Meaning of "Insha’Allah (If Allah ﷻ Wills)"

A prayer

Muslims usually say ‘insha’Allah’ (Arabic إنشاءالله) which means “Allah willing” or "if Allah wills" before planning to do something. It is because Allah ﷻ has taught us these words in the Quran: “And never say of anything, ‘Indeed, I will do such and such tomorrow,’ Except [when adding], ‘If Allah wills.’”[1] This is a prayer for us and does not in any way contradict our ability to exercise free will. What this expression implies that we will try our best but the ultimate result is in the hands of Allah ﷻ whether it would produce the intended result or no. That is what "insha’Allah" means. This is a mindset of humility that we adopt before planning to do an action because as mentioned in the prior posts that Muslims should not overly concern themselves with results as long as the intention was pure as that is what we will be judged upon: "Actions are to be judged only by intentions and a man will have only what he intended..."[2] The word "insha'Allah" is an expression to remind us that even though we will use our free will and do the action yet it is only Allah ﷻ who really decides for us what is better in terms of results, and we put our trust in Him: "But you cannot will (for results to happen) it unless Allah wills, for, behold, Allah is indeed All-Seeing, Wise."[3]

References:
[1] Al Quran 18:23-24
[2] Sunan Abu Dawud Book 12, Hadith 2195
[3] Al Quran 76:30 - Asad Translation

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