If we all had the chance to go back in time twenty years with the opportunity to invest in something, most people would probably choose stocks, Bitcoin, property or Charizard (those £1 Pokémon packs really took everyone by surprise!). Me personally? I’d copyright the word wallahi and retire early because if I had £1 for every time I heard that phrase being thrown around, I’d… well, let’s talk about it.
You see, growing up in Southfields in South London, every conversation seemed to include “swear down”, “oh my God”, “Jesus!” or “wallahi” (and if you went to Southfields Secondary School, you also heard the Somali brothers augment the experience with “billahi” and “tallahi”). Your Total 90’s turf astroturf boots and JD locker bag weren’t a complete fit without the complimentary: “wallahi those are cold.”
Fast forward twenty years, and I genuinely cannot believe I am writing this… I was walking through Worcester Park and overheard a very posh lady casually tell her friend, “wallahi it’s so hot today.” Keep in mind, this was the kind of person who says “water”, not “wo’ah”. The moment she realised I heard her, she looked slightly embarrassed, which honestly made it even funnier, but something inside unsettled me… how did this even become normal? Should it ever be normal?
She wasn’t a Muslim, but then again, everyone does it in some form. Muslims say “wallahi”, Christians say “Jesus Christ” and people with no religion still say “oh my God” without even thinking about it. These phrases have now become part of everyday speech.
Islamically, take a breather, Allah the Almighty tells us that we are not held accountable for careless or unintentional oaths said without real intent: “Allah will not call you to account for such of your oaths as are vain […]” (Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2: V.226) But that does not mean we should become comfortable casually throwing around the name Allah.
This is because the danger is not always in the one-off phrase. The danger is when it becomes a habit. When sacred words become filler words. There are three problems with that.
Firstly, we should recognise that religious phrases carry meaning for people. Most Muslims would feel uncomfortable hearing someone casually say “oh my Allah” as a joke or throwaway phrase. In the same way, Christians may feel uncomfortable hearing “Jesus Christ” used carelessly. Respect matters.
Secondly, when wallahi becomes part of everyday slang, we risk forgetting how serious an oath by Allah actually is. One day, you may genuinely use it to convince someone you are telling the truth: “wallahi I’ll pay you back” or “wallahi I’m being serious, I promise.” At that point, those words carry real weight because the second part of the Quranic verse in Surah al-Baqarah does remind us that we will definitely be held accountable for the intentional oaths that we make:
“[…]He will call you to account for what your hearts have earned. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Forbearing.” (Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2: V.226)
The Prophet (sa) said, “Allah has prohibited you from taking an oath by your fathers. He who must take an oath, may do so by swearing in the Name of Allah or he should remain silent.” (Riyad as-Salihin, 1707) It is as clear as day that if you are using the name of Allah to take an oath, that is formally accepted as the proper method to make an oath that we will be held accountable for.
Thirdly, it may seem these phrases have entered slang territory, but their usage was never intended to be so; this means that the misapplication of phrases like wallahi, billahi and tallahi is simply a vain endeavour. Something we need to be really careful about:
“The fact that such oaths are not liable to be punished does not, however, mean that indulgence in them is permitted. It only means that a person who swears vain oaths will not be punished on the basis of such oaths, i.e. these oaths will not be legally treated as oaths. But he will certainly suffer the consequences of indulging in vain and useless talk. A Muslim is expected to avoid all things that are vain or purposeless and the Quran clearly enjoins it (23:4).” (Five Volume Commentary, Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2 V:226)
So, perhaps the issue is not simply whether we mean it or not, but whether we have forgotten what these words were meant to mean in the first place:
For those of us who are sitting on the fence about whether they should give up on taking Allah’s name in vain, the Holy Prophet (sa) has a message: “Beware of excessive swearing in sale, because it may promote trade but this practice will eliminate the blessing.” (Riyad as-Salihin, 1721)
The tongue becomes accustomed to whatever the heart treats lightly. Perhaps that is why Islam teaches us to be careful with our words, because if the name of Allah becomes nothing more than a reaction or punchline in our tongues, then we should not be surprised when it slowly stops carrying weight in our hearts as well. God forbid.