3/6/18: On Inshallah

In the Arabic-speaking world, the phrase “inshallah” is something you’ll hear everywhere; my host mom uses it in pretty much every other sentence. It translates roughly to “if God is willing” and is used more like the word “hopefully”. Linguistically, I like it, because it takes the responsibility for the future out of my hands. “Inshallah you will do well on the test” means if I fail, it’s on God, not me. That said, when you ask the taxi driver if he can get you to your location and the reply is “inshallah”, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.