''In sha'Allah'' (; ar, إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ, ʾIn shāʾ Allāh ), also spelled In shaa Allah, InshAllah, Insya Allah and İnşAllah is an Arabic language expression meaning "if god wills" or "god willing". It was mentioned in the Quran which required the use of it when speaking on future events. The phrase is commonly used by Muslims,

Arab Christians Arab Christians ( ar, ﺍَﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, translit=al-Masīḥīyyūn al-ʿArab) are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic-speakers who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who l ...

and Arabic-speakers of other religions to refer to events that one hopes will happen in the future. It expresses the belief that nothing happens unless god wills it, and that his will supersedes all human will.

Other languages

Adyghe

In Adyghe, the terms , and , are widely used by

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

, with the meaning "hopefully" or "if god wills".

Asturleonese, Galician, Spanish and Portuguese

The word in

Asturleonese Asturleonese ( ast, Asturlleonés; es, Asturleonés; pt, Asturo-leonês; mwl, Asturlhionés) is a Romance language spoken primarily in northwestern Spain, namely in the historical regions and Spain's modern-day autonomous communities of Ast ...

, Galician (more rarely in this language ) and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. In

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, the word is . They all come from the Arabic ( (using a different word for "if"), from the time of Muslim presence and rule on the Iberian Peninsula. It means "we hope", "I hope", "we wish", "I wish".

Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian

The Bulgarian and

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...

/ and Serbo-Croatian () are the South Slav versions of the expression,

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language w ...

d from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

, owing to Ottoman rule over the Balkans. They are used extensively in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro, even sometimes used by non-theists. They are also widely used in Ukraine and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

Cypriot Greek

Cypriot Greek Cypriot Greek ( el, κυπριακή ελληνική or ) is the variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect as it differs from Standard Mod ...

, the word () is used with the meaning "hopefully".

Esperanto

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international commun ...

, means "god willing".

Finnish

Finnish interjection: ''Jos Luoja suo'', meaning "god willing", is used by some artists in popular music to express leaving life to chance/faith/luck.

Indonesian and Malay

The term is used in the

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

and Malay languages with very similar meanings and spellings, i.e. (Indonesian) and (Malay), and is used in the same manner, meaning "god willing". It is a very common expression in both languages.

Maltese

A similar expression exists in Maltese: ("if god wills it"). Maltese is descended from

Siculo-Arabic Siculo-Arabic ( ar, الْلهجَة الْعَرَبِيَة الْصَقلِيَة), also known as Sicilian Arabic, is the term used for varieties of Arabic that were spoken in the Emirate of Sicily (which included Malta) from the 9th century ...

, the Arabic dialect that developed in Sicily and later in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

between the end of the 9th century and the end of the 12th century.

Persian

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

language the phrase is nearly the same, , being pronounced formally as , or colloquially as .

Polish

In Polish, and are similar expressions to the South Slav versions. They mean "god, give" and "If god will give/allow".

Tagalog

In Tagalog, means "I hope" or "we hope". It is the synonym of the Tagalog word .

Turkish

In Turkish, the word or is used in its literal meaning, "If god wishes and grants", but is also used in an ironic context when the speaker does not put too much faith in something.

Urdu

In Urdu, the word is used with the meaning "god willing", but almost never used in the ironic context above.

Russian

In Russian, () is a similar expression with the meaning "god Willing".

Romanian

In Romanian, or means the same.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:inshallah Arabic words and phrases Destiny Religious terminology Islamic terminology