Use of Insha’Allah

The jargon of the Muslim Community

If you have ever lived in a Muslim society, I bet you must have heard these words frequently, e.g., Insha ALLAH, Masha ALLAH, Alhumdulillah, etc. Whether practicing or nonpracticing, these words are the jargon of the Muslim community, so much so that you might hear these words from non-muslims who chose to assimilate into Muslim society. However, this article will discuss how to use Insha ALLAH correctly.

Where to Use Insha Allah

The very first question about the use of Insha ALLAH is where to use it? The answer lies in its meanings. Insha ALLAH means ” As ALLAH wishes” or ” If Allah wills.” Following its purpose, Insha ALLAH is in situations where we discuss an event that will happen in the future or whenever we intend to do something in the future.

Correct Use of Insha Allah

In Arabic, the word Insha Allah written as “ﺍِﻥ ﺷﺎﺀ اللّٰہ.” However, we have often seen people reporting it as ﺍﻧﺸﺎﺀﺍﻟﻠﮧ. In English, we often write the two initial words collectively like Insha Allah. Both words seem similar. They sound identical in pronunciation. But are very different from each other. You might argue how writing ﺍﻧﺸﺎﺀ is wrong while you must have seen this word in the Quran many times. The difference lies in the meaning of both. ﺍﻧﺸﺎﺀ means “being born” while ﺍِﻥ ﺷﺎﺀ means ” By the will of.” Thus ﺍﻧﺸﺎﺀﺍﻟﻠﮧ will mean ” Born of ALLAH” ( may Allah forgive us), which is sinful to say. The frequency of usage of In Sha ALLAH makes this mistake more dangerous.

Meanings Of Insha Allah From Quran:

“Insha” has been used in the Quran on multiple occasions, for example;

. ﻭَﻫﻮَ ﺍﻟَّﺬِﯼ ﺃَﻧْﺸَﺄَ ﻟَﮑُﻢُ ﺍﻟﺴَّﻤْﻊَ ﻭَﺍﻟْﺄَﺑْﺼَﺎﺭَ ﻭَﺍﻟْﺄَﻓْﺌِﺪَۃَ ﻗَﻠِﯿﻠًﺎ ﻣَﺎ ﺗَﺸْﮑُﺮُﻭﻥَ سورة ﺍﻟﻤﻮﻣﻦ 78

2. ﻗُﻞْ ﺳِﯿﺮُﻭﺍ ﻓِﯽ ﺍﻟْﺄَﺭْﺽِ ﻓَﺎﻧْﻈُﺮُﻭﺍ ﮐَﯿْﻒَ ﺑَﺪَﺃَ ﺍﻟْﺨَﻠْﻖَ ﺛُﻢَّ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪ ﯾُﻨْﺸِﺊُ ﺍﻟﻨَّﺸْﺄَۃَ ﺍﻟْﺂَﺧِﺮَۃَ ﺇِﻥَّ ﺍﻟﻠَّﮧَ ﻋَﻠَﯽ ﮐُﻞِّ ﺷَﯽْﺀ ٍ ﻗَﺪِﯾﺮ. سورة ﺍﻟﻌﻨﮑﺒﻮﺕ 20

3. ﺇِﻧَّﺎ ﺃَﻧْﺸَﺄْﻧَﺎﻫﻦَّ ﺇِﻧْﺸَﺎﺀ ً سورة ﺍﻟﻮﺍﻗﻌﮧ

All these instances use this word in a different context. Similarly, ﺍِﻥ ﺷﺎﺀ  used at the following places;

1. ﻭَﺇِﻧَّﺎ ﺇِﻥْ ﺷَﺎﺀ َ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪ ﻟَﻤُﮩْﺘَﺪُﻭﻥَ سورة ﺍﻟﺒﻘﺮﮦ 70

2. ﻭَﻗَﺎﻝَ ﺍﺩْﺧُﻠُﻮﺍ ﻣِﺼْﺮَ ﺇِﻥْ ﺷَﺎﺀ َ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪ ﺁَﻣِﻨِﯿﻦَ سورة ﯾﻮﺳﻒ 99

3. ﻗَﺎﻝَ ﺳَﺘَﺠِﺪُﻧِﯽ ﺇِﻥْ ﺷَﺎﺀ َ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪ ﺻَﺎﺑِﺮًﺍ ﻭَﻟَﺎ ﺃَﻋْﺼِﯽ ﻟَﮏَ ﺃَﻣْﺮًﺍ سورة ﺍﻟﮑﮩﻒ 69

4. ﺳَﺘَﺠِﺪُﻧِﯽ ﺇِﻥْ ﺷَﺎﺀ َ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪ ﻣِﻦَ ﺍﻟﺼَّﺎﻟِﺤِﯿﻦَ سورة ﺍﻟﻘﺼﺎﺹ 27

Reading and Writing Arabic words.

All these examples use ﺍِﻥ ﺷﺎﺀ in the same context of “if ALLAH wills.” Hence proven, the correct form is ﺇِﻥْ ﺷَﺎﺀ َ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪ. We can see how a slight difference in a word alters the meaning of Scripture. Thus we must be vigilant in using Arabic words correctly. Unfortunately, Arabic is not the mother tongue of all 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. As a result, we make mistakes while reading and writing Arabic words. It’s our responsibility to educate ourselves and our future generations with the correct usage of Arabic words. The good news is, AlQuranClasses offers Tajweed ( how to pronounce words of Quran) and Arabic grammar classes. A free trial is also available here. Let’s learn and improve ourselves.

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