Inshallah (/ɪnˈʃɑːlə/; Arabic: إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ, romanized: ʾIn shāʾ Allāh Arabic pronunciation: [ʔin ʃaː.ʔa‿ɫ.ɫaːh]), also spelled In shaa Allah, In sha Allah, Insya Allah, and İn şa Allah, is an Arabic-language expression meaning "if God wills" or "God willing".[1] It was mentioned in the Quran[2] which required the use of it when speaking on future events.[3][4] In an Islamic context, it expresses the belief that nothing happens unless God wills it, and that his will supersedes all human will;[5] however, more generally the phrase is commonly used by Muslims, Arab Christians and Arabic speakers of other religions to refer to events that one hopes will happen in the future, having the same meaning as the English word "hopefully".[5][6]

The phrase can take on an ironic context, implying that something will never happen and is left to God's hands, or can be used as a gentle way of declining invitations.[7]

Other languages

  • In Adyghe, the terms тхьэм ыIомэ (thəm yı'omə) and иншаллахь (inshallah) are widely used by Circassians, with the meaning "hopefully" or "if God wills".
  • The Spanish word ojalá[8] and the words oxalá in Asturleonese and Galician (more rarely in this language ogallá), all come from the Arabic لو شاء الله (law šā' l-lāh)[9] from the time of Muslim presence and rule on the Iberian Peninsula. It means "we hope", "I hope", "we wish", "I wish". In Andalusia the expression "tomara" that comes from "atamma 'Llah" in Arabic with the original meaning similar to "The God will is that" is used in Andalusian Spanish. The expression oxalá also exists in Portuguese with a similar meaning, but has become an archaism, the common equivalent is "Deus queira".
  • The Bulgarian and Macedonian Дай Боже/дај Боже and Serbo-Croatian акобогда (akobogda) are the South Slav versions of the expression, calqued from Arabic, owing to Ottoman rule over the Balkans. They are used extensively in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro, even sometimes by non-theists. They are also widely used in Ukraine and Russia.
  • In Cypriot Greek, the word ίσσαλα (ishalla) is used with the meaning "hopefully".[10]
  • The (Belgian) Dutch expression "Als 't God belieft" (If God wills) used to be common and is still used by mainly elderly (religious) people.
  • In Esperanto, Dio volu means "God willing".
  • Finnish interjection: Jos Luoja suo, meaning "God willing", is used by some artists in popular music to express leaving life to chance/faith/luck.
  • The term is used in the Indonesian and Malay languages with very similar meanings and spellings, i.e. insyaallah (Indonesian) and insya'Allah (Malay), and is used in the same manner, meaning "God willing". It is a very common expression in both languages.
  • A similar expression exists in Maltese: jekk Alla jrid ("if God wills it").[11] Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic, the Arabic dialect that developed in Sicily and later in Malta between the end of the 9th century and the end of the 12th century.
  • In Persian language the phrase is nearly the same, ان‌شاءالله, being pronounced formally as en shâ Allah, or colloquially as ishâllâ.
  • In Polish, Daj Boże and Jak Bóg da are similar expressions to the South Slav versions. They mean "God, give" and "if God will give/allow".
  • In Romanian, Să dea Dumnezeu! or Să dea Domnul! means the same.
  • In Russian, Дай Бог! (Dai Bog) is a similar expression with the meaning "God, give!".
  • In Tagalog, sana means "I hope" or "we hope". It is the synonym of the Tagalog word nawa.
  • In Turkish, the word inşallah or inşaallah is similarly used to mean "If God wishes and grants", or more generally "hopefully", but is also used in an ironic context when the speaker does not put too much faith in something.
  • In Urdu, the word is used with the meaning "God willing".
  • In Hebrew the same term is used, borrowed from Arabic (אינשאללה). The original Hebrew term is בעזרת השם (with God's help).

See also

  • Phrases used in Islam
    • Alhamdulillah – "praise be to God"
    • Dhikr – remembrance of God
    • Mashallah – "God has willed it"
    • Shahada – Islamic statement of faith
    • Takbir – Arabic phrase ʾAllāhu ʾakbaru meaning "God is the greatest"

References

  1. ↑ Clift, Rebecca; Helani, Fadi (June 2010). "In Sha'Allah: Religious invocations in Arabic topic transition". Language in Society. 39 (3): 357–382. doi:10.1017/S0047404510000199. S2CID 146788629.
  2. ↑ [Quran 37:102]
  3. ↑ [Quran 18:23-24]
  4. ↑ Abdur Rashid Siddiqui (10 December 2015). Qur'anic Keywords: A Reference Guide. Kube Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9780860376767.
  5. 1 2 John L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "In Sha Allah". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001. ISBN 9780195125580.
  6. ↑ Anthony Shadid (11 January 2010). "Allah – The Word". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Ismail, Aymann (30 September 2020). "The One-Word Mystery of the Presidential Debate That Roused Muslims (and Right-Wing Bloggers)". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  8. ↑ Uses of “Ojalá” in Spanish. "Ojalá in Spanish". Adros Verse Education. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Asociación de academias de la lengua española (2021). "ojalá". Real Academia Española. Retrieved 22 May 2021. Del ár. hisp. law šá lláh 'si Dios quiere'.
  10. ↑ Γιαγκουλλής, Κωνσταντίνος (2002). Θησαυρός Κυπριακής Διαλέκτου Ερμηνευτικός και ετυμολογικός - Από το 13ο αι. μέχρι σήμερα-Κωνσταντίνος. Λευκωσία. p. 113. ISBN 9963-555-41-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ↑ Azzopardi-Alexander, Marie; Borg, Albert (15 April 2013). Maltese. Routledge. ISBN 9781136855283.
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