As there is some commotion about the appropriateness of Ilhan Omar’s “subhanallah” tweet, I’ll throw in my 2 cents. (thread) https://twitter.com/YasMohammedxx/status/1245458853447122947

1. Yasmine is correct about the literal meaning. It does *literally* mean “praise be to god”, and often used to convey “awe” at something good. This is also the most common use of the term across the Muslim world.

2. However, I was immediately skeptical that Omar meant it as Yasmine claims. Even if she is that malicious, how absurd would it be to declare GLEE at the thought of Americans dying publicly?

3. Second, I know from personal experience that the meaning varies. In my family, for example, while the understood meaning is “praise be to god”, it is often used ironically/sarcastically to mean the opposite.

4. Lastly, I was wondering whether there are cultural/regional differences at play here. The Muslim world is vast, and local use of terminology can evolve. Is that the case here?

5. To investigate, I asked around many of my ex-Muslim friends and within @ExmuslimsOrg's communities about their experience. Evidently, in some cultures “subhanallah” IS commonly used to express shock/disbelief, sometimes even negatively - to express outrage.

6. Interestingly, even in the Quran, there is an instance of a very *similar* word (meaning “praise be to the creator of the universe”) being used as an expression of exasperation.

7. When confronted by those who are demanding many miracles to prove Allah’s word, Muhammad is instructed to say “Praise be to the Lord! Was I ever but a human!” (Surah 17, verse 93) https://quran.com/17/93?translations=20

8. Given the above, the less charitable (but possible) interpretation could be that Omar knew the more common meaning, but said it to deliberately stoke flames and have the opportunity play the victim. I do not believe this is likely.

9. In this case, I believe the more charitable interpretation is also the more plausible one. We should interpret Ilhan Omar’s quote as she defines it. Subhannallah = “Good god!”

Having said all that, subhannallah @IlhanMN is such a careless speaker!

Fin