Similarly to foreigners, who have a set of words they like to use on a daily basis, Arabs have their very own - often uncontrollably overused - preferred words too.

One word, however, is more special than any other...

Inshallah (If God is willing) has unanimously made it to all Arab countries, finding space in any comment, question, and specifically when one wishes to sugar-coat a simple 'no'. 

Nowadays, to no-one's surprise and everyone's amusement, Westerners have been trying to settle their feelings toward this word. 

Here are five times Inshallah made headlines in western media.

1. A song

In 2016, British singer Sting performed the song Inshallah to acknowledge refugee hardships and express his solidarity with their plight. 

When asked about the inspiration behind the song, Sting told NPR: ''I don't have a political solution, but I feel if there's a solution to it, it has to be grounded in some kind of empathy for those people in those boats. Because we as a species all migrate. We're all migrants.''  

2. A novel

Inshalla, Oriana Fallaci, book
Source: myislam

The book, published in 1990, captures Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci's experiences during her time covering wars in the Middle East. 

The plot focuses on fictional Italian peacekeeping soldiers sent on a mission to Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.

The word 'Inshallah' also gained recognition as one of society's multi-use jargon due to Thomas Friedman's coverage of the Lebanese civil war for the New York Times, which was followed up with his 1989 book, From Beirut to Jerusalem

3. An American airport

skyvector, airport, inshallah, usa,
Source: SkyVector

Inshallah International is a private airport, active since 1978. It is owned by Inshallah Ranch Inc and has a runway of 975 meters (3,200 ft).

The airport is located 15 miles southwest of Seneca, Oregon, United States. 

4. It even once broke the internet...

In April 2016, Iraqi Berkeley graduate, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, was kicked out of a plane at Los Angeles International Airport for saying Inshallah


5. The focal point of this 2008 New York Times report

nyt, egypt, cairo, inshallah, wording, new york times, screenshot,
Source: NYT

Back in 2008, NYT correspondent Michael Slackman was fascinated with the Cairene way of inserting Inshallah in almost every sentence and at any occasion.  

"Inshallah has become a reflex, a bit of a linguistic tic that has attached itself to nearly every moment, every question, like the word "like" in English. But it is a powerful reference, intended or not," Slackman wrote at the time.