In Islam, it’s customary to say “insha’Allah” when describing actions you wish to take in the future. The Arabic phrase means “God willing” or “if God wills it,” an acknowledgment that the best-laid plans can go awry without divine approval.

You’ve probably seen it by now in several news stories about Muslims, albeit with many variations on the transliteration: inshallah, insha Allah, etc. In text messages and online conversations, young Muslims use the Internet shorthand “isa,” as in “c u tmw @ 5p isa.”

Many other cultures have similar part-religious, part-superstitious sayings. The Spanish and Portuguese have their own versions. Even my Texas-born grandfather was uncomfortable committing himself to plans without first muttering a quick, “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.”

Before we go any further, let’s look at the scriptural support for the use of insha’Allah. A verse in the Quran (al Kahf, 18:23) states: “And never say of anything, ‘Indeed I will do that tomorrow,’ except [when adding] ‘If Allah wills.’ And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, ‘Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct.”

That being understood, Egyptians and some other Muslims are getting pretty darn nitpicky about what God wills. I’m not criticizing general use of the term – I use it myself every day and it can feel like something’s missing when I omit it. It’s so culturally entrenched that even completely secular Muslims invoke insha’Allah.

But are there no limits?

These days, you can’t hail a taxi and tell the driver you’d like to go downtown – you have to add insha’Allah. And once you’re in the cab, a typical conversation can go something like this:

Passenger: How long do you think it will take to get there, insha’Allah? Driver: Insha’Allah, there will be no traffic and we can get there soon. Passenger: So, half an hour? Driver: Insha’Allah.

In Cairo, fast-food joints such as KFC and Hardee’s deliver to your home. The telephone ordering process always involves a liberal sprinkling of insha’Allahs. I’m going out on a limb here, but could it be that God has bigger things to handle than willing whether you will get curly fries or regular ones?

And then there’s the alternate use of insha’Allah that’s akin to the “manana” brush-off in Spanish. Foreign diplomats working on projects with the Egyptian government often complain about “the insha’Allah factor.” Ordinary folks also deal with this every day, in a range of circumstances. Hey, boss, can I get a raise? Insha’Allah, says the employer. Dad, will you buy me that new computer game? Insha’Allah, says the parent. It’s an unassailable answer, yet one that somehow doesn’t inspire the greatest of confidence.

Most often, however, insha’Allah is used in the traditional Islamic sense, or at least in a superstitious spinoff of it. It’s mentioned in pop songs, scholarly writings, political speeches and Friday sermons. The Iraq war has accelerated Western familiarity with the term. “Insha’Allah” is one of the first phrases American soldiers learn when they’re deployed to the Middle East – it’s in the glossary of many military manuals.

It is used throughout the Muslim world, but in some countries more than others. For example, I was surprised to find out how comparatively rare it is in Iran, which is, after all, the self-described Islamic Republic. When I used the term there out of force of habit, many Iranians found it quaint. (“Say it again! How cute!” Persian friends would tease.)

I’m certainly not the only one to notice the extreme proliferation of insha’Allah and the questions it raises about when and how to use the phrase. Last month, a woman posed this question in a forum on the Muslim-focused Web site Ummah.com: “I just noticed that many people seem to insert ‘InshaaAllah’ in their speeches/sentences most of the time in the wrong place and for the wrong reason! Why is that?”

What followed was a lively, sometimes heated discussion of the term and its proper use. For example, Lebanese, Indian and Egyptian participants debated whether you had to use it for your expressed desires in addition to actions planned for the future, ie. “I want to start my own business” vs. “I’m going to start my own business.” There was no real consensus in the end – but one especially persistent Saudi got labeled “the Insha’Allah police."

All this is just food for thought, I suppose. If readers are aware of specific fatwas guiding the use of insha’Allah, I’d love to see them. I did a cursory search on a couple of Web sites where rulings are compiled and couldn’t find much. So, let’s leave the discussion there for today – I have to get back to work on a story I promised to have ready for my editors by this weekend.

Insha’Allah.