In sha' Allah, in Arabic إن شاء الله, is an Islamic phrase used not only by Arab Muslims, but also by English-speaking Muslims. The literal meaning of "in sha' Allah" is "if wills God" and Muslims have to (because of verses 18:23-24) say this phrase whenever they say their plan to do something.
The phrase in Arabic
With diacritics it is written as:
In the old Qur'anic Uthmani script, the شَاءَ is written with alif maddah:
The three words are:
- إِن - in - (a particle) if
- شَاءَ - sha' - (3rd person perfect verb) wills [1]
- اللَّهُ - Allah - (proper noun) God
The three letters in شَاءَ are:
- ش - shin
- ا - alif
- ء - hamza
Hamza is read as a glottal stop (closing the throat), which is indicated by the apostrophe "In sha' Allah".
The root of شَاءَ is شيا.
Some Muslims write in and sha together, so they get insha. انشاء الله (insha' Allah) means "we created/invented Allah" (insha is from a different root نشا). So by writing in and sha' together they proclaim that Allah is a man-made god. [2]
In the Qur'an
The verses 18:23-24 are the most important since they command Muslims to say in sha Allah. The verse 18:24 actually says أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ (an yasha' Allah) and not ان شاء الله (in sha' allah):
18:23 And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"
18:24 Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." (أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ) And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."
These verses say in sha Allah. Shakir translates the phrase as "if Allah pleases":
They said: Call on your Lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is, for surely to us the cows are all alike, and
if Allah please we shall surely be guided aright.
Then when they came in to Yusuf, he took his parents to lodge with him and said: Enter safe into Egypt,
if Allah please.
He said:
If Allah pleases, you will find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter.
He said: I desire to marry one of these two daughters of mine to you on condition that you should serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten, it will be of your own free will, and I do not wish to be hard to you;
if Allah please, you will find me one of the good.
And when he attained to working with him, he said: O my son! surely I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice you; consider then what you see. He said: O my father! do what you are commanded;
if Allah please, you will find me of the patient ones.
Certainly Allah had shown to His Messenger the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque,
if Allah pleases, in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut, you shall not fear, but He knows what you do not know, so He brought about a near victory before that.
In the Qur'an sometimes it is also written as "law sha Allah" (لَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ):
On this world and the hereafter. And they ask you concerning the orphans Say: To set right for them (their affairs) is good, and if you become co-partners with them, they are your brethren; and Allah knows the mischief-maker and the pacemaker,
and if Allah had pleased (وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ), He would certainly have caused you to fall into a difficulty; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.
In the hadith
It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar:
"Whoever swears an oath and says
In sha' Allah, will never break his oath."
Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab:
That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "If I live -
if Allah wills - I will expel the Jews and the Christians from the Arabian Peninsula."
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "(The Prophet) Solomon once said, 'Tonight I will sleep with ninety women, each of whom will bring forth a (would-be) cavalier who will fight in Allah's Cause." On this, his companion said to him, "Say: Allah willing!" But he did not say Allah willing. Solomon then slept with all the women, but none of them became pregnant but one woman who later delivered a halfman. By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, if he (Solomon) had said, 'Allah willing' (all his wives would have brought forth boys) and they would have fought in Allah's Cause as cavaliers. "
Origin
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