What if the thing you gave up on is the very thing you were meant to teach? 

Shafiya Musharrif always wanted to connect deeply with the Quran. At 17, she began trying to learn Arabic, applying to course after course. None of them suited her. Confused and discouraged, she eventually gave up on the idea entirely. “But Allah did not want me to give up,” she says. Soon after, she discovered Bayyinah’s Dream Intensive 1 on YouTube and that is where her journey truly began. “Day by day, my curiosity and love for Arabic grew and I didn’t want to miss a single lesson.” 

The Emptiness That Brought Her Back 

At one point, Shafiya paused her learning. What she felt next is something many students describe after stepping away from the Quran: an emptiness she could not explain away. That feeling brought her back. She subscribed to Bayyinah in June 2024 and, in her words, “realized that I had been searching in the wrong places all along.” 

From One Course to All of Them 

What followed was a complete progression through the Arabic pathway. She completed Arabic with Husna, improving her understanding and even her speaking skills. Then she moved on to the Dream programand completed it entirely. As her understanding deepened, the Deeper Look series brought her closer still. “Every surah gave me goosebumps,” she shares, “and it felt like I was being taken back 1,400 years through Ustadh’s teaching.” 

Somewhere along that road, the student set herself a new goal. She had once been someone who recited the Quran without understanding it. Now she wanted to one day teach Quran Arabic the way she had been taught. 

The Du’aa Allah Answered 

The Quran records the only thing the Prophet ﷺ was ever commanded to ask for more of: وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا “Say, My Lord, increase me in knowledge” (20:114). Shafiya kept asking and kept showing up. “Alhamdulillah, after four years, in 2025, Allah answered my du’aa and I became a Quran Arabic teacher,” she says. “I now teach students and share the same knowledge that transformed me.” 

She calls it the greatest achievement of her life and wants nothing more than to stay connected to the Book of Allah. Four years separate the girl who gave up from the teacher standing in front of her own students. The distance between those two people was one YouTube video and the decision to press play. 

If you have given up on Arabic before, your story may not be finished either. 

Begin the Arabic Journey