Insha'allah and Egytian Time

One of the first things that any person who becomes friends with an Egyptian will learn is that Egyptians are seldom on time. The schema for Egyptian time goes something like this. If an Egyptian tells you that he will be there in five minutes, you will be standing on the curb for another twenty. If he says he will be at the club in twenty minutes, you won't see his smiling face for an hour. And if he says, I'll meet you in half an hour, you might as well go and get some coffee because chances are he's not going to show up for two hours.

Then, there's that phrase that one cannot go a day without hearing - "insha'allah." It literally means, "God willing." It's meant to acknowledge the sovereignty of Allah. It's a fantastic phrase when it's used that way. However, "insha'allah" has become a phrase that's so quotidian that it comes out of people's mouths in a flippant and non-commital way. In those instances, it really means, "If it happens, great!" or "If not, then Allah didn't will it. Oh, well."

In the end, if you couple the time problem with the "insha'allah" "issue," then you will begin to marvel at the fact that anything ever gets done in this country.