“Great is the need of the student to learn – far greater is the need of the teacher to teach. (Quote/unquote)
As a teacher, trying to help you – even a little – adds value to my life.”
As a teacher, trying to help you – even a little – adds value to my life.”
These golden words were said by our great mentor and visionary teacher who conducted the Daura e Sarf/Nahv at Al-Aaizah in the past three weeks, in such a great manner that it opened to us a whole new world of Arabic grammar.In case you are wondering, what Daura-e-Sarf/Nahv all about?
Let me tell you, a “Daura” is a quick revision, just like we have Daura-e-Quran or Daura-e-Tafseer classes before and during Ramadan. And since grammar of any language is organized along two main dimensions i.e. Morphology and Syntax, so is Arabic Grammar classified into Sarf that is Morphology, and Nahv which is Syntax.
The sole purpose of initiating this course was to give students of Arabic language a clear insight into Arabic Grammar. The students who attended the workshop were mostly those who had studied Arabic Grammar before as part of their Alimah or Essentials Program courses, but needed a less academic and more applicative review of Arabic language in order to truly understand the intricacies involved in the grammar.
Then, came in our true guide, our real mentor, who strictly adhered to the principle that “a teacher is one who shows the student where to look but not what to look at”. Helping, supporting, encouraging and constantly boosting us to solve our mazes, she helped us to successfully reach our goals of broadening our horizons as opening up our minds with regards to Arabic.
Reminiscing about our introductory class, I remember how our mentor introduced Arabic grammar to us with its real roots and origin. At that time, most of us thought that we will again go through the books just like we had previously studied. But to our surprise, our teacher divided us into four groups and told us that our first assignment was to make presentations. Since grammar basically consists of three things: nouns, verbs and particles; three groups were made and each was assigned one of these. Adding the cracker effect to our surprise, we were informed that the presentations would be followed by a quiz that the remaining group would be arranging.
We were allotted one week for preparation. The preparation week saw lots of over enthusiastic students who left no page unturned in order to gather any bit of information that was related to their topic. There was lots of hustle bustle in our madrasah, while each group came to our mentor discussing their issues and ideas in order to put up an exemplary presentation. Excitement was gathering up as to how each one would be performing.The countdown was over and the presentations began. Each presentation was extremely detailed, interactive, informative, well researched and interesting. It showed the hard work of the students, a great combination of inspiration and perspiration.Our awesome mentor appreciated us by saying: “I strongly feel all groups put in quality time and went the extra mile, Alhamdulilah. The motivation and hard work I observed from you all has been very energizing for me too. May Allah Ta’ala accept the efforts of all groups and grant all of us beneficial knowledge. Ameen.”The feedback from students was remarkable:
“Jazakillah for making it happen, connecting traditional ilm with modern teaching system.” “Thank you for taking out time for us and making this learning experience so interesting.” “Though the journey was short but it was extremely fruitful.”
“The blocks of my mind regarding Arabic grammar have been effectively cleared.”
“During my course classes, I only learned Arabic, but this workshop helped me see the real application of my knowledge.”
The wonderful words of our amazing teacher who took the initiative and efforts of arranging such an incredible workshop perfectly summed up this Daura-e-Sard/Nahv:
“Fantastic work ma’sha’Allah Teams! May we all be inspired on the path to Jannah and may we all inspire each other and others on this path too insha’Allah! May Allah accept your efforts and add barakah in your ilm and amal.” Ameen.
By Farhat Aziz
Student, Alimah Program