Religion in Egypt

Video Transcript

(Note: This transcript has been edited for readability.)

"Religion is really prevalent, much more prevalent in everyday life in Egypt than it is in America. Even just in the language. There are religious phrases thrown in all the times and these are phrases that, as an American speaking the language, I also throw in just because it’s so normal to say. Instead of saying ‘hopefully,’ which is a non-religious thing to say, in Arabic you say 'inshallah.' So ‘God willing, something will happen.’ That’s something you hear all the time. That’s one of the number one phrases you should learn if you go to the Arab world. So in the language and then the dress of the people you see walking down the street. You’ll see a lot of women wearing what we consider religious garb, so it’s wearing a veil. Increasingly now in Egypt, much more than maybe 50 years ago, women are wearing much more conservative dress. For a while, it was swinging more Western, but now you’ll see more women, especially in the lower classes but pretty much also in the upper classes as well wearing more religious garb just because now that’s the social norm."

In this video, a linguist discusses the impact of Islam on Egyptian culture.