In’shallah For All?

We should all say in’shallah. I know what you’re thinking – when you hear that word you often think of Middle Eastern people, and ones that might not be in a very good mood!

Time to drop that notion. As one writer put it in a recent Op-ed in the New York Times, we should all adopt the in’shallah attitude. In fact, it may well be the new mindfulness.

Here’s how he begins:

A college student was recently escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight after a fellow passenger said she heard him making comments in Arabic that were “potentially threatening.” In a statement, Southwest Airlines said that the student, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, who came to the United States as a refugee from Iraq, was removed for the “content of the passenger’s conversation” and not his language choice.

Mr. Makhzoomi wasn’t ranting about death, terror, Trump or artisanal mayonnaise — any of which might warrant such a drastic response. No. What he said on the phone right before the passenger expressed concern, he later explained, was the Arabic phrase “in’shallah,” which translates as “God willing.”

This trisyllabic, Semitic weapon of mass destruction is a hallmark of the Arabic vernacular. Some anti-Muslim bigots in recent years have argued Arabic is “the spearhead of an ideological project that is deeply opposed to the United States.” one that seeks to replace the United States Constitution with a halal cart menu. Most sane individuals, however, believe Arabic is simply a language that millions of people around the world speak.

Opportunity is often born from absurdities. I believe this latest episode is actually a great moment to bring the versatile and glorious term in’shallah into the vocabulary of more Americans.

In’shallah is the Arabic version of “fuggedaboudit.” It’s similar to how the British use the word “brilliant” to both praise and passive-aggressively deride everything and everyone. It transports both the speaker and the listener to a fantastical place where promises, dreams and realistic goals are replaced by delusional hope and earnest yearning.

Read more of this absolutely on-point article here