 So welcome everyone to another interview of how I learned Arabic stories And I'm here joined by my brother Rashid Al Madaniyu. Masha'Allah So you guys know how it goes You know, I bring you guys people who went from not knowing Arabic to knowing Arabic and And Yeah, man He's always beneficial to hear stories for those who are you know at the point where they are willing to learn Arabic But you know they get anxious on how it's gonna happen and this and that so I kind of bring you guys a little bit of an insight of How it is to go from not knowing Arabic to knowing Arabic So first of all I would like our brother Rashid to to to introduce himself and tell us a little bit about He's upbringing and you know a little bit about you really Okay This is your brother in Islam Rashid Al Madaniyu. Alhamdulillah that Allah blessed me To be with you guys to be to be in the company of brother Muhammad I do hope that the name is Curly for now so I have half of the Quran Alhamdulillah by the age of eight I finished memorizing the Quran even when I didn't know in my own language, so Allah bless me with that. Alhamdulillah Later on I have since this session between the age of eight and ten in Haram and Nabawi in Medina and Went back to Bangladesh did my five years of GCSE study or we could say that it is elementary school study after the primary And later on I came back to study my Sanawiyah, which is equivalent to a level That was in Arabic medium The one that I did in Bangladesh in Bengali medium where the language is included English Bengali and Arabic But the medium of teaching was Bengali so later on when I went back to Medina. Alhamdulillah. I studied in Sanawiyah While I was studying it in Arabic So For the Then of course these were just What it was the A levels in Sanawiyah, but later on in the jamma the out we also Subjects even in the deeper level because elements of our language in Sanawiyah varies It comes to the elements of learning Arabic Ungraduated college level Alhamdulillah Also with the group studies it was Focused only in Arabic even if you were to say anything in our own language you would have been sold out by the teacher And they encouraged us and encouraged as well. Alhamdulillah, even if we made me say Digital matters, you know, they said and they were something like Laugh at us when we are even making mistakes talking in Arabic language. So that was rather Encouraging for not only me but also this too is that I was I was surrounded by Alhamdulillah so currently here Imam in Ireland Alhamdulillah as well as Khatil as well as teachers of the Quran and Arabic Alhamdulillah for both adults as well as children In Ireland Alhamdulillah, which is the rule of parts of our language Masha'Allah Okay, Alhamdulillah Okay, so That was a really, you know That was a lot of information in the in the introduction already Alhamdulillah for that and so I wanted to ask you because You was telling me that That you kind of Learned Arabic a little bit in a in a natural way like, you know, your father Had the the opportunity to bring you guys to to Medina So obviously, you know, I can tell you that that when you are young you are a sponge Hello, can you hear me? Sorry, you were saying that my parents brought me to Medina from there I couldn't hear because the connection was locked. Okay, so so your your your parents brought you to Medina and And obviously you were young so and we know that when we young we kind of absorb everything super fast so how was your your process of of You know, no, not knowing Arabic until you were actually to you know, just literally conversate You know in the in the in the Medina dialect What was like the time frame? How Sorry, how was my process to what from there? Connection was rather poor. Yeah, what was your process from not knowing Arabic until you was able to conversate as a You know as a second language or at least really fluent well The thing that I was doing at my young when I was young There have been moments where you know, well, you know, I would cry literally when people laugh at me while I'm making a mistake however, there was no like Basic support from my parents as there was something called nationalism in our family, but later on Alhamdulillah opened their hearts and They started giving me some books that are Excuse me that are in Arabic, Alhamdulillah, so I started practicing them even when I was young Even though it was like a basic level because this the background that I came from There was an emphasis that if you don't learn English if you don't go through the secular studies Take a little style of education that you will have no dignity. You would have no respect in the world. No reputation No, sure or whatever Whatever the thing that they feed you when you are young No, the when I memorized the Quran that really gave them something You know that yeah, at least the Sun would be able to do something for us when he is old At least through the knowledge of Quran So that in person or that opening heart from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to my parents Let her encourage me to do something especially the basic Arabic Alphabet if I may say even though I was quite late to do the prompt education the word Memorizing it in a way or as you rightly said that I was fed So a memory of my memory in a way that I couldn't even imagine So between the age of eight and an age of 13, I would rather say Things were not as bumpy as people would assume And the latter, you know, I was really into a writing Arabic as well as reading Arabic and That really supported me the process that parents were constantly Looking up looking for me and making sure that I'm doing what they hope Would be best for me in terms of being Propagator of al-iflah. So that is something That wanted me to be So they made sure that whatever the things that are necessary, you know They were provided even when I was in Bangladesh as well because there were teachers who were keen to support me a lot as my father was rather Supporting and he didn't leave any door open For me not to learn Arabic even from that young lady, especially being good in Good being good in a thought So, yes, whatever the books that were needed even in the Bali language They were those were provided to me by my father, especially Alhamdulillah It really helped me from the young age to be in love with Arabic language Primarily, I would also say that Quran is something in Arabic that even if people do not speak Arabic They have the basic of Arabic As Allah says Quran and Arabic In detail Quran in Arabic so that you may comprehend No, the part of that comprehend comprehension. I believe personally and Allah knows best that going through the Nahoo and also Al-Arabi al-Adab al-Arabi the Arab literature in thought as well as in Nahoo Particularly in Nahoo when we're going through examples, there were verses of the Quran put into practice Yeah, so verses Okay, here we go find out what is the grammatical this that I had that practice from the very young age and it was continued until even after my undergraduate education Yeah, I think I mean definitely memorizing the Quran. It does give you a lot of vocabulary That when you then come to a book and see for example, Sayyara or You know All of this stuff is always it's always. Oh, yeah, that's like a ha moment a ha moment like they say in In America, I don't know if you guys say that in in the UK. I've been asking for brothers Moments, they don't understand Okay, so so Was your well, I think for you it was a little bit different because it was your parents kind of thing who pushed you but was there any any type of turning point or something that happened in in in your life that Made you or your parents say, okay, he needs to go ahead and learn Arabic now I remember my dad to be really anxious Okay, because There was a moment I was losing Arabic as well due to you know, when someone goes through a teen more teenage part between the age of 12 and 17 there was a moment where I had some you know down bits if I may say Like I was going down and I was totally off the track from my excellence in Arabic language even at that age so I Had to take a study break and my family was rather quite supportive because of that because I need to I had to pull myself together even at that age So I had to wait for a year or two as I as far as I can remember So later on, you know, it was my dad who was so hopeful and so passionate and so Emotional in terms of me learning the Arabic the only thing that he could think of Was going back to Medina the way that I was young and I was led a lot, you know conversation Arabic but Later, and I'm good at that brought me back in Alhamdulillah By the way, he still isn't with him. Alhamdulillah. I said the good thing that I still want to I Still, you know, take pride in So It is kind of what I love because of the dua man and that's why I was brought me back to Medina And I remember that as soon as I just entered the Medina. Well, I think that's when I just put off the play the Feeling that I had at that time was totally different It was like, you know Wait, I didn't have this feeling As soon as I went back to Bangladesh when I was like 10 years old Now that same feeling that I lost The feelings the feeling And from there, you know onwards Alhamdulillah, it was like an easy right Literally an easy right for me. All I had to do is just practice what I lost and you know, you know, refresh my memory In terms of reading the Quran first and foremost then I'm going through things like Nahu again Again Arabic literature, then of course Hussur al-Hadeed And all these things I Found them to be easy. Why because Allah blessed me to be in this party in Medina. Alhamdulillah brought me back and of course You know, I Have regret I have regret because when I was in Bangladesh, I had you know, I had moments where I totally lost that fact So coming back to that track again The best place was to be in Medina as you know, Allah blessed me to be there Was a kind of what he called a changing moment in a whole life really and since then Alhamdulillah, you know Things were really super easy You know Quran was in my heart. Alhamdulillah. What often I may have revised and also Contemplation What do I mean by that? You know, Allah says in the Quran So the book that will reveal to you or Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam So that they contemplate on these On his signs Now if I just talk the word Yadab Of course, we have you know, I went through the teachings of Nahu there and I also put The thinking of surf there and many other things just to understand what you have Nahu there You have surf there then also you have the greater You know understanding surrounding this This word so it was like wait a second. It seems that comes back Subhanallah Well, I need to do that. Remember when I had these thoughts even it now we just go to the sujood Allah So I was like really shouldn't leave it but they found Alhamdulillah For the purpose of Da'wa for the purpose of being mom over here. I have been in Europe for like last 10 years But those moments if I compared the good and bad, you know, really, you know No No, thank you. So in terms of learning the Arabic language, what was the actual practical practical method That you used once you you actually got into classes and You know in the formal quote-unquote way of study Hmm, I think First and foremost Listening and paying attention to what is being said I was there. Alhamdulillah. That was the main thing because my learning style is this is whatever I hear I say That's the good thing the way that for example, I'm talking English now in a British I didn't have this in British accent when I was talking in English. So Like, you know, when you have like podcast or audio clips that you hear or when you see people are talking You are so attentive and you are listening to how things are being said That is what helped me and one of the ways because when I was doing Oolah, San'awee, then I remember in the Oolah, San'awee, I was struggling to an extent. I remember even failing Helps of teachers and friends. I found that so The element of listening attentively something Enough I was there was a bit of trouble in terms of, you know, not having the haraq up in the words in the books that we were reading Because you know, the Quran is with haraqa No, I didn't to go mad Shadda and everything That I learned when I was when I memorized the Quran So that is struggling later on became easier whenever I was listening to the teacher in the San'awee, in Marhala, San'awee And I was putting the haraqat if necessary because sometimes, you know at the end of the word, you don't know what haraqat would be there That is what I was paying attention to and of course, it was really good The extreme efforts that I remember putting was in the book of An-Nahruh Mm-hmm in the book of An-Nahruh as well as the second comes Al-Adab Al-Arabi So these are the things That made me understand and made me, you know Talk the way that they were talking because it was like first It was not like, you know, colloquial Arabic or the local accent that we would use that is something No, I believe the special learners of Arabic we should pay attention to so So that was in San'awee, you said? Yes, in San'awee I'm talking about Alhamdulillah in the second year of San'awee, later on things became easy and I was With you know, I was extremely confident. I'm not being sensible I think this is what I was, this is who I was at that time and Alhamdulillah Later on I became, you know in the college you have that a group of You know people that would make sure that disciplines don't break and disciplines don't go So I was in that as well Because of my extreme efforts in learning Arabic and I started talking to anyone I started talking to anyone even Even if I of course I didn't have mistakes, but Alhamdulillah was in the level that I was 80% good in Arabic So, so what was the book you guys studied in the San'awee or was it just? Was it just that the book of of the uni? Not sure, I think the book that were of the syllabus. I can't remember SubhanAllah Really, it was like long time ago. I'm sorry. No because many many times as well. They have just They don't even have a actual known book like for example, I don't know when I was in San'awee in Al-Azhar We used to do Shar-Hibna Akheel And we used to do Al-Feeh Abnamalik as well. So it was You know like you can talk it. Yeah, that's the book we study in but in other in other universities They just really use the You know, whatever whatever they have put together from for themselves, you know They have a teacher Arabic teacher and he just puts together a bunch of books I think that might be the case maybe in in Medina because was it was it the San'awee in in Jami'a Islami What's the name? Jami'a Islami'a Bil Medina, was it that same one? Yeah, same one. That's the thing. Okay. That's what I was gonna say You know Jami'a Islami'a Bil Medina Munawwara. It has three branches. What one you have the Hadith al-Madaniyah for Shoa'batiha The second one is Mahad Islami that is within the campus of the Islamic University and the third one was the Hadith al-Madaniyah That is in Mecca three of them Yeah, under the Islamic University of Medina and there is something that we need to pay attention here Normal San'awee study in Saudi Arabia is under wuzarat al-Turbia wa ta'alib Mm-hmm. Whereas our San'awee is under wuzarat al-Ta'alim al-Aali wuzarat al-Turbia wa ta'alim means Ministry of upbringing and education whereas our study was under the ministry of higher education So even from the San'awee level you coming from that you had that extreme upbringing extreme, you know Uh, some level of teaching in the higher level socially So the book that we had was uh by the ministry of higher education would have been different and it was different Unfortunately, I don't remember the names of the book uh are different in comparison to the books that are for the students under the ministry of upbringing and uh, education You understand what i'm coming from Al-Turbia or the books that traditionally Nowadays the the people are advised especially the people who are from the western part of the world Were not there at the time. It was like kind of additional subject if the students feel to do that It's like uh, uh, no, I feel if I may say so But the books actually The books the books that were taught by the teachers were different in terms of uh, what we know Like uh, it is true that when you go to, uh, help or help them to like, you know Learning things in a Like memorizing points really. Yeah, it would have been easier Sometimes, uh, what do you call? Uh, it shouldn't have been that easy. I personally didn't do I didn't do that the only only love that I had was uh The book of However, she did still learning how to memorize that just to you know Masha'Allah Thanks. So while learning the Arabic language, right? And and I'm pretty sure that what we actually Slightly spoke about this, but do you have any can you remember any Main aha moment when you was where you was like oh subhan Allah like Yeah, this is uh You know like that that aha moment if you know what I mean Like me for example when I was uh when I started learning Arabic I was like You know, we went through the process of of learning the tasrifat. We just we're just focusing on learning tasrifat The how we have we eat have I can I could cool, uh, you know, all of this tasrifat and then When uh, when I was learning when I came to the verb, uh Ghafira yagfiru Iqfir And I memorized the word and then the next prayer I went to the next salat that I prayed I was like, I was like You know the The verb or the command the amr for ghafira and then everything basically starts making sense So that was one of my aha moments. Do you have any uh any moment like this? what Funny enough that when it came to the dua the way that you had this moment I had Coincidence I had these moments too as well because whenever I used to listen to the dua as I was really frequent Gover to the haram and never we especially during the month of Ramadan I had these moments Subhanallah, I really had these moments uh As I mentioned earlier that I was going through the serf as you know Imagine in Bangladesh style if I may say uh, like a uh additional point that we had to memorize this And so on and so forth Whereas I didn't find this in Saudi Arabia However, when I went through these words, hey Wait a second. I do remember learning these words This is slightly, you know, different. So I did have these moments quite a lot rather No But on the top of my head Apart from this, I don't know. Uh, I don't remember currently any other things But yeah, quite often it was related to the serf because the method of methodology used uh to teach uh me The serf as well as Nahouf We had these things. Alhamdulillah, you know, uh covered and I did have a lot of aha moments if I may say No, it's just that I remember This one no Taif so I had these moments when uh, when I'm used to the said way He's raising it or he raises it So I did have I did have these moments especially in terms of, uh, mudhara Mudhara a lot in terms of modern Mabi No Taif so So obviously right now you have been living in the UK for 10 years, I would say Right That's what you said. So, um Yeah, so, you know, Arabic language he tends in terms of the conversational Uh level he tends to You know So what would you say without being humble without being humble right now even though in Arabic? What would you say your conversational skills are from one to 10? I would say 10 Without any resolution, I would say 10 Wallahi, I would say 10 Because because Alhamdulillah You know as soon as it came to the UK You know first I went to the university education over here that I did human resource management and the marketing which is totally off Of the thread that I was on totally business It is joint honors double Double major there So when I was studying, of course, I had students from different backgrounds, especially the languages that I knew So besides Bengali, which is my mother tongue. I knew Arabic. I knew Urdu and of course English was the medium when I was When I started living in the UK So I started hanging around also with the friends that are from Saudi Arabia Because I was living there I didn't lose that Arabic language since then and also First time in my life Tell you this and this is something really shocking. I haven't done while I was in Medina As well as in Bangladesh. I haven't delivered Khutbah for Jumu'ah anywhere in the world until I came to the UK So I remember I gave it to Arabic in English and in Bengali as well three languages In one khutbah one single khutbah Yeah, that's a boosted my confidence and since then Alhamdulillah when I was you know giving a khutbah I was really really passionate even like, you know, no Sorry, you cut off You said, you know things in arab Even there's things reading in arabic. I was Alhamdulillah really good at it. So Alhamdulillah, so um So what do you think is the hardest part of learning arabic? The hardest part of learning in arabic is that when uh Primarily if I say that things are not on the right place Okay When I say things are not in the right place. I mean Is this that priorities are mixed up Like from the perspective perspective of an english-speaking person Exactly exactly You know first, you know one thing I learned let's tell you something here and it is applicable even to us muslims as well Alhamdulillah that when I came to the UK I had to go through an analysis self analysis What what do I mean by that? First, you need to discover yourself in terms of what Ways that you can learn things. What are you good at? What are you bad at? And later on act upon those things that will take you to the desired destination If it is the English for example, I will give you the English English perspective My English is better because I remember downloading bbci player when I was in the UK And of course I had to put the subtitles on In terms of reading it and listening to how things are pronounced. This is me Visual learning as well or you know audio learning So what were the subtitles in what language were the subtitles? The subtitles in my mind Oh, okay, the title was in English The title was in English too as well. Okay, but you need to read it to read Exactly So I know that in Arabic language things have not been developed in that way yet, but there is alhamdulillah. There are alhamdulillah Nowadays I have seen that you have Arabic programs being watched by the Arabic subtitle as well So this is good The only thing is that that in Arabic language when we see the subtitles there are no harakas. That is the hiccup to do The it is still there so First the person who is a non-arabic speaker needs to know What are the good ways and writing things down that yeah, this is what I'm this is what I'm better If these good ways that can be utilized to learn the arabic well, alhamdulillah, I should use that So this is the priority from the priority perspective that yeah, let me try this I believe that I would succeed inshallah and confidence would come only if you know That if you know yourself better than anyone else, of course, the people to help you If the helps are worthy, alhamdulillah take those helps and later on try to apply for those things And rather than jumping everywhere in terms of learning Arabic like, you know, there are some people who are so hyped so hyped Like hyperactive, I would say But hey, think Apply those steps that you think would be successful to do To learn the arabic Okay, then take a step slowly arabic is something well, alhamdulillah. I can say that it is hard to forget and also The person needs to be really patient Rather than being carried away Anthony So yes, these are my advice that I would I would give to the people who would go for learning arabic inshallah No type so So right now Well, obviously it's been a long time that you know arabic now, but what we think For someone who who or even you can tell for yourself Maybe but from not knowing arabic to knowing arabic What we what will you say is how big of an impact it has into someone's life Islamically if I may say so it changed me a lot. Why because Love lets me to understand the words of the Quran even at the later Alhamdulillah, you know when I go for the last couple of years or There I say for the last five six years You know when I deliver a talk for example to a group of people or let's say we are having a conversation on certain topic Things come to my mind. Why because I understand them So when people understand these things it would automatically change the person from bad to good no matter what Amazing thing is that Allah shows arabic language for the Quran. So when we speak arabic wallahi Even if you are not happy of Quran You you would remember. Hey, there are some words these are the words that I'm saying Some of them are also in the Quran And quite often people forget that yeah arabic The arabic grammar or things like that are derived from the Quran because there was a time During the sahaba we noticed that people were reading it wrong and later on we know that it was a I mean a little bit probably but the law and it came up with this nahoo The nahoo book or those people who were making sure that things are not read wrongly so Even if you're not happy the Quran you remember. Hey, I understand this word Understand this I'm do I need to make sure that I don't go off the track I need to make sure that I'm on the right track. I'm on the good part Even if you are like not studying arabic. No, and it's taking Quran here. I need to say something like Quranic arabic this arabic that arabic I don't I don't know I personally find is really odd No, and bizarre as well Okay, there is no such thing that you know you learn the Quranic arabic Is that is that and then of the arabic is arabic is a language Allah chose for the Quran. That's it now Everyone it has just different accents What it is in the Quran. Allah says Khalku min ayati, khalku as-salawat wa l-arbi Dillahu al-sinatikum wa al-wanikum. No, so difference in tongue is there And also difference in the skin color is there. So if we look at the if the al-sinatikum the term that Allah used Despite Allah choosing the best of arabic language There will be certain thing that people The people will take pride in it and it is also, you know, good It is not something bad like he's speaking arabic in their own way the way that we speak english in Different ways. No, it's not a problem. So there should I personally believe that there should not be Any difference like, you know, Quranic arabic and traditional arabic is speaking arabic. No, arabic arabic colloquial standard modern exactly Yeah, so Just to finish what would you be what would be a an advice advice that you will give to To you know, the typical young person who knows or maybe the revered person Who sees the importance of learning arabic and how to start for them and what to be aware of and what to look up for Okay, uh, simply I would say that going back to the Quran as simple as it is You don't know how to read Quran. That's not a problem. Alhamdulillah nowadays you have all to you Recitation of the Quran keep listening to it. Even if you don't understand keep repeating it You know because there are people So quickly learning that If this Way of learning can be utilized towards something that is relevant to the dunya and the akhira Especially akhira, which is through the Quran Then Quran is something that would help us to learn it So if your person is in a constant habit of listening the reciting listening to the Recitation or the tilawah of the Quran Wallahi the person will never lose the greatness in learning arabic It's the first and very basic step. No wallahi no and it has been Moving it has been proven wallahi. Alhamdulillah. Whenever someone is so attached to the Quran Especially to the listening and person feels comfortable in listening It gives him the comfort or the sister's case if gives her the comfort Then one should not lose that track. Wallahi through the Quran Doors will be open when someone goes through the memorization of the Quran Allah blessed me to be able to be happy in the Quran Alhamdulillah. Those were easier for me Issues never too late even those young That is fine moment for the young students for the young students of alayhi Who always in a habit of listening to the Quran wallahi Then you see you can go for different apps for learning arabic Then in a basic level they are available Who's ever feel comfortable doing so? No And For all the viewers inshallah This has been our brother rashid Al madani you you guys can find him in ireland inshallah. What was the message again that you are? What is the name of the message in ireland? Uh Castle bar islamic center, which is in county mayo m a y e o mayo You know the word mayonaise you just take the word mayo Okay, month of mayo She ma lgarb irelander north west of irelander. Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah. So, uh, thank you very much for everyone tuning in and watching And uh, hopefully we see you guys in the next uh in the next interview Alhamdulillah