I can confirm that they have the same meaning , I think people use (أ) when they want the phrase to be short ,but they have exactly the same meaning. - you have to be aware that when asking negative questions only (أ) can be used and not هل examples : ألن تذهب إلى المدرسة غَدًا ؟ : aren't you going to school tomorrow ? (لن will not) ألا يمكنك فعل ذلك ؟ : can't you do that ? ( لا=not) أليست تلك الفتاة أختك ؟ : isn't that girl your sister ? ( ليس=is not ) - when you want an answer from two choices you can only use (أ) and not هل , but many people do that mistake. examples using أم=or أهو صديقك أم أخوك ؟ is he your friend or you brother ? أستأتي معي أم لا ؟ will you come with me or not ? - when answering negative questions use بلى to deny or نعم to agree with, like in the following examples : الجو حار ، أليس كذلك ؟ the weather is hot , isn't it ? answer : - بلى (if you think the weather hot ) - نعم (if you think the weather isn't hot ) that means 'yes it isn't hot ' أليس اليوم عيد ميلادك ؟ isn't it your birthday today ? answer : - بلى (if that day is your birthday) - نعم (if it is not your birthday) that means you agree with him , because he asked a negative Q many people do a lot of mistakes in Arabic because they don't use it in daily life.

For man أأنتَ مسلم؟ نعم أنا مسلم هل أنتَ مسلم؟ نعم أنا مسلم For woman أأنتِ مسلمة؟ نعم أنا مسلمة هل أنتِ مسلمة؟ نعم أنا مسلمة

هل أنت مسلم ؟ هل أنت مسلمة ؟ ::::::::: نعم.. . أنا مسلم نعم...أنا مسلمة

it is the same meaning أ أنت مسلم؟ هل انت مسلم ؟

both sound polite but هل انت مسلم؟ is more common