The Arabic Language Courses for Non-Arabic Speakers Programme, organised by the Zayed House for Islamic Culture, ZHIC, and comprising of an oral communication course and a course on Islamic culture, has attracted, 1,385 participants, with 986 completing all its academic stages, during the first half of 2017.

The programme is being run by the ZHIC at its main headquarters in Al Ain city, and its branches in Abu Dhabi and Ajman.

Dr. Nidal Mohammed Al Tunaiji, Director-General of the ZHIC, stated that the Arabic Language Courses for Non-Arabic Speakers Programme is one of ZHIC’s main academic programmes, which it created to improve the standards of language efficiency in Arabic, and to serve the programme’s participants, who care about Islamic culture and desire to learn the Arabic language.

She added the programme aims to spread the culture of co-existence between the various communities in the UAE, to open wider horizons of dialogue and the exchange of knowledge through communication with the largest possible segment of Arabic speakers, including who converts to Islam and those who are interested in the religion. The programme also aims to teach its participants on how to unite in the UAE community and about the country’s heritage, which should positively reflect on their performance at work, she further added.

Al Tunaiji stressed that the programme will strengthen the value of moderation and the other Islamic values in the country, and as well as the ties of love, affection and friendship while encouraging its participants to avoid bigotry and present themselves as good role models in terms of their behaviour and morals, by initiating a civilised dialogue between the followers of many religions and cultures and for Arabic to be the foundation of this dialogue, to establish the values of understanding and mutual respect, and to spread the message of tolerance with its deepest meanings, and to introduce those who converted to Islam to its real meaning and core.

The number of the courses in the Arabic Language Courses for Non-Arabic Speakers Programme, which were implemented during the first half of 2017, reached 49 at the ZHIC’s main headquarters in Al Ain, 35 at its Abu Dhabi branch, and 34 at its Ajman branch, totalling 118 courses. The general satisfaction rate awarded to the programme by its participants also reached 84 percent during the first half of the year.