142 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 20:2 

Al-Kitaab lli Ta canum al-cArabiyya: 

A Textbook for Arabic, Part Three 

Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi 
Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2001. 480 pages. 

The latest in the series of Al-Kitaab fii Ta calf um al-cArabiyya books, Kitaab 
3 offers some new activities to challenge advanced Arabic learners. Of the 
familiar, tested themes, al-cibaaraat al-jadiida (new expressions) rank 

among my favorites. Native speakers take idioms for granted, while stu­
dents are often confused by them. The authors provide a generous list of 

translated idioms and how to use them. One of those oft-repeated exer­
cises shows students several rows of four Arabic words and asks them to 

choose which word does not belong there. The students have to justify their 
choice in Arabic, as the authors want them to "reach the level of the edu­
cated native speaker." 

Kitaab 3 consists of IO chapters. Chapter 1, "Islam and Politics," fea ­
tures two articles on "Islamic fundamentalism": "Resolving the Dispute 
with the Islamic Situation" (Fahrni Hewaydi) and "Whither This Islamic 
Spread?" (Ahmad Kamal Abul Majd). In the area of grammar, it covers 
special uses of the demonstrative pronoun, the hollow verb, and the verbal 
and adverbial maa. In chapter 2, "Between Classic and Popular Heritage," 
we read "The Anecdotes of Goha," that lovable fool who has kept Arabs of 
all ages laughing since time immemorial. The same chapter highlights 

Youssef Idris in his "On Egyptian Theatre," and Nizar Qabbani's poem 
"qaari 'at al-finjaan" [The Reader of the Cup]. More discussion of maa 
ensues, this time its nominal and conditional meanings, along with the 
defective verb's morphology.