As for my Arabic, translating articles from the newspapers, I see an overabundance of Group V and VII verbs which are passive force.
You are correct in what you wrote about the "say" in Arabic, but you have placed it in First Group which is not passive. Not all verbs lend itself to passive tense. (Qoola in V group just gets new meanings, it no longer means says but to lie, fabricate and pretend) Using the verb fawl - to do (pretend the aw is the ayn) Group V then becomes tafawl with a shadda on the ayn and means I have done. Group VII then becomes enfawl -I was forced to do.
The most important thing for this student is if I see a neefal verb in Hebrew and a Group V or Group VII verb in Arabic, I better place that puppy in passive voice if I want to pass my exam.
As for my profs... when you come...you and they can argue the finer points of the language over coffee on Ibn Giboral Street. I know they would love to!
Now you’re confusing me. Nef’al is a form, not a voice. It can also be used for reflexive purposes, similar to hitpael. The passive voice, as I was taught it, is Pa’ul, or as the flip side of the Hif’il, or causative, the Huf’al.
Now in Arabic, you have something similar in all 10 types of verbs, namely the fu’al, which is the actual passive voice. My memory is probably going to play tricks on me, but Type V would be Infa’ala, and I won’t even try to recall Type VII, though I’d recognize it if I see it.