A Grammica Student's Story to Islam and Arabic (Faheem Lea)

My path to Islam came by way of being humbled by going to prison. I was involved in an altercation with a friend of mine that turned into a shootout between him and me, and ended up being fatal for him. I was two months shy of my 20th birthday, and I was looking at a murder charge. It was a traumatic experience to say the least. At the time of my arrest, I felt so weak, because prior to that moment, I felt invincible in the street life. I was facing 15-30 years in prison. Things were looking bleak, as the better part of my youth would be in prison, and everything came suddenly crashing down. 

I had some exposure to Islam prior to incarceration (or what I thought was Islam, i.e., the Nation of Islam, the Ansarullah Community, two offshoots of Islam), but now, one of my friends had sent me a Qur'an, and I decided to read it, and I finally read it all the way through for the first time, in English. As I read it, I was curious about the Arabic words that were alongside the translation, and so I was interested in learning them, but I had no one to teach me. I ended up running into a brother who recognized my interest in reading (I was always an avid reader, and language arts, reading comprehension and English grammar were the areas where I always excelled in at school), and this brother-who was my elder-began to teach me, and with him I learned Alif, Ba, Ta, Tha, and Jeem. That was as far as we got before I was moved to another facility, and I promised myself that I would follow up on those lessons if I had the opportunity.

I was moved from the county jail to the state youth correctional facility to formally begin serving my time (which ended up being 6 years total, plus 2 years on parole). The environment was much different, as there was more structure and opportunities for Islamic studies. It was here that I was abIe to capitalize on my Alif Ba Ta studies, but this time under the instruction of my peers, fellow inmates like me who were able to read and recite the Qur'an fluently. I did not miss any lessons, and after a while, I was able to read on my own.

 For a period of about a year or more, I would read a juz a day, everyday. I was in that facility for 2 years, and during that time, I completed the Qur'an a minimum of 12 times. I ended up being eligible for a halfway house, and the Islamic chaplain suggested for me a teacher when I got back on the streets. It was there with this teacher that I was able to sharpen my recitation with tajweed, and I was also introduced to Arabic grammar. This teacher used the old Kapliwatsky Arabic books which he had been teaching for 30 years, and I completed the first one with him. The chaplain in the prison was from my hometown of Camden, NJ, and I was able to keep contact with him after I was released, and we ended up connecting frequently. He was very skilled in Arabic grammar, so I learned a lot from him (even more from the time when I was incarcerated). It pushed me to further my Arabic studies, as I realized that it was the key to a deeper understanding of Islam. However, I was infrequent in pursuing my studies, as I had gotten married and developed a family. After those two experiences, it was a challenge to keep up with formal studies, so I got what I could from wherever I could. In that effort, I was able to complete Madinah Books 1 & 2, the first book of "Arabic At Your Hands", a little of the Ajrumiyyah, and I also had a teacher in Egypt where we used to do live lessons via Skype.

I was turned on to Grammica by my prison chaplain, who has served as my mentor since my release in 1996, and who is also a student at Grammica. My goal now is to further capitalize on formal studying, and I believe Grammica has the best program going.

—Faheem is completing Grammica's Essentials certificate and is poised to move on to the Intermediate.