Dhikrullah's Guide to Egypt

The Messenger of Allah [salAllahu alyhi wa salam] said: Put your trust in Allah and then tie your camel [tirmidhi]

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.

Well…Egypt eh. Known as the land of the Quran and also known to be the home of Musa [alayhi salam] and the firawn. Once you get here, first tihng you’ll probably notice is the dust. The flight is only a few hours from anywhere in the West and the actual airport is about 30 mins from the main Cairo city and most likely your apartment.

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.

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If you go to the fajr centre or even do private, In Egypt most likely you will be learning from “al lugha al arabiyah bayna yadayk”..arabic between your hands. jazahumAllahu khayr to kalamullah.

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

The Jumuah salah in an arab country is nothing like the ones in the western country. Well ok obviously theyre the same in temrs of following the sunnah of the messenger of Allah [salAllahu alyhi wa salam] in the fiqh issues but the feeling just isnt the same.

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!

A Question and Answer session with nobody. inshaAllah this will be completed soon.

Q: I want to go Egypt, help me?

A: OK

Q: I’ve decided I want to go, what now?

A: First you wanna purify your intention that you are doing it purely for the sake of Allah. Then if you are a sister, make sure your mahram issues are sorted. If you are a brother than ave it. Make sure you have all your finance sorted for however long you plan to stay. If this is your first time, might be best to try to find a contact over there and if you can’t its all good. Sort out where you are going to stay and what institute [private of public] that you wanna go. Sort out your tickets. Set yourself a target to complete and purify your intention again and off you go.

Q:  Where am I gonna stay?

A: This depends on what type of lifestyle you want to live, you know your own budget. Make sure you sort out accomadation before you go because its not the wisest idea just to turn up there and expect a place to stay.

Q: Private or Insitute?

A: Both have their own advantages and disadvantages so its upto you. Maybe you could try out both, first do private for a week or so, then do a institute for one level and find out which one is more suited to you. Private is always more expensive though.

Q: Egypt or elsewhere?

A: In my experience go to Yemen rather than Egypt but Egypt is good if its your first time and Yemen everything is a bit hot.