The Middle East often has a reputation for danger and instability, what with political upheavals like the Arab Spring and the current humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Despite the Western media's hyperfocus on the region's negatives, select countries in the Middle East enjoy business freedom and urban growth. People in the West don't usually travel there to set up shop, but some who do speak highly of their experience. Now, let me introduce Muhammad Al Andalusi, the brilliant mind behind the Andalus Institute, an online school offering Arabic lessons and now setting up base in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Al Andalusi's story is fascinating and his entrepreneurial drive is beyond belief. Here is his story.
Muhammad Al Andalusi hails from Barcelona, Spain, speaking Catalan as his first language, and then Spanish and English. He moved to France, learning the language, and found his way to Egypt after dropping out of school at 16. Al Andalusi lived there for the next six years, perfecting his Arabic skills. Despite all of this hard work, he couldn't translate his knowledge of Arabic into a sustainable job, only able to make money delivering food in England.
Hopping from side hustle to side hustle focused on Internet business and marketing, Al Andalusi dealt with a lack of passion and interest, causing him to fail each time. The logical next step was to return to Arabic and figure out how the language could be combined with experience selling online. This is how the Andalus Institute was born. The business model is a small central team that handles operations and administrative tasks, while Al Andalusi oversees everything with a watchful eye, maintaining creative control over the direction of the company.
Muhammad Al Andalusi moved to Mauritania in 2019 as the initial place to work from, a home that meant greater financial stability and a welcoming Muslim environment for him and his family. Mauritania is where Al Andalusi saw his institute start from low sales to bringing in $30,000 each month on average--some months it's as much as $50K, or just $20K. This shocking and unprecedented rate of growth, all done online in the middle of a North African nation, speaks to Al Andalusi's business acumen and genius, quite frankly. An entrepreneur's success doesn't result from just luck: Al Andalusi understands the high demand for Arabic classes, plus the convenience of learning from home combined with the Internet's far reach into every corner of the globe.
For the naysayers who doubt that the Internet holds any opportunity for sustainable income, the Andalus Institute's existence debunks this myth completely. It's intriguing that Al Andalusi prefers to live outside the West, supposedly the best place to do business in. But, with the move to Makkah happening soon, Al Andalusi's success portends a gold rush to less expensive cities among business owners looking for lower living costs and higher profit margins.
A reason why hundreds of students are enrolled at the Andalus Institute is because of Al Andalusi's commitment to their education. He lives where Arabic is the official language and plans to memorize the entire Qur'an. His immersion into the material on a daily, minute-by-minute basis renders the institute a top-tier platform with only high-quality scholars at its helm. The usual $2,000 price tag (currently at a discount of $997) for the 15-month program, Arabic Like An Arab, is more than worth the cost, considering the technical methodology and guarantee that fluency can be achieved within the program's time span.
Al Andalusi isn't stopping with what he knows so far, although it's arguably all anyone needs to speak Arabic without hesitation. After moving to Makkah, he plans to enroll in a university there, a sign that Arabic truly is his life's work. For the institute's students, who can schedule individual calls with Al Andalusi and practice conversing in joint sessions, the experience resembles learning in the Middle East, except from their own home.
Al Andalusi shows that tertiary education isn't the prerequisite to success; actually having the brains, on the other hand, is more fitting. If he had stayed in Europe and attended university, access to language education and greater opportunity down the road would not be a reality for his students. Al Andalusi's story is selfless, in a way, when one realizes how affordable learning Arabic is through his platform. This dissemination of information will contribute to ensuring that society sees more equality of opportunity. Yes, the Andalus Institute is only a drop in the ocean, but it has caused a massive wave of educational achievement.
