Balaghat (Arabic Rhetoric) is taught one-to-one online by Shaykh Hafiz Muddassir, a graduate of Tanzeem ul Madaris Ahl-e-Sunnat (Pakistan) with more than ten years teaching these books. The course covers the three rhetoric sciences: word order and context (maani), comparison and metaphor (bayan), and verbal beauty (badi).

It suits advanced students, especially those approaching tafseer study. Students should have solid Sarf-o-Nahv and reading fluency before starting. The outcome to aim at is seeing why the Quran’s phrasing is precise where a translation flattens it. Classes run live in English, Urdu, Hindi or Arabic, scheduled around the student’s own timezone, with the pace set by the student rather than a class average. Fees are quoted per student rather than published, because the honest figure depends on the level and how many classes a week. Balaghat is where grammar turns into appreciation, and it rewards the patient student more than any other subject.

What does this course cover?

Balaghat (Arabic Rhetoric) covers the three rhetoric sciences: word order and context (maani), comparison and metaphor (bayan), and verbal beauty (badi).

The aim is specific rather than general: seeing why the Quran’s phrasing is precise where a translation flattens it. That is the standard a student is measured against, not hours attended or pages turned.

Balaghat is where grammar turns into appreciation, and it rewards the patient student more than any other subject.

Who is this course for?

This course suits advanced students, especially those approaching tafseer study.

Before starting, a student needs solid Sarf-o-Nahv and reading fluency. Where that is uncertain, the first conversation establishes it rather than assuming, because starting at the wrong level is the most reliable way to waste a term.

Students join at every age. What matters is the actual level, which is assessed rather than taken on trust.

What a class looks like

A session opens with revision of the previous lesson, moves to new material, and closes by setting specific practice before the next class. For memorisation students the three-part structure of new lesson, recent revision and long-term revision runs every session.

In a one-to-one class the whole hour follows one student. In a small group each student reads aloud and is corrected in turn, which adds the useful pressure of being heard by peers.

Class length and frequency are set to suit the student, commonly two to five sessions a week for language or memorisation work, fewer for adults reading a single text.

Studying without Urdu

A common assumption is that classical Islamic study requires Urdu first. It does not. Urdu is the medium most teaching happens in, not a component of the sciences themselves.

The books are Arabic. The commentary tradition is largely Arabic and Urdu. A teacher fluent in English can carry that content across directly, and a teacher with formal training in linguistics can do it precisely.

See studying without Urdu for how this works in practice.

How long does it take?

There is no fixed number of weeks, and any teacher quoting one without meeting the student is guessing. Pace depends on prior knowledge, how many classes a week, and how much practice happens between them.

Two or three classes a week with consistent practice moves faster than five classes with none. Consistency beats intensity across every course on this site.

After a few classes the teacher can give a realistic estimate for that particular student, which is worth more than an average.

Teaching background

Shaykh Hafiz Muddassir studied the classical curriculum the traditional way, through Tanzeem ul Madaris Ahl-e-Sunnat (Pakistan), and has spent more than ten years teaching it.

He also completed an MA in English, an MA in English Linguistics and an MPhil in English, which is why the same classical material can be delivered in English at full depth rather than in a simplified version.

Instruction is available in English, Urdu, Hindi and Arabic.

Timezones

The practical question for every family abroad is whether a workable slot exists at all. It generally does, because teaching hours are deliberately spread rather than confined to Pakistani office hours.

Australian students have it easiest, since their evenings are the teacher’s afternoon. UK and European evenings overlap comfortably. North American evenings map to early morning in Pakistan, a window kept open for exactly that reason.

Daylight saving shifts are handled by adjusting the slot rather than leaving families to work it out.

What do classes cost?

Fees are quoted for each student rather than published as a price list, because the honest figure depends on the course, how many classes a week and the level involved. A child taking two Qaida sessions weekly and an adult reading advanced Arabic texts are not the same commitment.

For general context rather than as a quotation: Across online Islamic academies generally, tuition is priced either per class hour or as a monthly block of two to five classes a week, and one-to-one teaching costs more than group classes because the hour belongs to one student. Local currency, timezone and class length all shift the picture, which is why a real number needs the real details.

Message the student’s age, level and how often you would like to study, and you will get a straight answer for that situation. This page covers the question in more detail.

Getting started

Begin with a message rather than a booking form. Age, current level, preferred language of instruction and rough availability are enough for a useful reply.

Level assessment matters more than most families expect. Students frequently arrive believing they are ready for a text they cannot yet parse, and starting them there wastes months. An honest starting point is worth more than a flattering one.

A trial class confirms the assessment in practice before anything is agreed.

Can adults start from the beginning?

Yes, and a large share of students here are adults starting over. Many read the Quran as children, stopped for two decades, and return wanting to understand rather than only recite.

Adults learn differently from children rather than worse. They grasp grammatical structure faster because they already understand how language works, and they memorise more slowly. Playing to the first while planning around the second is what an experienced teacher adjusts for.

The genuine obstacle is embarrassment, not ability. A one-to-one class removes the audience entirely, which is why adult beginners often start there and move to a group later.

Can sisters study these courses?

Yes. Sisters study the same curriculum one-to-one from home, at whatever pace their week allows, through the six-year course.

The two barriers sisters most often report are travel and mixed classes. Online one-to-one removes both, which is why the format has changed access to classical study more for women than for anyone else.

Scheduling is arranged around household and work commitments rather than fixed institutional hours, and it moves when those commitments move.

Is online teaching as good as in person?

For one-to-one instruction, the honest answer is that the difference is small and sometimes runs the other way. What matters pedagogically is a teacher hearing the student and correcting them immediately, and a video call carries that intact.

What online cannot replace is the atmosphere of a full-time institution: the company of other students, the discipline of a daily schedule, and the incidental learning that happens outside class. For a student who can attend one properly, that is a genuine advantage.

Most families reading this cannot. The realistic comparison is not online against a darul uloom, it is online against a weekly local class taught in a language the child does not follow.

How do you know it is working?

Progress is judged by what the student can do unaided, not by attendance or pages covered. For memorisation that means retention under revision; for grammar, parsing an unseen passage; for Tafseer, explaining a verse’s meaning with its reasoning.

Parents get honest reporting, including the uncomfortable version. A teacher who only ever reports good news is not assessing anything, and the family finds out eventually at a worse moment.

Where progress has stalled, the useful response is diagnostic: wrong level, wrong frequency, or practice not happening between classes. All three are fixable once named.

What do you need to get started?

A device with a camera and microphone, a stable connection, and somewhere quiet enough to hear and be heard. That is genuinely the whole list.

Classes run on whatever video platform the family already uses, so nothing extra is installed. Books are arranged in the first class: many classical texts are freely available as PDFs, and a scanned page shared on screen works fine for most purposes.

Headphones help more than anything else on this list, particularly for Tajweed and memorisation work where the teacher needs to hear precise sounds.

What happens during Ramadan?

Ramadan reshapes the schedule rather than pausing it. Many students increase Quran classes during the month and reduce other subjects, which is a sensible reallocation rather than a disruption.

Class times shift around suhoor, iftar and taraweeh, and those windows differ by country, so schedules are rebuilt for the month and restored afterwards.

Some families pause entirely and resume after Eid. That is arranged by message, with no penalty attached to stopping for a few weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to know Urdu to take this course?

No. Classes are taught in English, Urdu, Hindi or Arabic, and you choose. Teaching the classical material through English is the reason many students abroad come here in the first place.

What if the student is at a different level than expected?

The starting point is assessed in the first conversation and confirmed in a trial class. If the student needs to begin earlier in the sequence, you will be told that plainly.

Are classes recorded?

No. Classes are live, whether one-to-one or in a small group. The value is a teacher correcting the student in the moment, which a recording cannot do.

How many classes a week are needed?

Commonly two to five for language and memorisation work, fewer for adults reading a single text. What matters more is consistency between classes.

Can classes pause for exams or travel?

Yes. The schedule is adjusted by message rather than through a booking system with penalty windows.

Last reviewed 29 July 2026 by Shaykh Hafiz Muddassir.

Balaghat (Arabic Rhetoric) explained