Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic is the language of the Quran, Hadith, and classical literature. It shares the same grammar with its direct descendant Modern Standard Arabic, but differs from it in style and word choices. Most non-Muslim Arabic students concentrate on Media Arabic, modern literature, or dialects after they reach an advanced level, while very few devote time to Classical Arabic or Islamic studies. In my humble opinion all are important aspects of a well-rounded academic pursuit.

Islam is such an integral part of the Arabic language that you can not study one without the other. Muslims, educated or illiterate, make endless references to the Quran and Hadith in their speeches. Learning a dialect will enable you to understand their daily lives, popular songs, and TV soaps, but the core of why they behave and think in a certain way lies in the religion itself. Without a basic understanding of Islamic history and the Quran, you will never be able to truly understand the Muslim psyche beyond a superficial level.

One subject I know almost nothing about is the contribution of Christian Arabs to the Arabic language. I assume that the Bible was translated into Arabic long before the rise of Islam, but I haven’t seen any classical Christian Arabic literature. Is it because it doesn’t exist or it is purposely suppressed? I don’t know, but would like to find out. Any enlightenment from you on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Classical Arabic is perceived by some to be “hard”, in reality it is a lot closer to MSA than any dialect you’ll be learning. Unlike MSA and dialects, Classical Arabic gets very little exposure in the mass media. The only time it can be heard is during sermons, on religious channels, and on historical TV series. If you are not a big fan of listening to old men cloaked in shinny robes preach something you don’t believe in, your best bet of learning some Classical Arabic is probably TV series that depict historic events. With a few exceptions, the acting in these shows is usually pretty bad since the actors and actresses have to be coached to speak like a 7^th century Arab. Men usually wear long beard and layers upon layers of clothing, and women, contrary to today’s reality, are always strong characters who have no qualms about barking orders at men.

The hard part about understanding these shows is not in the language itself, but the historical context, an assumed knowledge for all Muslims. Take “صدق وعده” for example, it’s a TV series aired during Ramadan 2009, telling a love story between a Bedouin and a prostitute in Mecca during the early years of Islam. Many of the famous characters around Prophet Muhammad were portrayed. The show makes no introduction to who is who if they are well known, and doesn’t tell you their relationships with other characters in the show. Muslims grow up listening to Quran and Hadith stories, so they know all the famous characters and who did what according to the Quran and Hadith.

This short clip was taken from the fifth episode of “صدق وعده”. The background story which was completely omitted is as follows: Prophet Muhammed’s uncle Abu Lahab, a prominent leader of the powerful Quraysh tribe, was against Islam from the get-go. He was skeptical about the claim that his nephew Muhammed was the messenger of Allah, so he did everything in his power to silence him. Abu Lahab, together with his wife Umm Jamil, who used to carry thorns and sharp wood and place them in Muhammed's path, were the two most famous enemies of Islam. One day a passage of the Quran supposedly came down to Muhammed from Allah to condemn Abu Lahab to hell and his wife to carrier of firewood, apparently a grave insult to a noble woman of her stature.

Here is Yusuf Ali’s translation of Surah 111 – Al Masadd :

Perish the hands of the Father of Flame (Abu Lahab)! Perish he!
No profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains!
Burnt soon will he be in a Fire of Blazing Flame!
His wife (Umm Jamil) shall carry the (crackling) wood - As fuel!-
A twisted rope of palm-leaf fiber round her (own) neck!

Angered and ashamed, Umm Jamil ran away to her brother Abu Sufiyan’s house. Abu Lahab came over to convince her to go home. Meanwhile Hind, Abu Sufiyan’s wife, joined in to calm her down.

Comment: Hind was no ordinary character. Like Umm Jamil, she was also from a powerful Meccan family and had a tough, bordering cruel personality that would not let anyone cross her. She was the mother of Muawiyah, who later founded the Umayyad dynasty. The story goes that after her father, brother, and uncle were slaughtered in battle by Muslims, she hired and trained a spear thrower who succeeded in killing Hamza ibn Abd Al Muttalib, the leader of the Muslim army, in the battle of Uhud. She ordered to have Hamza's belly cut open, then took out his liver and ate (or maybe just licked) it. She later accepted Islam, but her battlefield cannibalism and alleged illegitimate relationships with at least four men made some Muslim scholars question her status as a righteous Muslim, and for these reasons and others Shiites do not recognize the legitimacy of Umayyad dynasty.