In this video I'm gonna teach you six phrases that are so useful here in Pakistan and across any kinda Islamic country actually.
These phrases will put a smile on locals' faces and you'll be warmly welcomed anywhere if you use these, okay?
These phrases can be used in any other kind of Islamic country as well like UAE for example. They say the exact same phrases.
And, the reason I use these phrases is because life is about adapting to where you are...
...and so when I'm with my Hindu friends in India I'll change to like:
If I'm with some Krishna Conscious friends.
So that's how I adapt no matter where I am in the world and you can also use these phrases in India as well.
Because it's such a large Muslim population. Oh and I forgot to mention Sikhs. When I'm with Sikhs I change to,
So let's get on with the lesson. The very first and most important greeting you can learn here in Pakistan is:
The reply to that:
What that means is 'Peace be upon you.' The reply is also 'Peace be upon you too.' That's the rough translation, so.
The other person's gonna reply:
So you've learned how to say Hello. Now how do you say Goodbye?
And that means 'May God protect you.' Pretty simple, right?
When you say goodbye...
Now if you're asking somebody 'How they are' if you say...
Commonly they'll say here:
And that means simply 'By God's grace' or 'By God's grace I'm good.'
So you can say that when someone asks you how you are (even if they ask you in English). You can reply:
People will be so happy. There will just be a huge smile on their face & they'll probably ask you straightaway 'Are you Muslim?' if you say that.
And this brings us into the next phrase.
And you just heard it then.
What's happening right now is the call to prayer.
It's calling Muslims from around the area to come for Namaaz which is the prayer ceremony at the mosque.
So you'll commonly hear:
Not usually in speech people aren't usually saying it. There's other things they're saying more commonly which we'll get to right next.
But you often hear it in the call to prayer and you'll hear it in music as well. There's a lot of songs and it goes like...
Like this, like really kinda, really peaceful Islamic music and that's one point I wanna make as well.
The reality here on ground, no matter what the media says, is that Pakistan is a peaceful country and Pakistanis are extremely peaceful people as well.
It's like India right? You see so much rubbish in the media or the western media about India and you think 'Oh my god'
You think so many bad things are happening there or some of these things are so common there.
But when you get to India, the reality is so different & you just fall in love with the country & that's exactly...
...what my parents experienced when they got to India.
How lovely everybody has been to us. Manisha's family, just people smiling on the street, chatting the way to you.
And, um, just talking to Manisha's neighbor what lovely people everybody's just so friendly and I love the family feel.
It's really like, you see the neighbors just come and help themselves...it's wonderful.
We've had a fabulous time (really good) we were so worried about maybe getting you know sick and not knowing what to expect but...
It's just been (all good) it's amazing (very nice).
The reality which they thought India was so different from the on ground reality when they got there and Pakistan is absolutely no different to that.
It just means God is the greatest. That's it. Now the next two phrases, the final two:
Insha'Allah means God willing. God willing something will happen like I'll say 'I'm going to Peshawar next week'
And my friends here will say 'Insha'Allah' (God willing)
You know, it's kind of, like a blessing. Like, 'if God wishes it will happen.'
If it doesn't happen you know God didn't will it to happen.
It's a nice phrase and you can use this a lot. People use it like anytime they look into the future and speaking to the future...
And finally,
Extremely popular and this means 'God willed it' like God made this happen. (It's a very very rough translation)
And people use it here for praise or to show joy. So, if I tell someone something great happened they'll just say...
So yeah these are the, kind of, six most common phrases you can use across Pakistan and other Islamic countries and with Muslims in India as well.
Now if you're still here I got one more for you. And this one is more used in the Gulf states. Like the UAE for example.
And I learned this from Khalid Al Ameri. He taught me this when I met him last time I was in Dubai.
You can use when you're meeting like a good friend. You can say 'Hello Habibi' like someone you really care about.
Someone that you love. So whenever I see Khalid I'm like Hello Habibi or As-salamu alaykum Habibi.
And, uh, if you, (he taught me this too) you can call your wife...
This is the loving version for your wife. I guess it's like Jaanu or Jaan in Hindi. Tell me if that's the correct translation.
One thing I wanna know as well. Any Bangladeshi is here tell me do you guys also use these Arabic greetings in Bangladesh as well?