Have you ever read Quran very closely? I’m not talking physically. Rather, I’m talking in terms of grammatical 
structure, why Allah ‘az wa jal uses one word over another in certain ayat, etc.?
Well, Br. Nouman Ali Khan taught me to do just that in his intensive Arabic classes. MashaAllah, ever since I’ve taken two of his courses, I’ve never looked at the Quran the same again. If you guys really want to be enlightened, I would HIGHLY recommend you attend one of his seminars given through his institute, Bayyinah.
Sometimes I see something in the Quran that puzzles me. My mistake is thinking that my question would probably make no sense, and I’ll sound weird even asking it. But me being a weird person in general take those chances with the hope that I’ll get an answer that will suffice my curiosity.
If you’re confused as to what I’m talking about, I’ll give you some examples of questions I’ve posed to Br. Nouman, that he very kindly explained in detail to me. Yesterday, I emailed him with a question from Surat Al-Ankaboot, and I thought It’d be nice to share the answer with you all. In fact, I’ll go back and post some of my previous questions I’ve asked him in the past for you all to benefit inshaAllah.
May Allah reward him with Jannat Al-firdous for putting the deep love of Allah’s book in our hearts and may Allah bless his family as well, ameen.
Example #1- Surat Maryam– Laghw
My Question: I came across this verse in surat Maryam- (it’s in other sowar as well) however I was wondering if you can give me the different connotations of Laghw.
“la yasma3oona feeha laghwan illa salama” (ayah 62)
I thought laghw referred to vain talk and things of that nature. But what I was wondering was the (illa) part because it denotes exclusion. So why would salama be inclusive with laghw?
Brother Nouman’s Explaination:
In Arabic, ILLA serves the purpose of except and in some cases ‘instead’ or ‘rather’. So here we have LAA YASMA’OONA FEEHA LAGHWAN
ILLA (WALAKINNAUM YASMA’OONA) SALAAMA (meaning rather they will hear Salaama)
I was wondering if there is any relation between why a Martyr is called a Shaheed and the word shahada (for bear witnessing). I was thinking about this for a bit and was just wondering if there is something the scholars say about this.
Jazak Allah khair.
This is what I remember reading some time ago. These types of intricacies are best studied in books like Lisaan al Arab and Mufradaatul Qur’an.
Example #3- From Surat Al-Ankaboot
My Question: In Surat Al Ankaboot, Allah ‘az wa jal says in Ayah 64: “…wa innad-darul akhirata la hayyal hayyawaan low kannu ya3limoon”
my question is about the word “hayyawaan” in this ayah. Is there any particular reason you know of that the word is in this form rather than “hayyah.” The “alif-noon” makes it a pair correct?
Or is it that this is just another way of saying Hayyah, or life?
As always, I don’t know if my question sounded like it made any sense, but let me know if you’d like me to clarify.
Br. Nouman’s Responded:
(The arabic above is from another source)
Which basically says that the word “hayywan” refers to continuous motion. We go to sleep in this dunya and therefore become motionless even when alive. This won’t be the case in Jannah. He further said, that by comparison it is truly being alive. Also, Al-Muheet offers the definition of “Al Hayyawan “Al Hayyah Haqqan” (actual life) meaning this life pales by comparison.
Stumble it!
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Wow! MashaAllah, that sounds like a deliciously beneficial course.
Its great that despite feeling weird about the nature of your questions, you still asked….& got enlightening answers.
I’m wondering though…don’t native Arabic speakers already know the fine nuances of their language?
I assumed only non-arabs need to learn intensive Arabic.
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
@Serendiptouslife - Arabs may or may not know depending on how fluent they are.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
even native arab speakers have to learn a lot of the grammatical things in school. but subhanallah the stuff taught in his classes is SOOO much more than just that. and I think everyone who’s ever attended a speech by brother Nouman can attest to just how many gems he’ll extract from the smallest details in the Quran, things no lay person, arab or non-arab would catch.
SubhanaAllah, i’ll try to give some examples he’s given us from his class later tonight inshaAllah.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
grammar and qur’aan… that’s love <3 barakAllahu feeki, i’m gonna look into the courses, inshaAllah
September 24th, 2008 at 1:34 am
mashaAllah, I absolutely LOVE this stuff subhanAllah.
Alhamdulillah br Nouman has recently moved to my community, and I learned from him for about 9 months back in the day when he used to come back to communities to continue teaching instead of doing them online.
InshaAllah he’s doing the 201 course again here, although I already took it, I’m taking it again for sure inshaAllah!
Also, did you email these questions? I like how he answered in Arabic mashaAllah.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:55 am
@ Amatullah - Is he still conducting any courses online? If so, plz do mention the details. JazakAllahkhair
September 24th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
The way he teaches is that he comes to a city for 10 days, then he continues to teach them through online webcasts. At the moment, I do not think he is teaching online, but inshaAllah I can ask a family member of his to ask him and get back to you.
I know he’s been to nearly every state mashaAllah and he is now crossing the border to Canada! may Allah ta’ala increase him and his family in all that is good, Ameen.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
HK, you should definitely take his classes if you can! I’m serious, anyone who has ever had the opportunity to take a class and didnt, subhanallah all I can say is that you missed out on a LOT.
It’s not just learning Arabic.. it also include tafseer of verses based on linguistics, sometimes he’ll go into the background of the terminolgy used in the Quran, based on the culture of the Arab during the time of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and then sometimes he’ll completely amaze you with observations that completely bypass the lay person while reading, but have an amazing significance to the ayah/subject.
if you go to the website, he has a schedule for the classes he’ll be teaching the rest of the year inshaAllah.
Ameen to your dua Amatullah, and yes, I asked him via email.
And sorry i didnt get to post up examples yet… I’ve just been so busy with school/ramadan. inshaAllah after my exam tomorrow i’ll prob. have a little time to go back in my notes and post some things for benefit, inshaAllah.
Wallahu alem.
September 25th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Jazakillahu khairan for sharing! I can’t wait for this course, I’ve been waiting since May I think. subhanAllah, we get it in October here inshaAllah =).
September 25th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Sa’eeda, inshaallah do NOT miss out on it inshaAllah. after you take it, let us know your thoughts inshaAllah. Our community loved it, the knowledge, the experience, and everything. I would take it again if I get the chance inshaallah.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Are you able to share the source
He gave a talk at my masjid a few days ago, I put the notes up here: http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/the-relationship-between-shukr-sabr-kufr-and-shirk/
September 25th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
That was an awesome read
Jazaks
September 25th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Waiyyakum!
I heard he’s going to teach a new class next year across the country. It’s supposed to be amaaaazing! the new class description is on the front page of the website, but it’s definitely something that will create quite the buzz, inshaAllah!
Amatullah, Barak Allahu feeki for the notes.
Yes, the source he mentioned was Dr. Fadel Saleh Alsamar’aee.
Br. Nouman said that he thinks he is the probably best authority on the Qur’an’s literary analysis on the planet! (wallahu alem)
September 26th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
My Q&A with Br. Nouman, hope you benefit inshaallah.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Here’s another one: http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/nimah-br-nouman-khan/