Early Islamic Texts:
An Intermediate-Advanced Arabic Course
Sign up below for the Fall Term! Registration closes September 5th.
Course Description
This course is for all Arabic students who have wanted to start reading the Qur’an, hadith and other classical Islamic texts, but who don’t know where to start. We know how intimidating it can be to make the transition from “textbook Arabic” to reading authentic texts, which is why we designed this course based on years of experience in helping students to navigate this transition.
“Early Islamic Texts” seeks to provide a first encounter with some of the foundational texts of the Islamic tradition. Through a carefully chosen selection of texts of gradually increasing difficulty, the course aims to build up the confidence of students to read Qur’an, hadith, and other texts from the Islamic tradition in the original Arabic.
In this course, we will read a selection of some of the foundational texts of Islam, including:
- Selected surahs of the Qur’an
- Prophetic hadith
- Sira narratives
This course will be taught in English, but we will of course still be reading the texts in their original Arabic.
The course’s focus is primarily linguistic, and aims to develop the ability of students to read and understand Classical Arabic texts on their own. Discussion will naturally include religious and historical elements in these texts, but the course is open to people of all faith backgrounds and no particular sectarian interpretation will be imposed.
Details
- Cost: $99
- Class meets Sundays, 1 pm – 2 pm EST
- Class meets once a week for 8 sessions
- Class begins September 7th
- Recording available for students who can’t attend live.
- Course materials will be provided by instructor
Prerequisites
Two years of Modern Standard Arabic / four semesters at university level
For students who have learned Arabic through the Madinah Arabic books, you should be ready for this course after completing Book 8, or possibly Book 6.
Instructors
Brian Powell is a translator and scholar of Classical Arabic and Persian literature. He is the author of the proverb collection 1,001 Arabic Proverbs with English Translation. In over 12 years as an Arabic translator, he has translated a number of works into English, including Mysteries of the Sufi Path, The Hawza and the State and al-Maturidi’s Kitab al-Tawhid.
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