Egyptians develop a verbal tic, 'inshallah'

Egyptians develop a verbal tic, 'inshallah'
By Michael Slackman
Thursday, June 19, 2008


CAIRO: The McDonald's here has golden arches, the same golden arches as anywhere else in the world. The food is prepared in the same assembly-line way, too. But there is an invisible, or more precisely, divine, element in bringing that burger to the plate that the uninitiated may not be prepared for.

"Inshallah," or "God willing," the counterman said as he walked off to see about a burger without onions at the McDonald's on the Alexandria desert road, 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, from the city center.

Egyptians have always been religious, from Pharaonic times to the present. Any guidebook alerts tourists to Egyptians' frequent use of "inshallah" in discussing future events, a signal of their deep faith and belief that all events occur, or do not occur, at God's will.

"See you tomorrow" is almost always followed by a smile and "inshallah."

But there has been "inshallah" creep, to the extreme. It is now attached to the answer to any question, past, present and future. What's your name? for example, is often answered with a name followed by "inshallah," which literally makes no sense.

"I say to them, 'You are already Muhammad or you are going to be Muhammad?"' said Attiat el Abnoudy, a documentary filmmaker in Cairo.

"Inshallah" has become the linguistic equivalent of the head scarf on women and the prayer bump 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 tick 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.
Political and social commentators here say its frequent use either reflects or fuels, or both, the increasing degree to which people have dressed the routine of daily life in the symbolism of religion. Will the taxi get me to my destination? Will my sandwich come without onions? What's my name? It's always, "God willing."

"Now 'inshallah' is used in a much broader way than 20 years ago," said a playwright, Aly Salem. "We always used to say 'inshallah' in relation to plans we were going to do in the future. Now it is part of the appearance of piety."

The starting point for "inshallah" is faith, but like the increasing popularity of the head scarf and the prayer bump, its new off-the-rack status reflects the rising tide of religion around the region. Observance, if not necessarily piety, is on the rise, as Islam becomes - for many - the cornerstone of identity. That has put the symbols of Islam at the center of culture and routine.
"Over the past three decades, the role of religion has been expanded in everything in our lives," said Ghada Shahbender, a political activist who studied linguistics at American University in Cairo.

Deference to the divine has become a communal reflex, like the Egyptian cabdriver who honks incessantly - even when there are no other cars on the street. The honking started for a reason, to get through the intersection safely.

Samer Fathi, 40, has a small kiosk that sells cigarettes and telephone cards. He was asked for a 100-unit phone card and responded almost absent-mindedly "inshallah," as he flipped through the stack to find one.

At 19 Ismael Street, the elevator door opened.

"Going down?"

"Inshallah," a passenger replied.

"We are a very religious people, Egyptians," Mostafa Said, 25, said as he told his friend he hoped, "inshallah," to have his car directional signal fixed by next week. "We believe God is responsible for what happens, even to the car."

It is not just about faith in the celestial that has people invoking God. It is also, at least for some, a lack of faith in the earthbound rulers who run the place. People here are tired of the rising prices and the eroding wages, of the traffic, of the corruption, of the sense that it is every man for himself.

"In this place, when something works, or you want something to work, you thank God, because it's certainly not the government who is going to help you," said Sherif Issa, 48, a taxi driver in Cairo. "It's because everything is going in the wrong direction - who can we look up to except God?"

The thing is, Issa happens to be a Christian.

"It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian or a Muslim," he said. "I'm going to take you to your house. Arriving there in a decent amount of time is already a miracle. Of course I say 'inshallah!"'

As it has become routine, "inshallah" has also become a kind of convenience, a useful dodge, a bit of theological bobbing-and-weaving to avoid commitment. No need to say no. If it doesn't happen, well, God didn't mean it to happen.

Nazly Shahbender, Ghada's daughter, said, for example, that if she is invited to a party she does not want to attend, she would never say no.

"I'd say 'inshallah,"' said Shahbender who is 24 and anything but a picture of the new religious. She is not veiled, is not shy about talking to guys and smokes cigarettes in front of her mother.
She also points out that "inshallah" is not the only religious term to infiltrate the lexicon of routine. The younger Shahbender, like many people here, have taken to using the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of belief, as a routine greeting. So instead of "How are you? Fine, and you?" she will say to a friend "There is no God but God," to which the friend will complete the statement: "And Muhammad is his prophet."

People now answer the phone that way, too, skipping hello altogether. It would be something like Orthodox Christians greeting each other by saying "Christ has risen!" followed by "Indeed he has risen." Not just on Easter, but every day, at every moment.

Not all of this is done quite so seriously, since some Egyptians can recognize the humor in saying "My name is Muhammad, inshallah."

With a chuckle, Salem, the playwright, said the expanded use of "inshallah" recalled a story about Goha, the wise fool who is the central character in fables around the region. Goha long ago cautioned about overusing "inshallah."

"Goha is on his way to the market to sell his donkey," Salem said. "So a man stops him and asks him, 'Goha where are you going?' Goha tells him, 'I'm going to sell the donkey.' To which the man instructs Goha, 'Say inshallah.'

"So Goha goes to the market and in the chaos of the crowd, his donkey is stolen. On his way home, the same man sees Goha and asks how it went. 'Inshallah, the donkey got stolen,' was Goha's reply."


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