As-Sharif Institute · Quranic Arabic
Learn Quranic Arabic Online
You already have the meaning — years of reading the English Qur'an will do that. What you're missing is the directness. In Salah, in a khutbah, when a sheikh recites — the Arabic is there and you're one step removed. One-to-one lessons built to close that gap, starting from exactly where you are.
The Madinah Arabic Reader curriculum — letters first, then words, then sentences, then real ayaat. A serious student doing the work: within a year, basic Quranic words start landing without having to think. Taught by a Hafidh with a diploma in Arabic language teaching from Umm Al-Qura University, currently studying at the Islamic University of Madinah.
What is Quranic Arabic?
Quranic Arabic is the classical Arabic in which the Qur'an was revealed — a precise, structured language with its own grammar, vocabulary, and patterns that do not appear in modern spoken dialects.
Understanding it means reading directly from the Qur'an, following a scholar's lecture without translation, and experiencing Salah as something more than recitation.
It is not the same as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Egyptian dialect, or Gulf Arabic. Apps and conversation courses teach those. Quranic Arabic requires its own programme — one built on classical grammar and the vocabulary that actually appears in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
What you will be able to do
- Hear a word in Salah and recognise it — not look it up after
- Follow the structure of a Quranic sentence, not just its individual words
- Sit through a khutbah or Taraweeh recitation and catch what is being said
- Read tafseer, hadith, and fiqh texts in Arabic — directly, without a translation
- Build vocabulary from the roots that appear most in the Qur'an
- Connect with the Qur'an during Salah — not just reciting, but understanding what you are saying
The curriculum
The Madinah Arabic Reader is an eight-book series written for the Islamic University of Madinah. It is the most complete classical Arabic curriculum available for non-native adult learners of the Qur'an.
Stage 1 — Foundation
Reading and Writing
Before vocabulary comes fluency in the script. You learn to read, write, and connect Arabic letters correctly — the stage most adults were never taught properly.
Stage 2 — Book 1 of the Madinah Arabic Reader
First words, first sentences
The Madinah Arabic Reader is the curriculum used at the Islamic University of Madinah — the same university Ustādh Faris studies at. Book 1 builds your first vocabulary bank and introduces the patterns that govern Arabic grammar.
Stage 3 — Books 2–4
Grammar in depth
Verb forms, case endings, and sentence structures. You stop memorising rules and start seeing them live inside Quranic ayaat and authentic hadith.
Stage 4 — Al-Ājurrūmiyyah
Classical Arabic grammar
The foundational grammar primer studied by generations of Arabic scholars. At this stage you are reading original texts — not a simplified version. Most online courses never reach here.
Stage 5 — Islamic Texts
Reading the scholars directly
Tafseer, hadith collections, and fiqh texts — in Arabic. The goal of everything before this.
Why one-to-one lessons work
Most students who have tried to learn Quranic Arabic before have tried a course, an app, or a series of videos. They know what is in those. Here is what is different.
Your pace, your gaps
A video course moves at the same speed for every student. Your teacher moves at your speed — slowing down where it needs more time, skipping what you already know. When a concept is not landing, it does not move on until it does.
Real-time correction
Arabic is precise. One vowel wrong and the meaning changes. Every mispronunciation, every error, gets caught the moment it appears — not weeks later when the habit has set.
Accountability that sticks
A course you can pause never builds the habit. A scheduled lesson with a teacher who knows your name and your level does. Most students who start here stay.
A curriculum, not a checklist
The Madinah Arabic Reader is eight books written for the Islamic University of Madinah. Each stage builds the last. There is no shortcut to the grammar making sense — and that is exactly the point.
Your teacher
Ustādh Faris Sharif is a Hafidh of the Qur'an — he memorised the complete Qur'an under a Sheikh who holds Ijāzah, under the supervision of Khayrakum Institute, Jeddah, with a grade of 90% (Mumtaz).
He holds a diploma in Arabic language teaching from Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, and is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah.
He is also fluent in the Madinah Arabic Reader curriculum and teaches Al-Ājurrūmiyyah — one of the foundational classical grammar texts — to students who reach that level.
Credentials are shown in full on the teacher page.
Common questions
Do I need any prior Arabic knowledge to start?
No. If you cannot yet read the Arabic script, we begin there. The programme runs from absolute beginner all the way through to reading classical texts — you start where you are.
What is the Madinah Arabic Reader?
It is the Arabic language curriculum written and used at the Islamic University of Madinah — the university where Ustādh Faris currently studies. It was developed specifically for non-native adults who want to read and understand classical Arabic, not just speak Modern Standard Arabic.
How is this different from apps like Duolingo or Pimsleur?
Those tools teach conversational or Modern Standard Arabic. Quranic Arabic requires understanding classical grammar, root-word patterns, and the specific vocabulary that appears in the Qur'an. They are different subjects. The Madinah Arabic Reader addresses Quranic Arabic directly.
How long does it take to understand the Qur'an in Arabic?
A serious student who attends weekly lessons and does the work between sessions typically reads from simple Islamic texts by the end of Book 2, and follows Quranic Arabic with reasonable confidence by Book 3–4. Most students begin noticing meaning in Salah within a few months of starting.
Do you teach sisters?
Yes. As-Sharif Institute has a dedicated Sisters Division led by a female teacher. All sessions are private and female-only.
How do lessons work?
Lessons are live, one-to-one, and conducted over Zoom. You receive a written plan before each lesson and homework after. Your teacher reviews your homework before the next session and adjusts accordingly.
Start from where you are.
45 minutes. Your teacher finds out where you are, identifies the gaps, and sets out a clear path forward built around your schedule and your life. Not a test. Not guesswork. A real session with a real plan at the end of it.