Something that stood out to me when I first got to Saudi and started learning common words and phrases in Arabic was how much God (Allah) was invoked in conversation. It literally seemed like every other word or phrase contained within it the word Allah. Greetings, interjections, exclamations, especially the most common ones, all referenced God or something pertaining to him. Take the standard greeting and its response:
A salam alaikum - May God's peace be upon you
Wa alaikum salam - and may his peace be upon you
It seemed heavy to me. I thought about greeting someone in English that way and the gravity of the statement stood out even further. More deep sentiments when translated are also extremely common. If someone asks "How are you?", it's very common for the response to be "Alhamdullilah"-- Praise be to God. If someone says something surprising or wonderful and you wish to exclaim positively the response is "Mashallah"-- It is God's will. "Inshallah" I've already posted about and it's frequency in use, while invoking ideas of fate and determination to some (we won't mention names), is again a reminder of the pervasiveness of referencing God constantly throughout the day. "Wallah" means "I swear by Allah" and is used as commonly as we would say "really" whether to emphasize something or to question someone and ask for confirmation. "I'm wallah tired teacher. Wallah sick. Wallah," is an excuse I hear from my students much too often. "Yallah" is how to say "Oh God" and is used in prayer but is also how you would exclaim if something negative happened. "Ma Salama" translates as "go with God's peace" and is used as a farewell. There is also a phrase that I'm unable to pronounce and therefore unable to remember or relate to you all that translates as "May god correct and guide you" that is often interjected when someone says something ridiculous or misguided.
Again, I started thinking about speaking this way in English in normal situations. I couldn't get the idea out of my head of someone asking me how I'm doing and responding with "Praise the Lord!" or maybe "Praise Jesus!". While I found some humor in that image, it also got me thinking that the idea really isn't all that foreign after all-- definitely not for religious folks-- and why wouldn't you say that if you're doing particularly well. It became apparent that the English equivalent of a lot of the other phrases are also used if not as frequently, almost as much. Take for example 'Mashallah' and 'Yallah'. Both are used the same way English-speakers say "Oh My God"-- one in a positive sense and the other to exclaim about something negative. We say "Oh My God" all the time (OMG), or if not, some more benign version such as "Oh my goodness", "Gosh", "Golly'', or the like. We also say "I swear" or "I swear to God" fairly often as well. Less common and more old-fashioned, we even say "God help you", if someone is terribly wrong, or possibly somewhat sarcastically in a situation where someone says something ridiculous-- almost a direct translation of that phrase I can't pronounce. "God willing" isn't that uncommon of a phrase either. Suddenly after some reflection, I began to think that maybe the references to Allah that I was hearing so frequently really didn't set the Arabic I've been exposed to very much apart from English after all. "Goodbye" even comes from the Middle English word "godbwye", a contraction of "God be with you", and is the equivalent of the Arabic "Ma Salama". Further reflection and discussion ensued.
I then began to think that the reason we are less likely in Christian-dominated societies to use the word 'God' is for fear of offending the religious, meaning we are actually more sensitive to religion. After all, it is seen by many as taboo or as using the Lord's name in vain and therefore we've developed less offensive words like 'gosh' and so on. Just when I happened to think this wasn't the case within Najd (the region of Saudi I live in), I learned from a bilingual buddy of mine that they do in fact have more benign versions of phrases used negatively like 'Yallah'. I also found out that there is an equivalent of "God damn it" which translates more literally as "Damn God" and is by far the worse swear you could use around these parts. Again, similarities were outweighing differences.
It should be noted that the dialect of Arabic as well as the phraseology used in Saudi and particularly in Najd is not the same as it is in other places. I've learned that people in Sham (the part of the Arab world comprising modern day Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine) are much less likely to use a lot of the phrases I've mentioned in this post. They very often won't even greet each other with 'Salam Alaikum' and much to the chagrin of folks who do, won't return others' 'Salams'.* So the words and references I'm mentioning should be thought of in the context and environment to which I'm exposed, one that is inherently more religiously inclined.
Still though, (as I hope is always the case with my 'notes') it's interesting to think about: the use of invoking God in language. It makes you think about not only the roots, frequency and usage of phrases with 'God' in them, but also our own awareness of those phrases and their deeper spiritual meanings. It reminds me of one of the most common exclamations used in the Czech Republic, "Ježíš Marie", which literally translates as "Jesus Mary", and how everyone from the elderly to young children use the phrase constantly, seemingly without any thought being given to offending anyone. Where as in the States if I went around belting out "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ" every time something happened worth exclaiming about I'd be sure to offend people, the secular nature of their society means that the words themselves have very little meaning in any religious context. They are just simply the words they use to exclaim whether positively or negatively. The religious sentiment has been completely lost.
In Saudi though, it is my feeling that the context is never forgotten; that the deeper meaning is purposefully referenced; that they are literally and meaningfully speaking of God, his peace, or invoking his name; and that this is done more frequently than in English speaking societies. This may be because I feel that in the States we don't necessarily mean our similar phrases as literally and that religion and spirituality aren't as ingrained in our speech and daily life. It's also hard not to notice the frequency with which people will add words like "Alhamdullilah" and "Inshallah" into much of what they say. I have no doubt that this feeling has some inherent bias and is due, at least in part, to my own subconscious urge to reinforce my preconception that Islamic societies are inherently more religious than western ones. I could be wrong, but still, again, it's interesting to think about.
*The common Shami greeting is "Marhaba" although devout Muslims anywhere in the world and people in more religious regions of Sham will often use "Salam Alaikum".
A salam alaikum - May God's peace be upon you
Wa alaikum salam - and may his peace be upon you
It seemed heavy to me. I thought about greeting someone in English that way and the gravity of the statement stood out even further. More deep sentiments when translated are also extremely common. If someone asks "How are you?", it's very common for the response to be "Alhamdullilah"-- Praise be to God. If someone says something surprising or wonderful and you wish to exclaim positively the response is "Mashallah"-- It is God's will. "Inshallah" I've already posted about and it's frequency in use, while invoking ideas of fate and determination to some (we won't mention names), is again a reminder of the pervasiveness of referencing God constantly throughout the day. "Wallah" means "I swear by Allah" and is used as commonly as we would say "really" whether to emphasize something or to question someone and ask for confirmation. "I'm wallah tired teacher. Wallah sick. Wallah," is an excuse I hear from my students much too often. "Yallah" is how to say "Oh God" and is used in prayer but is also how you would exclaim if something negative happened. "Ma Salama" translates as "go with God's peace" and is used as a farewell. There is also a phrase that I'm unable to pronounce and therefore unable to remember or relate to you all that translates as "May god correct and guide you" that is often interjected when someone says something ridiculous or misguided.
Again, I started thinking about speaking this way in English in normal situations. I couldn't get the idea out of my head of someone asking me how I'm doing and responding with "Praise the Lord!" or maybe "Praise Jesus!". While I found some humor in that image, it also got me thinking that the idea really isn't all that foreign after all-- definitely not for religious folks-- and why wouldn't you say that if you're doing particularly well. It became apparent that the English equivalent of a lot of the other phrases are also used if not as frequently, almost as much. Take for example 'Mashallah' and 'Yallah'. Both are used the same way English-speakers say "Oh My God"-- one in a positive sense and the other to exclaim about something negative. We say "Oh My God" all the time (OMG), or if not, some more benign version such as "Oh my goodness", "Gosh", "Golly'', or the like. We also say "I swear" or "I swear to God" fairly often as well. Less common and more old-fashioned, we even say "God help you", if someone is terribly wrong, or possibly somewhat sarcastically in a situation where someone says something ridiculous-- almost a direct translation of that phrase I can't pronounce. "God willing" isn't that uncommon of a phrase either. Suddenly after some reflection, I began to think that maybe the references to Allah that I was hearing so frequently really didn't set the Arabic I've been exposed to very much apart from English after all. "Goodbye" even comes from the Middle English word "godbwye", a contraction of "God be with you", and is the equivalent of the Arabic "Ma Salama". Further reflection and discussion ensued.
I then began to think that the reason we are less likely in Christian-dominated societies to use the word 'God' is for fear of offending the religious, meaning we are actually more sensitive to religion. After all, it is seen by many as taboo or as using the Lord's name in vain and therefore we've developed less offensive words like 'gosh' and so on. Just when I happened to think this wasn't the case within Najd (the region of Saudi I live in), I learned from a bilingual buddy of mine that they do in fact have more benign versions of phrases used negatively like 'Yallah'. I also found out that there is an equivalent of "God damn it" which translates more literally as "Damn God" and is by far the worse swear you could use around these parts. Again, similarities were outweighing differences.
It should be noted that the dialect of Arabic as well as the phraseology used in Saudi and particularly in Najd is not the same as it is in other places. I've learned that people in Sham (the part of the Arab world comprising modern day Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine) are much less likely to use a lot of the phrases I've mentioned in this post. They very often won't even greet each other with 'Salam Alaikum' and much to the chagrin of folks who do, won't return others' 'Salams'.* So the words and references I'm mentioning should be thought of in the context and environment to which I'm exposed, one that is inherently more religiously inclined.
Still though, (as I hope is always the case with my 'notes') it's interesting to think about: the use of invoking God in language. It makes you think about not only the roots, frequency and usage of phrases with 'God' in them, but also our own awareness of those phrases and their deeper spiritual meanings. It reminds me of one of the most common exclamations used in the Czech Republic, "Ježíš Marie", which literally translates as "Jesus Mary", and how everyone from the elderly to young children use the phrase constantly, seemingly without any thought being given to offending anyone. Where as in the States if I went around belting out "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ" every time something happened worth exclaiming about I'd be sure to offend people, the secular nature of their society means that the words themselves have very little meaning in any religious context. They are just simply the words they use to exclaim whether positively or negatively. The religious sentiment has been completely lost.
In Saudi though, it is my feeling that the context is never forgotten; that the deeper meaning is purposefully referenced; that they are literally and meaningfully speaking of God, his peace, or invoking his name; and that this is done more frequently than in English speaking societies. This may be because I feel that in the States we don't necessarily mean our similar phrases as literally and that religion and spirituality aren't as ingrained in our speech and daily life. It's also hard not to notice the frequency with which people will add words like "Alhamdullilah" and "Inshallah" into much of what they say. I have no doubt that this feeling has some inherent bias and is due, at least in part, to my own subconscious urge to reinforce my preconception that Islamic societies are inherently more religious than western ones. I could be wrong, but still, again, it's interesting to think about.
*The common Shami greeting is "Marhaba" although devout Muslims anywhere in the world and people in more religious regions of Sham will often use "Salam Alaikum".
Wow! I really enjoyed this piece, Relf. Once again, your insights and observations are moving and thought provoking. :) Namaste :)
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