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{ 2008 06 27 }

“If God Has Willed It” in Egypt

The phrase “inshallah” (”If God has willed it,” or, more simply, “God willing”) has long been a part of sentences virtually every time a speaker of Arabic uses the future tense.  These days, with religious piety (genuine as well as affected) on the rise in Egypt, it is being employed when people use the present tense as well.  Michael Slackman calls it “inshallah creep.”  He writes, “Inshallah has become the linguistic equivalent of the head scarf on women and the prayer bump, the spot where worshippers press their foreheads into the ground during prayers, on men. It has become a public display of piety and fashion, a symbol of faith and the times.  Inshallah has become a reflex, a bit of a linguistic tic that has attached itself to nearly every moment, every question, like the word ‘like’ in English. But it is a powerful reference, intended or not.”

Michael Slackman, “With a Word, Egyptians Leave it all to Fate, The New York Times, June 20, 2008, A9.

Posted by Ted Thornton on Friday, June 27, 2008, at 10:44 am. Filed under Culture, Egypt, Islam. Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. You can post a comment or trackback from your blog.

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