Skip to main content

Mashallah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Mashallah (Arabicما شاء الله‎, mā shāʾa llāhu), also Masha'AllahMa shaa Allah is an Arabic phrase that means "God has willed" or "as God willing", expresses appreciation, joy, praise, or thankfulness for an event or person that was just mentioned.

Etymology[edit]

The triconsonantal root of shāʼ is šīn-yāʼ-hamza "to will", a doubly-weak root. The literal English translation is "God has willed it",[1] the present perfect of God's will accentuating the essential Islamic doctrine of predestination.
The exact meaning of Mashallah is "what Allah wanted has happened"; it is used to say something good has happened, used in the past tense. Inshallah, literally "if Allah wills," is used similarly but to refer to a future event.

Other uses[edit]

In some cultures, people may utter Masha Allah in the belief that it may help protect them from jealousy, the evil eye or a jinn. The phrase has also found its way into the colloquial language of many non-Arab Muslims including PersiansTurksKurdsBosniaksAzerbaijanisChechensAvarsCircassiansBangladeshisTatars,AlbaniansUrdu-speaking South Asians, and others.
It is also used by some Christians and others in areas which were ruled by the Ottoman EmpireSerbiansBulgarians and Macedonians say "машала" ("mašala"), often in the sense of "a job well done";[2] also some ArmeniansPontian Greeks (descendants of those that came from Turkey), and Cypriot Greeks.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ MashAllah meaning Islamic-dictionary.com
  2. Jump up^ Karadžić, Vuk (1818). Lexicon serbico-germanico-latinum. Gedruckt bei den P.P. Armeniern.

Comments