Professor Abdur Rahim’s eight-volume texts enable the student to acquire a knowledge of Arabic in the classical structural form. All of the books teach essential language skills through applied grammar. Each lesson is based on a conversation which illustrates distinctive language patterns. A variety of exercises helps the student to understand and master each of the patterns occurring in the lesson. The vocabulary ranges from classical and Quranic Arabic to words and expressions current in modern Arabic. This series of books is currently being utilized at various schools to prepare students for the University of London (UK) GCE O-Level and A-Level examinations.
V. Abdur Rahim was born in the small town of Vaniyambadi in the state of Tamil Nadu, India in 1933. After finishing his secondary school studies, he joined Presidency College, University of Madras where he majored in English Language and Literature. He graduated in 1957. In 1964, he joined al-Azhar University, Cairo, where he did his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Arabic Philology.
In 1969, he joined the Islamic University of Madinah to teach Arabic Philology. Here, he was also associated with the Programme of teaching Arabic as a foreign language. The course he designed for this purpose is now known as دروسُ اللغةِ العربيةِ لـغير الناطقين بـها Durûs al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah li-Ghair al-Nâtiqîna Bihâ. (Now these books are popularly known throughout the world as “MADINAH BOOKS”.)