# Inshallah

In sha' Allah, usually called the Istit̲h̲nāʾ, is an Arabic-language expression meaning 'if God wills' or 'God willing'. It is mentioned in the Quran, which requires its use when mentioning future events. It signifies that nothing, neither action nor thought, happens without God's permission.
In an Islamic context, it expresses the belief that nothing happens unless God wills it, and that his will supersedes all human will; 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".
Though the Arabic phrase directly translates to 'God willing,' its meaning depends on the context. When used sincerely or in formal settings, it expresses the speaker’s hope for a specific outcome. However, in everyday speech, it is frequently used to suggest uncertainty, a lack of firm commitment, or as an open-ended response to requests or promises.
This last usage became widespread even among non-Muslim, non-Arabic-speaking communities, many of whom might be unaware of its religious significance. Often employed to convey sarcasm or disbelief, it gained particular attention when Joe Biden employed it on two occasions: first, in response to Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan, and again during a presidential debate with Donald Trump. When Trump promised to release his tax returns, Biden sarcastically replied, "When? Inshallah?"

## 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 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) from the time of Al-Andalus. It means "we hope", "I hope", "we wish", "I wish". The expression tomara – which some argue comes from "atamma 'Llah" in Arabic with the original meaning similar to "The God will is that" – is also used in Andalusian Spanish. The expression oxalá also exists in Portuguese with a similar meaning. Similar equivalents include se Deus quiser and Deus queira; the aforementioned tomara is also commonly used.
* The Sardinian expressions Deus bollat or Deus chergiat, meaning "If God wills", used to be common and are still used by mainly elderly (religious) people.
* The Bulgarian and Macedonian дай Боже/дај Боже and Serbo-Croatian ако Бог да/даће Бог/дај Боже (ako Bog da/daće Bog/daj Bože) 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".
* 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"). 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 Italian, the expressions Se Dio vuole and Dio volendo have the same meaning.
* In German, the expression So Gott will has the same meaning, however is becoming increasingly antiquated in the daily vernacular.
* In Russian, Дай Бог! (Day 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).
* In Swahili, the term inshallah is used frequently by the Muslim population, while Christians might prefer the phrase Mungu akipenda, "if God wants".