The Method of Teaching Arabic Language and Literature
Our esteemed colleague, Mawlānā Ṣafwān Aḥmad Ḥalīmī Qāsimī, has asked what is the correct method for teaching Arabic language and literature.
The Arabic language is not merely a collection of words; it is the cradle of civilisation and thought. It is the language in which the Qurʾān was revealed, without which access to the true spirit of the Islamic legacy is impossible. It is the key that opens before us the treasures of past scholarship and literature, and it is also the door through which knowledge is created and dialogue is conducted with other peoples in the present and future. For this reason, it is necessary that the teaching of Arabic language and literature be based on a comprehensive and effective methodology—one that safeguards authenticity while engaging with contemporaneity, and one that harmonises linguistic competence with literary taste.
Learners of Arabic are of diverse kinds: some know Arabic as their mother tongue, while others study it as a second language. Their purposes may differ, yet the essential aim remains one—to attain such proficiency in the language that one may comprehend the depths of texts, write with fluency, and speak with confidence. To reach this goal, the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are interconnected; none can be isolated from the others, nor can any be neglected. Gradual progression and repetition are the path that leads the learner towards mastery.
In the selection of texts, the language of the Qurʾān and ḥadīth, pre-Islamic poetry, ʿAbbāsid and Andalusian literature, the literature of the revivalist movements, and modern writing should all be included, so that students may acquaint themselves with different styles and modes of expression. These texts should not merely be for reading, but must be accompanied with commentaries, questions, and practical exercises, so that knowledge does not remain theoretical but becomes practical understanding. Grammar and morphology too only remain alive when linked with the living use of language. Examples, exercises, and applied activities are what truly introduce students to the real usage of the language.
The modern age has provided us with resources that were unavailable to earlier scholars. Digital platforms, audio-visual media, videos, and the internet should all be incorporated into teaching. These not only strengthen listening and speaking skills but also instil confidence in the students and encourage them towards independent study. Literature is not a play with words but a mirror of life. In literature there is a cry for freedom, a pursuit of justice, and a reflection of human experience. Therefore, students should be trained in rhetoric, literary analysis, and creative writing, so that they may develop the courage to compose stories, the skill to structure essays, and the taste to compose poetry.
In teaching Arabic literature, the arrangement of textbooks is of great importance. For the elementary level, basic series such as al-ʿArabiyyah lil-nāshiʾīn, the Umm al-Qurāʾ University series, or any similar sequence, together with works like Qiṣaṣ al-nabiyyīn by Mawlānā Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Nadwī, Ṣuwar min ḥayāt al-ṣaḥābah and Ṣuwar min ḥayāt al-tābiʿīn by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Rāfiʿt Bāshā, as well as applied grammar, vocabulary training, and introductory readings, are suitable.
Thereafter, Kalīlah wa Dimnah is especially effective in teaching students literary refinement, rhetorical strength, and eloquence. Selected anthologies such as Majmūʿah min al-naẓm wa al-nathr lil-ḥifẓ wa al-tasmīʿ, Manthūrāt min adab al-ʿArab by Mawlānā Muḥammad Rābiʿ Ḥasanī, and Mukhtārāt min adab al-ʿArab by Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Nadwī provide students with an appreciation of the beauties of prose and poetry and practical exercises in memorisation.
Classical poetic and literary texts such as selected portions from Dīwān al-Ḥamāsah and the collections of the pre-Islamic and Islamic poets (the Muʿallaqāt al-sabʿ, Ḥassān ibn Thābit, al-Farazdaq, Jarīr, al-Akhtal, Bashshār ibn Burd, Abū Nuwās, Abū Tammām, al-Buḥturī, al-Mutanabbī, Abū al-ʿAlāʾ, Ibn al-Muʿtazz, Ibn al-Rūmī), and the diwans of modern poets such as Aḥmad Shawqī and Muḥammad Mahdī al-Jawāhirī, expand students’ literary taste and intellectual horizons. The foundation of literary principles and techniques rests upon four seminal works: Adab al-kātib by Ibn Qutaybah, al-Kāmil by al-Mubarrad, al-Bayān wa al-tabyīn by al-Jāḥiẓ, and al-Nawādir by Abū ʿAlī al-Qālī, which function as the pillars of literary instruction.
In the study of contemporary literature, the writings of Muṣṭafā Luṭfī al-Manfalūṭī, Ṭāhā Ḥusayn, Aḥmad Amīn, Muṣṭafā Ṣādiq al-Rāfiʿī, Shaykh ʿAlī al-Ṭanṭāwī, Mawlānā Masʿūd ʿĀlam Nadwī, and Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Nadwī cultivate in students both intellectual breadth and literary refinement.
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Disclaimer: This article was translated by AI. Original post: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/7051
