ASA WR WB, ןooɔ os sı sıɥʇ mA... ʇno ʇı ʞɔǝɥɔ iA... JZK!!

samiha

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Staff member
Assalaamu `alaykum

Before starting, please translate my title.

I hope the hardest part were the abbreviations and not the upside down text. Unfortunately for most it's probably the other way around, or equally easy. With the proliferation of online chatting - slang and abbreviations to simplify written speech have become commonplace. The meaning of these letters are like general knowledge to many and dont even require a second glance.

I've found it used by the general masses, and every time I come across it, I have to ask WHY? Honestly, It makes me question if we have arrived at state where even in our conversations we cannot articulate simple statements to actually give them meaning. Now, this is surely an opinion, so the floor is open to discussion, but this is how I see it.

It reminds me of this incident:

Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) once passed by a group of archers who missed their targets. He reprimanded them, and they responded that they were only beginners, but they made a grammatical mistake in phrasing their response. He told them, "Verily, your mistakes in (Arabic) grammar are more difficult for me to bear than your mistakes in archery!"

(Quote from Lughat al-Qur'aan by Abu Ubadah Ibrahim ibn Muhammad)

Now one may argue that it isnt a 'grammatical' mistake, nor is it Arabic (in a literal sense), but the importance of speaking well and properly still stands. As Muslims we should strive to be and follow the examples of our predecessors and adorn our speech in the best and most correct of ways, but by utilizing these abbreviations we're truly in my opinion robbing them of their intent! It's not about all abbreviations, but when using Islaamic phrases, many of which are ad`iya (du`aas) can we truly say that this is correct?

Take for example - AA WR WB .. or simply even ASA or the other forms. What is it taken to mean?

At first when I came across it, I thought it was a typo. Until after encountering it at the start of a conversation a few times I came to realize that it was the salaam! SubhanAllaah, the greeting handed down to us as a blessing and mercy between believers, we've reduced it to a few letters! The Du`aa when greeting, we've changed it to a split second sending. How then does it translate?

AA = Battery Size, As Above, Asian American, Ana, Amino Acid, Alcoholics Anonymous etc

And now - Assalaamu `alaaykum ?! Is it not sad that we cannot take a few more seconds to spell out the word that we have to use an abbreviation which has little to no connection to what we wish to express? And even further, there's a reason for which it is more rewarding and good that a Muslim extends their greeting with 'wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu' but if all that means is just four more letters, are we truly getting the benefit of that reward? Moreover, are we even truly expressing the extent of what that entails? It's all just a bunch of letters people have come along and used to justify that meaning, but does it really?

A secondary matter along with this is the use of "Salaams" or "Salaamz" when greeting. Firstly, in Arabic it is grammatically incorrect to pluralize something by adding a 's' at the end, secondly what does this actually mean? And thirdly, if you add a z to it in the name of coolness, now truly tell me... what does that mean, and why are you saying it?

Sure sometimes we're a culture of made up words and meanings, I dont fail at this myself, but when we're referring to Arabic, and greetings of Salaam and du`aa... how can we expect to twist them any which way and believe it doesnt matter because it's all the same thing?

I mean think about it. One of the most common ones I've come across : Jzk = :jazaak:

By understood and accepted definitions, jzk is known as either 1) Jak Zawsze Kapitalne (Poland) 2) Junior Zoo Keeper

But those are based off of the beginnings of the words, but here we construe Arabic and pick off a few letters and sounds from the entirety of a word, mash them together and give it off to people as if it is a du`aa. And it's swallowed and returned often with a "wi" ... I almost wish I was joking. I'm quite impassioned by this because it has become such a common trait.

Join that together with - iA = :inshallah: inshaAllaah - mA = :mashallah: mashaAlaah - swt = Subhanahu wa ta`ala - saws/ pbuh / saas = :saw2: etc...

If you took any of these abbreviations and took them anywhere and asked anyone what they meant, unless they were familiar with Islaam, would they have any meaning? No, they may come up with a million excuses and explanations of what they thought, but unless they knew... it would not have any meaning. On the other hand, however way you write "Assalaamu `alaykum" even if a person did not know what it meant, it would be the same meaning, however way you choose to write "JazaakAllaah khayr" it would still remain the same in meaning, and the same with all the rest.

All I mean to say is, I truly believe that as Muslims we should strive our hardest to be as best as we can with our speech, and remove ourselves from using these types of abbreviations or alterations within our writing. Give a just a few more seconds to write it out.

There are some fataawa also about the usage of (saw) (pbuh) etc in abbreviation:
Can We Write "SAWS" in Place of "Sallallaahu 'Alayhe wa Sallam"?
Abbreviating (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) to (S) or (SAW) or the like

BAFK, MAGUA

= BarakAllaahu feekum, May Allaah guide us all.

I thought I would provide the translation, in case these hadn't caught on yet.

wasalaamu `alaykum
 

MohammedMaksudul

May Allah Forgive us
:salam2:

Alhamdulillah, here is a solution to the problem.

http://www.phraseexpress.com/

Autotext

PhraseExpress saves keystrokes by expanding text abbreviations into full text snippets. E.g. typing 'sig' could insert your signature into any program.

For example, you could set a keyboard shortcut so whenever you type "DCT" it automatically expands to "Dear Customer, Thank you for contacting us."

PhraseExpress provides this known MS Office Autotext feature in any Windows program, e.g. Internet Explorer, Excel, Database Front Ends, etc.

The Text Expander for Windows is ideal for people who are continually typing the same things over and over, reducing the time spent typing and minimizing spelling mistakes

Auto-Complete

PhraseExpress recognizes repetitive text input automatically and offers to auto-complete full sentences on demand.

Spelling Correction

PhraseExpress includes a system-wide spelling correction with more than 10,000 spelling corrections in seven languages.

The new TypoLearn™ feature detects often corrected typos from individual users and automatically adds such spelling corrections and create a custom-fit spelling correction database.

TypoLearn™ is independent of the used language and works with all Windows programs.

Clipboard Manager

While the standard Windows Clipboard keeps only the last copied data, the PhraseExpress Clipboard Manager keeps recently copied clipboard contents for quick access and insertion into any application.

Program Launcher

Launch programs simply by entering a text shortcut. For example, type 'word' to launch Microsoft Word or 'exc' to open a spreadsheet.

Email Signatures

PhraseExpress can manage your email signatures templates for use in any mail program, such as Outlook, Lotus Notes or Thunderbird. Dynamic contents can be embedded from ActiveDirectory/LDAP.

Multiple signatures in different languages or separate footers for personal vs business purposes can be easily managed in free-defined categories.

Cross-Platform Solution

PhraseExpress can also import snippets from SmileOnMyMac's software TextExpander™ to provide a cross-platform Text Expander for Windows and Mac.

RSI syndrome prevention

PhraseExpress reduces the risk of suffering from the Repetitive Strain Injury, as it helps to significantly reduce amount of time spent using a keyboard.

Now you can actually type those chat lingos like AS WR WB as a shortcut key and the software will replace it with the full salam, I use it to write arabic salam and many other things. Saves time!!

اسلام عليكم و الرحمت ا لله وا بركاته or و عليكم اسلام و الرحمت ا لله وا بركاته .
 

samiha

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Staff member
wa `alaykum salaam

Wow, that's pretty nice, great idea! Only I was wondering...does this work with only IE or other browsers too? Have you gotten a chance to try it out?
 

Tabassum07

Smile for Allah
:salam2:

I am guilty of typing the "SAW" and the "SWT". The thing is, when I'm typing up a response on these boards, I use one of the suffixes in their full-form once, but since these occur nearly every sentence in some cases, it becomes a little difficult to type it in full all the time.

It would be nice to get an arabic "smiley format" of sorts so the SAW and SWT can be easily inserted.

I agree with your post completely, Samiha. We are invoking duas, which should be done in their full form, however, since we use SAW and SWT so frequently, a quicker way to add it in would be helpful..

Regarding the acronyms you used at the end of your posts "BAFK, MAGUA ", I was seriously wondering for a second 'What's a magua?'
 

MohammedMaksudul

May Allah Forgive us
:salam2:

This works in everything, where ever you can type. I use it on daily basis, from writing client proposals to chatting. Sometimes, a lot of people knock at the same time, so it saves time. Download, after all it's free and free from virus!! Still, do check with your anti-virus!!
 

samiha

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Staff member
:salam2:

There are two types of sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam inserts, (remove spaces) :

1) : saw : = :saw:

2) : saw2 : = :saw2:

We don't have subhanahu wa ta`ala, but how I see it is that we should write it out when using it, and if "Allaah" comes up a lot, it's not necessary to write it out every single time (though it might be good) or we can either say it out loud and not write it, rather than giving an abbreviation.

Some other forum shortcuts:

- : mashallah : = :mashallah:

- : inshallah : = :inshallah:

- : subhanallah: = :subhanallah:

- : hawla : = :hawla:

- : shahadah : = :shahadah:

- : laila : = :laila:

- : allahuakbar: = :allahuakbar:

But really sometimes I think it's a personal mental block of difficulty; we think it's too hard to do, so we abbreviate, but you'll find we write hundreds of words after, or we're fast typers anyways, but find it hard to write these things out. In reality, after you've written them out quite a few times your fingers become adjusted to doing them as well, so the difficultly is reduced. However, for others perhaps other shortcuts are useful and good for that.

As for magua... yes, I was grinning as I wrote it; I mean really that's what we're doing. Taking a du'a, picking representatives and giving it meaning it doesnt have.

I've had this problem up till recently too (with sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and am trying to work out of it. I must ask though then as a serious note - what do you do when you're at a lecture and taking notes and writing out sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam takes the bit of time and you end up missing points? Is it better to miss points, or is it okay to abbreviate or rather even say it outloud and not write it? I haven't gotten a chance to ask someone about this yet...
 
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