“Basic Foundations For Understanding Islam”
The basic things have been encapsulated in the following hadith: Narrated Abu Huraira: One day while the Prophet ( ﷺ [‘ALLAH bless him and grant him salvation’]) was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, “What is faith?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) replied, ‘Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection.” Then he further asked, “What is Islam?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) replied, “To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan.” Then he further asked, “What is Ihsan (perfection)?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) replied, “To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Beliefs (Book 2), Ḥadīth 43
Great concern Aalim course goes through various schools of thought And if you choose to learn Arabic from nouman ali khan and poetry from al mawrid, you’ll get natural exposure to two different schools of thought
In my opinion knowing languages is a great place to start. Thereafter you can decide whether you want to join the aalim course; w hether you want to do the whole 7 years or just a couple based on how much you want to commit.