A2noun
أَجَلٌ
ajal
appointed term / deadline / lifespan
Example
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً
wa-likulli ummatin ajalun fa-idhā jāʾa ajaluhum lā yastaʾkhirūna sāʿah
And for every nation is an appointed term. When their term has come, they will not remain behind an hour (7:34)
Grammar
Masculine noun. Plural: آجَالٌ (ājāl). Refers to both individual lifespans and the appointed end of nations. From أَجَّلَ (to set a term).
Culture
Every soul and every nation has a divinely decreed ajal — this belief shapes the Muslim understanding of death as an appointment, not an accident.