April 30, 2008 Inshallah*

Around here, whenever you talk about the future, you say “Inshallah”. If God wills. It doesn’t matter how likely the event is. “I’m going to the souq in half an hour, inshallah.” “I’ll sprout wings and fly tomorrow afternoon, inshallah.” (OK, maybe they wouldn’t say that one.) It’s also used as a graceful way of avoiding invitations: “I can’t stop in for tea now, but I’ll come by later, inshallah.” It’s mostly cultural, but it was originally religious; the Qur’an teaches that no one knows the precise time of his or her death – the Bible has a similar verse or two – so there’s no way to know if your plans will come to pass, and it is impious and arrogant to claim otherwise. The cultural implications of this mean that appointments and plans are pretty much always tentative. It also reflects a grater humility and expectation of God’s influence in daily life than most Americans or Europeans would acknowledge.

It’s just one of the thousands of ways that Moroccan culture is different from American culture. That’s what makes it so fascinating to be here – I never know what I’ll learn next! :)