When I was in college, some of my Southern friends would occasionally comment on how crazy the drivers in New York City are (me included, I assumed). “Silly country boys with your ‘hospitality’ and dirt roads,” I would think to myself, “learn to drive in a real city!” It wasn’t long after moving to Egypt that my urban arrogance came back to bite me.

“Did he just do that?!?”

Driving in Egypt is not “safe.”  The modus operandi on the road, so far as I can tell, is to try and out-crazy the drivers on either side of you. It’s as if the whole nation learned how to drive from New York cabbies (I know what you’re thinking, and shame on you – stop perpetuating the stereotype, people).

As dangerous as the regular drivers are, there’s a special level of obscenity reserved for the taxis and dollar cabs (minibuses) here. Since each of these vehicles is seemingly equipped to run on only two speeds – fast and ridiculous – you can imagine the maneuvers that take place…oohhh the maneuvers.

It’s not uncommon to see my man in the far right lane cutting across three cars to make a left turn. Nor is it surprising when el hajj going the wrong way down a one-way street makes a u-turn to go the wrong way up the other side. 3aadi ya3ni.

Were that these indiscretions left only the drivers at risk.

Look both ways (and make tawba) before crossing the street

Walking in Egypt is not “safe.” The perils of Egyptian driving, unfortunately, touch pedestrians as well – often, literally. Between the tight roadways and virtually non-existent walkways (sidewalks are for sissy Americans), it’s best to, as my high school football coach advised, always keep your head on a swivel. You never know when a car, minibus, big bus, linebacker, or donkey is going to blindside you.

As much as possible, too, one should just pick a side of the street and stay on it. It’s either that or engage in a high stakes game of live action Frogger. Here, the notion of pedestrian “right of way” is replaced with “(get) right (the heck out) of (my) way (you #&@!%).”

Despite all these hazards, Egyptians seem to manage just fine. For you non-Egyptians planning to visit Masr, however, here are a few more things to keep in mind for the sake of your safety (and sanity):

If you have to ask, you’re not from around here

“Why do Egyptians honk the horn when there’s no one in front of them? And why don’t they stay in their lane?!? And for that matter, why do two-lane roadways fit three cars across?!?!?”

These are some of the perplexing questions I often pose to my Egyptian friends and family. To which they shrug and reply, “Because this is Egypt.”

“Silly American with your ‘regulations’ and efficient highway system,” I imagine they think to themselves when I bring up these grievances, “learn to drive in a real city!”

Fair enough. For my part though, I wonder whether everyone wouldn’t be better off if we just gave in to the stereotype and reverted to camel-based transportation. I do hear they get great mileage.

• Smoke monsters are not exclusive to “The Island” – they emerge regularly from the 70s and 80s model cars that fill Egypt’s roads (emission controls are for sissy Americans).

• Traffic lights and stop signs are more suggestive than anything – a guideline, really. Sort of like “parley.”

Taken from MM

The following are typical rent prices that students in Cairo pay.  The prices vary based on the location, size, and quality of the apartment.

Prices are higher for short-term contracts, and are 1.5 to 2 times as much in the summer months.  The prices listed below are for a one year contract.

Most western students live in Nasr City due to its proximity to Arabic language institutes as well as the new Al-Azhar men’s campus and the women’s campus.  The rents in Nasr City tend to be higher than most other areas in Cairo due to the large amount of foreigners and the reputation of the area as being higher class.

The larger and more well-known Arabic institutes are in the 7th and 8th districts of Nasr City.

A nice, clean 2 bedroom furnished apartment with one or two ACs in the 7th or 8th district starts from around 2000 LE and goes up to 3000 LE for a very nice apartment.  A lower quality apartment can be had for 1500 LE or less.  A similar nice apartment in the 10th district can be rented for around 1500 LE or less.

Unfurnished apartments in the 7th or 8th district start from around 1200 LE for a basic 2 bedroom apartment to as high as 1700 LE or more for a nice apartment.  The difference in rent between a furnished and an unfurnished apartment is not very large in these areas,  and unfurnished apartments are difficult to find in these areas.

Finding an Apartment

The most common way to find an apartment for foreigners is to utilize a real estate agent (called a simsaar).  These agents are usually self-employed, however there are companies that provide these services as well.  The agent has contacts with apartment owners, and will take a person around to look at apartments and help the person to sign a contract.  A good simsaar typically takes a fee that is equivalent to a percentage of the overall value of the contract, usually around 10%, or equivalent to one month’s rent for longer contracts.  There are some agents that have lower fees as well, either as a lower percentage or a flat rate.  The agent also takes an equivalent fee from the apartment owner.  There is no fee taken if a contract is not signed.

Since the fee that an agent takes is usually a percentage of the value of the contract, it is in the best interest of the agent as well as the apartment owner to raise the rent as much as possible.  Therefore a foreigner that is looking for an apartment needs to know the amount a typical apartment in the area costs.  The renter also needs to express clearly and firmly to the agent the type of apartment that he/she is looking for and the amount of rent that he/she is willing to pay, and then to resist attempts by the agent to push an expensive or sub-par apartment.

It is a best for a new student to consult with other students in the area on3 apartment prices, and if possible have another student help with the search.  Most of the Arabic institutes can direct a new student to a simsaar, including some who speak English (although this is rare).

In general a new student needs to be very cautious and firm when dealing with an agent, and not rush into a bad contract.

There are other ways to find an apartment, but these means are difficult for a foreigner to utilize.  There are classified ads in the newspaper (Al-Waseet is a weekly publication of classified ads, and the ads are available online at http://ewaseet.com).  A student can even walk around the streets and ask the guards of the buildings if an apartment is available in the building.

Apartment Checklist

The following is a list of items to check when looking for a furnished apartment:

• The noise from outside of the apartment is bearable and one can sleep with the noise.
• If it is on the ground floor, the windows have bars.
• The kitchen should have a good fridge, stove, and oven.  For the stove/oven a built-in gas line is preferred but not necessary.
• The apartment is not overloaded with furniture.
• The apartment should have a washing machine, and it should be fully automatic.
• The mattresses on the beds should be comfortable.
• There should be an AC in the main bedroom.
• The toilets flush properly.
• Hot water is working in the bathrooms and in the kitchen.
• The following furniture should be provided: dining table, couches, beds, closets.
• Plates, spoons, forks, pots, and other kitchen utensils should be provided.
• The phone line and electricity are working.
• The renter should ask about the monthly apartment maintenance fees, ranging from around 40 LE for a building without an elevator to about double that for a building with an elevator.
• The renter should ask about the deposit for the apartment, typically 1 months’ rent.
• The renter should ask about the payment of rent, typically paid once a month.  Sometimes a landlord will ask for several months up front, a renter should be weary of this and try to avoid it.
• The apartment should be checked thoroughly for anything broken.  This should be noted down, and for anything fixable the renter should ask for a guarantee that it will be fixed.

Renter and Landlord Relations

When a contract is signed, the following should be clearly stated on the contract:

• A list of the furniture in the apartment.
• A list of anything broken in the apartment.
• The monthly rent to be paid and the date of collection.
• The deposit amount.
• A list of conditions that are agreed upon, such as fixing a toilet or anything else not working.
• Contact information of the landlord.

A copy of the contract should be given to the landlord, and one copy kept by the renter.

The renter has the following obligations:

• Paying for all utilities, including electricity, gas, and phone/internet.
• Paying the montly apartment maintenance fee.
• Paying the rent on time.
• Keeping the apartment in good shape.
• The renter has the right to change the locks of the apartment.
• If the renter takes the apartment in a clean state, then he/she must leave the apartment in a clean state (typically the landlord pays for cleaning when the renter moves in, and the renter pays for cleaning when leaving).

• Collecting the rent on time.  The landlord does not have the right to take the rent early.
• Paying for all repairs that are not caused by the renter, including malfunctioning plumbing or appliances.
• The landlord does not have the right to enter the apartment without permission.
• The landlord does not have the right to take any furniture or put any furniture in the apartment.

Every institute and centre has something unique to offer. It may surpass others in a particular field for example,
- In finance (dead cheap!)
- In structure (excellent programs)
- In content covered (grammar specialisation or conversational?)
- In location (right in the centre of town! Or perhaps in your backyard..)
- Or simply in reputation (hey, everyone is talking about it so it must be good!)

If we look at how things were about 10-15 years ago, there was hardly a single centre in Cairo where students from abroad can attend and study Arabic well, then it all bloomed. In fact, Al-Fajr Institute which was established around about 1995 had only a handful of students, it now caters for 2000+ every year from 77 different countries. This is the same story for a lot of other places too and personally I believe it’s due to nothing more than the blessed revival happening around the world resulting in people flocking to the Deen of Allah and returning to studying and properly seeking knowledge (which begins with learning Arabic!)

Due to this, there are now about 7 or 8 institutes in Nasr City, Cairo alone with 3 or 4 them being big names (i.e. popular with students from the west). We have the likes of al-Fajr Center, al-Ibanah, al-Dewan Center and the newly established Cairo Institute to name a few.

What happened to Qortoba Institute?!

Those of you who’ve lived in Cairo know that originally there was al-Fajr, and then Qortoba was established by one of the Co-founders of al-Fajr. These 2 centers were brilliant mashaa’Allah, and well co-ordinated as they both offered something unique to the students e.g. I believe Qortaba had more flexibility in their timetable while al-Fajr had the rigidity for serious students. I don’t know the full story of what happened, but recently Qortoba Inst. in Cairo was shut down and only the Alexandria branch remains open. I pray for their success and the success of every beneficial inst.

Ok, so the question remains… how do the Institutes differ?

Books

Most of the centers currently use al-Kitab al-Asasi (e.g. Cairo Inst. & al-Ibanah). Other Inst. have switched to using more ‘user-friendly’ books as I call them (i.e. they have more pictures, colours and other intuitive aspects) like al-Arabiyyatu Bayna Yadayk.

What is important for you as a student is to actually find out what exactly you wish to gain from your studies. By that I mean, are you grammar/sarf orientated? (i.e. do you wish to study the Sciences of the language from the word go?) Or do you want to boost your reading, writing and speaking first?

Method of teaching

All the centers incorporate aspects of reading, writing, speaking, listening etc into their courses. Some might focus on a particular aspect more-so than others.

Since switching their core syllabus from Kitab al-Asasi to Bayna Yadayk, the very teaching method of al-Fajr center changed. They now dedicate a lot of time to getting students to speak, and understand Arabic from the 1st step and as a result, grammar is introduced gradually (in Level 3 of their 11 levels). Al-Ibanah and Cairo Institute on the other hand have grammar taught from the 1st level which leaves conversational aspects as a gradual progress. Al-Ibanah is probably the most grammar-orientated institute out of the whole lot if I’m not mistaken.

Personally, I prefer the method taken by al-Fajr Center for a number of reasons:

1. Building your vocab, understanding text and being able to read and write efficiently is the very core of learning new languages (and becoming fluent).

2. It’s no use treading down the traditional route of just rolling off grammatical formulae e.g. fa’ala, fa’aloo, fa’altu, etc as this route was designed primarily for those that already understand Arabic – so they can grasp this without a problem. It makes no sense to learn the nitty gritty details of Arabic grammar from the get-go if the student can’t even understand the sentences they are reading! To be very strong in grammar, you have to fully understand the text. Sometimes, the grammatical function or position of a word cannot be found except with the meaning of the sentence. This is why Fajr center put the initial effort in building the students’ understanding of Arabic first (levels 1 & 2) before grammar immersion.

3. A lot of students, when bombarded with grammar are sadly put off continuing their Arabic (ask anyone who took this route and they dread grammar!). This is unfortunate because grammar opens up numerous doors of understanding – especially if one wishes to continue reading books in Fiqh, ‘uloom al-Qur’aan etc. However this disheartenment can be avoided if grammar/sarf/balagha are approached at a good pace and after some establishment of understanding and reading. Trust me; you do not want to fry your brain cells with rules upon rules before building some good foundation.

4. Learning how to speak re-enforces your usage of vocab and builds your application of the language.

And there more, but that’s the gist of it

So really think about what it is you want to improve on. If you have a good foundation in reading, writing and perhaps even understanding then you could do very well in any of the institutes, especially al-Ibanah and Cairo Inst. If you require building some good ground first and pick up on conversation then either al-Fajr or Dewan might be for you.

However, I must stress that whichever Center you go to and complete, you’ll end up learning the same amount of Arabic Sciences. Speaking-wise you might be more fluent in some institutes as opposed to others. But in all, each place has alhamdulillah very good systems in place.

Danger!

The no.1 thing to avoid (and seriously, I can’t say this enough), is to avoid jumping from institute to institute and moving from center to center in an attempt to find the one that’s ‘just right for you’. This can have disastrous affects on your learning and you’ll fall behind a lot.

Why? Every school has a working system that takes you from point A to B, and it is ensured by the Administration that you cover all essential material along the way.

If you move from say al-Ibanah in Level 3 (because you found out they’re the most expensive) and try to join Dewan Level 3 (to think they all follow the same grading system is a big misconception anyway), they’ll assess you and may find you are lacking a certain criteria of their Level 2. So they put you back one level.

You get frustrated after a month and decide to move to al-Fajr. They assess you and find your speaking is not that good, so back you go to level 1!

You can’t take it anymore and decide to go back to al-Ibanah where they resume you to your Level 3 again – having wasted your money & precious time (and of course tired out those brain cells), and what for?! Imagine had you stayed with your primary center you’d have been perhaps on Level 6 by now.

I’ve seen this happen with so many people and the fact is, students always seem to return to their 1st center after having gone in circles. Avoid doing that. Try your best to choose the center/institute for you and then stick with it till the end insha’Allah (unless of course a meteorite hits it, or worse; it’s shut down).

Taken from Fajr Blog

Asalaamuala a3la man itba3a al huda, peace be upon those who seek guidance.You’re probably here cos you’re either looking to go Egypt to study the deen of Allah, you came across this site randomly or you have nothing better to do. Many Muslims decide to travel to Egypt in order to pursue studying the deen and in particular learning the language of Islam ; Arabic. Everyone’s always got a bunch of questions etc. so we thought we would make it easier for the Muslimeen by compliling an guide to Egypt by brothers who have as they say..been there done that *smiles*

فَلَمَّا دَخَلُواْ عَلَى يُوسُفَ آوَى إِلَيْهِ أَبَوَيْهِ وَقَالَ ادْخُلُواْ مِصْرَ إِن شَاء اللّهُ آمِنِينَ

Then when they entered the presence of Joseph, he provided a home for his parents with himself, and said: “Enter Egypt (all) in safety if it please Allah.”

p.s please note this guide is not complete and is being worked on over the next week, so should be done by the end of the week inshaAllah but wanted to release it cos there was no dhikr reminder due to being busy making this thing. barakAllahu feekum

In this regard, Ibn Taymiyyaah (rahimahu Allaah) commented,

“Before one can interpret and understand the Qur’an and the Hadith, he must know the denotations and connotations intended by the words of Allaah and His Messenger (sallaa Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). How can their words be understood? Knowledge of the Arabic language in which we were addressed will help us to understand what Allaah and His Messenger (sallaa Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) intended through their words, as will understanding the semantics behind the words and phrases. Truly, most of the misguidances of the Innovators occured due to this reason – they began to misinterpret the words of Allaah and His Messenger (sallaa Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) claiming that they meant one thing, when really they meant another.”

It has been narrated that a major scholar of the past used to try and fault the Qur’an by searching for flaws in its language. His attempts and studies lasted months, during which time a group of men would frequent his house and ask him whether he had found anything yet. Eventually, he smashed his ink pot and broke his pen, and replied, “None can dispute that this is the Speech of Allah!” He then left the house and passed by a mosque, from which he heard the voice of a young boy reciting the verse,

وَقِيلَ يَا أَرْضُ ابْلَعِي مَاءكِ وَيَا سَمَاء أَقْلِعِي وَغِيضَ الْمَاء وَقُضِيَ الأَمْرُ وَاسْتَوَتْ عَلَى الْجُودِيِّ وَقِيلَ بُعْداً لِّلْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ

And it was said, “O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain].” And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and the ship came to rest on the [mountain of] Judiyy. And it was said, “Away with the wrongdoing people.” (Hood, verse 44)

to which the man remarked, “It is not possible that a human could produce such words.”

The verse in question is one of the most beautiful, eloquent, rhetorical verses of the Qur’an, as the scholars of Arabic balaaghah (rhetoric) identified within it more than twenty-five different rhetorical devices (fann balaaghee) within just 17 words!

~

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) would pray in the Ka’bah in Makkah, the Qurayshis would laugh at him, curse him, throw rocks at him, and ridicule him. Allaah then revealed some verses about this to ease his (peace be upon him) heart with the situation around him,

أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَى * عَبْداً إِذَا صَلَّى * أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَى * أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَى * أَرَأَيْتَ إِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى * أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى * كَلَّا لَئِن لَّمْ يَنتَهِ لَنَسْفَعاً بِالنَّاصِيَةِ * نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ * فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَه * سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ

Have you seen the one who forbids * A servant when he prays? * Have you seen if he is upon guidance * Or enjoins righteousness? * Have you seen if he denies and turns away -* Does he not know that Allah sees? * No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock -* A lying, sinning forelock. * Then let him call his associates; * We will call the angels of Hell.

Upon the revelation of these verses, the Prophet (peace be upon him) proceeded to the Ka’bah and recited the verses openly to the Qurayshi enemies of Islam. They listened intently until he (peace be upon him) went on to recite the last verse of this chapter,

كَلَّا لَا تُطِعْهُ وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِبْ

No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near [to Allah ].

By the time this last verse was recited, they all fell involuntarily into prostration as commanded in the verse, mesmerised by the beauty and truth of what they had just heard.

~

And the conversion story of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab is a well-known one. He was one of the staunchest enemies of Islam, one of the strongest men in Makkah, who was sworn to kill the man who called himself the Prophet of God. Sword in hand, he set about to accomplish the task he had set himself and on the way was asked by a man he passed on the street as to the nature of his mission. When ‘Umar told the man of his intentions, the man told him to worry about his own sister first. In a fit of rage, he went to his sister’s house to kill her first if the news was true. He asked her whether she had accepted Islam, and when she replied in the affirmative he slapped her so hard that blood fell from her face. He noticed some paper in her hand, so he asked her what she was carrying. When she told him she could not give him the papers as he was not pure, he tore them from her hands and began to read the words written on them (listen),

طه * مَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ لِتَشْقَى * إِلَّا تَذْكِرَةً لِّمَن يَخْشَى * تَنزِيلاً مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ وَالسَّمَاوَاتِ الْعُلَى * الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى * لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَمَا تَحْتَ الثَّرَى * وَإِن تَجْهَرْ بِالْقَوْلِ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ السِّرَّ وَأَخْفَى* اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى

Ta, Ha. * We have not sent down to you the Qur’an that you be distressed * But only as a reminder for those who fear [ Allah ] * A revelation from He who created the earth and highest heavens, * The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established* To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth and what is between them and what is under the soil. * And if you speak aloud – then indeed, He knows the secret and what is [even] more hidden * Allah – there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names.

Upon reading the words on the paper, ‘Umar’s eyes filled with tears. He demanded from his sister that she tell him where this man Muhammad (peace be upon him) was, and after making him promise not to harm the Prophet (peace be upon him) he set out to find him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) could tell who was at the door from the strength of his knock, so opened the door and greeted his visitor with the words, “Isn’t it about time you became Muslim, O ‘Umar?” to which he received the reply, “I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship other than Allaah, and I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allaah.”

~

What did these men have in common?

The answer (among other things)? They all had a deep, solid, understanding and appreciation of the Arabic language, its syntax, semantics, rhetorical and literary devices, poetry, prose, and all else a mastery of any language entails. An understanding that allowed them to immediately discern that the difference between the speech of God and the speech of His creation is the difference between God and His creation itself. An understanding of the language that allowed them to recognise the truth and submit to it without giving another moment’s consideration to the issue at hand. An understanding that enabled them to recognise the miraculous nature of the Qur’anic text, and use this recognition as a base on which to build their faith.

Perhaps we will never be able to acheive the same appreciation and understanding of the language of the Qur’an as they did, but who can dispute that we owe it to our souls, to our faith, to at least try.

Before you begin your journey into the depths of Egypt in your pursuit of the arabic language, heres a short checklist of the things you might want to take with you:

• Purify your intention fo the sake of Allah [first and foremost most important thing]
• Have a set list of what you want to achieve i.e how much Quran you want to memorise and what level of arabic you hope to be at [even if you dont achieve it, at least you go with a mission rather than hey lemme just move my arms about and hope I become an aalim]
• Mushaf [for the travelling and also when you're there, make sure you have on you are comfrtable with]
• Fortress of the Muslim [eventually you will inshaAllah get to a point where you know enough arabic to just "say" the duas]
• Staionary, books [they have that there but they all seem kinda gay with teddy bears and ting on the front cover]
• a good pair of sandals, no one wears shoes. ok people do but it so isnt in fashion
• a backpack [for those trips you will take to mountains and other such dangerous places such as the local zoo]
• clothes, lots of it [not your best clothes though because whatever you wear is guaranteed to get dusty]
• MP3 player [preferably iPod cos theyre the best. fact]
• A laptop of some sort [theres plenty of internet cafes but it just isnt the same]
• A load of patience [trust me you're gonna need it]

This is obviously not including the obvious such as leaving your family in good health and correcting their affairs [assuming you are not going with your family] oh yea and money, you’re gonna need some of that.

The most popular place for the westerners students to stay is the Masjid Bilal area and the most popular insititute to learn arabic is the Fajr centre which is only 20 mins or so from masjid Bilal. Most students go to learn the arabic language but be careful as the arabic you should be learning [fusha -Qurani Arabic] is not the same as the arabic spoken by the general Egyptian public [amayaan]

Soon as you land at the airport unless you know someone, most likely thing is you will be ambushed by a group of people all trying to get you into their taxi. Golden rule of taxi riding is, dont accept the first price as they will rip you off. In fact, not even just taxi riding a general rule in Egypt is dont accept the first price. They  enjoy haggling so make sure you enjoy it too.

Hopefully you will have sorted out a place to stay before you got there and not just expected to land there and hope for the best..because you would get anything but the best. Best thing for a freshy student of knowledge to do is live with other brothers. This will not only help you settle in as the brothers will accept you and aid you but this will also help you to improve and learn arabic. Take a few days to check out the area, take in the smell and settle in as you dont wanna jump straight into learning.

Your first lesson should be a few days after you arrive so if its private the ustaadh will come to your house and you can learn in the comfort of your house while drinking tea or if you went to an insitute you would have to go there and learn in a classroom environement with other students. More info can be found in the pre section.

Ensure you use your time wisely over there and you will notice that compared to the west, there is far more barakah in the time. Set a timetable to do things. Set a certain amoubt of time you want on learning arabic, a certain amount of revising arabic, a certain amount reading Quran and a certain amount to memorise to Quran. You know how much you can handle so you can always start by little and increase over time.

In regards to salah, there are masaajid within metres of each other. Like in the west, every street corner was a corner shop, over in Misr, every street corner has a masjid. From small to big, whichever is your local, a lot of your time will be spent in there. And as a Muslim country, the adhaan is played 5 times a day to double make sure you dont miss a salah.

Food over there is as cheap as chips. In fact, its even cheaper. Theres a national dish (if you wanna call it that) called ful  and many Egyptians have this as a main meal as it only costs 5pence. Bargain. Whether you like it or not is a completely different matter. Every other shop is a restuarant so food is a plenty. From high class chinese to the quick keebab. You’ll find yourself eating out most of the time.

Allah [aza wajal] says in Surah Yusuf:

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

Indeed we have sent this Quran in arabic so that they may reflect

Al-Arabiyatu Bayna Yadayk

This series is designed for the non-Arab speaking, senior level student. With a collection of audiotapes and MP3 CD it helps the student learn Arabic through listening and conversation along with reading and writing. The series stresses communication and also offers glimpses into the Arabic culture, both Islamic and national. Divided into 3 grades, it contains textbooks and workbooks combined in one book. The entire series can be taught intensively in 300 classes (averaging 45 minutes one class,) 100 classes for each grade. If the program is not intensive, it can be taught within a three-year period.

PDF: Book 1 | Book 2 | Book 3
Audios: CD 1 | CD 2 | CD 3

Over in the west some khutbahs give you emaan rush and touch you but since majority of the time its done in english, it doesnt have the same affect even if you dont understand it all. In Egypt, obviously all the khutbahs are in arabic and this is the perfect time to test out your arabic that you learnt on a weekly basis. Even if you pick up a few words here and there. You can always just remember words and ask your teacher what such and such means during next lesson.

You’ll notice that in Egypt, before the jumuah salah, they play the Quran loud via the loudspeakers in the masjid. And they recite slowly abdul basit style, like in preperation for jumuah. Allahu a3lam if this is from the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah [salaAllahu alayhi wa salam] because I wouldnt see this happen in either Yemen or Arabia but one thing it does do is wake you up.

Usually there is one main masjid in the area which most people go to and near this masjid the roads are closed and it spills outside so you might be out in the sun, a little like makkah. The main thing you will notice is the khateeb gives the khutbah in fusha [quranic arabic, the arabic you are learning] which is different to the everyday amayan you will be hearing on the street. Why everyone doesnt just leanr fusha and speak it, Im not sure but oh well, not in an ideal world are we. Point is, make use of the jumuah khutbahs to practice your arabic aswell as obviously take the lessons from the khutbah and reminder..

Allah swt says in Surah Jumua, verse 9:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى

ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

O you who believe ! When the call is proclaimed for the Salat on the day of friday (Jumuah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allah  and Salah  and leave off business , that is better for you if you did but know!