Are Quranic Arabic and everyday Arabic the same?

[PakPrince]

well the question is in the thread title.

Ive usually heard that its very different.
But some people also say that both Arabic are almost same and the only difference is that both are different dialects.
But if you learn Arabic then you understand both.

So what is reallly the situation here..

if i learn the Quranic Arabic will i understand everyday spoken arabic of the middle east etc?

[PakPrince]

bump!

surely some one knows!

[Striver]

No I don't think so.

I was in Regina, Saskatchewan and the imam couldn't come for salat-ul-maghrib so I was told to lead the salat.

An arab after the salat asked if i understood Quranic Arabic and i said no. he said even us Arabs can't fully understand the Quranic Arabic... they have to get easy translation.

but the Quranic arabic and regular spoken arabic if spoken without slang I would assume is much similar....

and Allah swt knows best

[Looney]

i asked an Egyptian friend same thing , she said it is ancient Arabic and we do not understand it much .

[iZeeshan]

It's not close at all. I've studied everyday Arabic, or rather, the very literal version of Arabic, not even one that's spoken daily (which is I guess what you could call 'slang') but it's very far from Quranic arabic.

Think of it this way, no matter how good you are with the vocab, when you read poetry, you can't understand it as easily as you would if someone was speaking conversationally. Similarly (but at the same time, not really), the Qur'an is written in poetic and old Arabic, one that is not easily understandable and has to be interpreted. Even Arabic scholars cannot pinpoint every message of God's because, like poetry, a lot of the Quran', though is strictly guidelined, is also open to one's interpretation.

Yeah, I know, a lot of contradictions in what I've said, but I hope you understand what I mean. If you don't, I can try my best to explicate further.

[kingusama92]

I think it's like Shakespearean language for them.

You get it, but honestly you don't.

The arabic language has evolved immensely since that time.

[AZ]

no waaaaaaaaaaaaay.

spoken Arabic in these parts is very coarse, and varies a lot.

significant difference when you hear an Egyptian speak Arabic as compared to the Lebanese or someone from the UAE or KSA.

Quranic Arabic is the most poetic.

I have heard Kuwaiti Arabic is quite cultured as well.

[Jadz]

The language of the Qur'an is classical Arabic. There are words, phrases, idiomatic expressions, etc., which are no longer in usage. If you learn Qur'anic Arabic - and I highly recommend you to engage in study of it - it will not enable you to understand Modern Standard Arabic, or the Arabic spoken in Arabic countries. Each has its own distinct dialect. For instance, the dialect spoken in Iraq will be somewhat different to that spoken in Egypt.

In order to learn Qur'anic and Modern Standard Arabic, separate courses will be required. Or, alternatively, if you have, or are able to find, a language scholar as your teacher - such as one who is proficient in Qur'anic Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic and English - then you might be able to devote half your time to study of the Qur'an, and the other half in learning everyday Arabic.

However, a point to note here is that the grammar of both is, in its essentials, the same. So that should not cause any difficulties. It is important to emphasize that the grammatical structure and language of Qur'anic Arabic makes it problematic to translate. Which is why I always recommend Muslims to take up the study of the language for themselves. However excellent translations, interpretations and explanations are, they cannot match the Original. Obviously - since the Qur'an is Kalaam-Allah, the Word of Allah SWT.

As Salaamu 'Alaykum

[PakPrince]

Thanks for the replies everyone especially Jadz and iZeeshan and AZ!

Yes thats what I was told as well.
Im thinking of doing a course of Arabic over the summers as I really have nothing else to do apart from the odd chillling with friends. Nothing constructive.

So I am going to be doing the very basic beginners Arabic course.

Am I right in assuming that the Beginners Arabic course (first of 3 levels) will pretty much remain the same for both/any type of Arabic? Ih ope you get what I mean

[AZ]

yea should be fine, its mainly the pronunciations and accents that differ a lot.