inshallah

one of the most common and useful phases heard here in doha is 'inshallah'. the usual transation is 'god willing' (god or allah, the arabic word for god, will help with the matter at hand). however, inshallah goes a lot further than that. it includes the idea that we are all at the mercy of god/ allah in every moment of our lives. for example -
'will the plane come on time? yes…inshallah.' OR
'will I get the money tomorrow? of course…inshallah.'

unfortunately, the practical usage of it more often than not is more like -
'it'll be ready tomorrow, inshallah' (maybe in a week/ it will be ready when it is ready) OR
'i will call you tomorrow, inshallah' (keep waiting/ don't call us, we will call you).

however, a good arabian muslim should always bear in mind that the will of God might be different to his own personal wishes.

here is another inshallah example i found online -
'About a year ago, a Saudi I knew well died in a car crash. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was precipitated out of the back seat of a car his friend was driving head first through the windscreen. The others in the car survived because they had been wearing seat belts. However, on offering condolences, I heard the same point of view repeated time and time again. “There was nothing anyone could have done. ‘Inshallah.’ It was God’s will: his time had come.” Of course, this totally ignored the fact that the victim had decided not to take a basic safety precaution.'

in the western world we more or less believe our fate is in our own hands. however, they say that 'the west needs to comprehend this fundamental belief in the Arab world in order to come to any clear understanding of the muslim arab mentality'...inshallah :)