The True Meaning of Insha' Allah

A phrase you’ll hear very often in the Middle East is “Insha’ Allah”, which means “God willing”.  Many Muslims end most sentences with it, like “I’ll see you tomorrow, insha’ Allah”.  To the devout person, this is a frequent acknowledgment that everything in life only happens through Allah’s will.  However, more often than not, it can sometimes be an excuse to not take responsibility for anything (or to never meet deadlines) that frustrates most expats to no end. 

“Hi, when will my internet be installed?”
“By the end of the week, insha’ Allah.”

1 week later

“I was still wondering when my internet might be installed.”

“Soon, insha’ Allah.”

I was prepared for this attitude towards deadlines and commitments and I’m doing my best to adopt what I call an “insha’ Allah approach to life”.  Deadlines really don’t mean anything and so the fact that I’ve been here almost two weeks and still don’t have internet and still can’t get the basic maintenance items in my house fixed is something to shrug over rather than get upset over.  I suspect I’ll find myself shrugging a lot here.
The other thing that’s really helping me to maintain my insha’ Allah attitude is watching other expats.  There are some that truly seem to hate it here, and if you get them started on life here you’ll get a constant stream of complaints about how nothing ever gets done and no one has any work ethic.  On the other hand, there are expats who seem truly happy to be here and seem to be embracing the lifestyle and the adventure of it all.  And they also shrug a lot. 

So I think if I want to love it here and not become bitter, I’ll have to learn to be less American in my temperament and more accepting that things will move on their own timeline here.  And at the end of the day, if my house floods (as it has already done) and no one fixes it, it will eventually evaporate in the desert heat.  So next time it rains, maybe it won’t flood, insha’ Allah.