer. Objectives of the course, main topics, desired outcomes and so on, you know. Alright - I thought - lets follow the will of God.

I: May I know how many students are expected in the class?

Teacher: 25 students, InshAllah.

I: Thank you.

When I came for my first class, I saw our Arabic teacher with whom I’d spoken on the phone before. The Teacher is a middle-aged man with a beard. That day he was wearing white long kurta covering all his body.

The classroom had 4 rows of chairs, a white board, a case with several books, and a big green plant in the corner.

I sat down on the first row, to be able to see what is written on the white board. Soon after other students started to arrive, mostly guys, sitting next to me. Having noticed that, the Teacher said: “Brothers are sitting in the front, sisters are sitting on the back. Please change your places accordingly”

“Interesting” - I thought - “Learning the language is indeed a good way to get insight on the culture”.

After passing a short message to God in Arabic (probably asking for support in studies), the Teacher started the lesson.

The Teacher: “Brothers and sisters, I will tell you 3 reasons why someone should know Arabic.

1 - Arabic is the language of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the holy Qaran that we are following.

2 - The country where Arabic is spoken is perfect: it has excellent fruit, excellent buildings and excellent people.

3 - Arabic is the language we will all speak when we go to an after life stage.

Know you see why we all must know this language”.

I was so impressed by the description of the excellent country and “after life” Arabic talks that even forgot my own (quite materialistic!) reason for learning this language.

During the next 2 hours we were not speaking English - only Arabic - with the help of all things around the room, our enthusiastic Teacher, and his drawings - magically appearing on the white board cats and hourses, ships and planes, plates and glasses, men and women, and Arabic letters.

Sometimes the Teacher was asking each of the students one by oneto stand up, replace him in front of the class and take his role - asking the rest of the group questions in Arabic (for practice). Interestingly, when I was out there, guys barely looked at my eyes! They were looking everywhere, but not at me, however answering all my questions. It is something I was not expecting. I knew from experience that even amongst Pakistani (~Muslim, conservative) people “avoiding eye contact” behavior is not being practiced very often.

Anyways, it was almost 8pm - namaaz (prayer) time. The Teacher asked the group who would like to pray. All men spread the prayer mats on the other side of the room. Women kept sitting on their places, so the Teacher continued the lesson with only women till the time men were done with their rituals and we all resumed the class for another 30 min.

Another surprise came by the end of the class, when the Teacher gave us the study books. They were to open and read from right to left, and … in pure Arabic! Arabic script is very similar to Urdu, so other students could easily read everything that is there. So for them it’s like studying Arabic in Urdu, their native language. Yet I have the double fun - studying Arabic in Urdu, and not even in English, both far from my mother tongue. Luckily, I also know an Urdu script thori-thori (basics), thanks God I had a really nice Urdu teacher back home:)

All in all, I absolutely loved the class and looking forward for the further ones. Which are btw happening every day for 3 hours;)