Joking

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

It is not becoming of a person to joke excessively as it diminishes from a person's respectability, and can lead to straining relations between people, if not done properly. The amount of joking should be like the amount of salt in one’s food, as too much laughing and joking distracts one from the remembrance of Allah and kills the heart.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Do not laugh too much, for laughing too much deadens the heart.” (Sahih al-Jaami)

‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, Allah be pleased with him, said:

“Whoever laughs too much or jokes too much loses respect, and whoever persists in doing something will be known for it.”

It was said to Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna,

“Joking is insulting (sabba),” he replied, “No, rather it is a sunna; but who can do it properly?”

Someone asked the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Do you joke with us?” the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied: “I do, but I only say that which is true” (Bukhari, Tirmidhi)

A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said:

“Give me an animal to ride on” the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied: “I will give you the son of a female camel”. The man said with astonishment: “What could I do with the son of a female camel?” (Thinking that he would be given a camel too small to ride). Thereupon the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied: “What do female camels deliver except camels?” (i.e., that every camel, even if it is fully grown, is the product of a female camel!). (Abu Dawud & Tirmidhi).

Jokes should not involve verses from the Qur’an, hadith, or any of fundamentals of Islam. Some people tell jokes about the verses of the Qur’an, Prophets, Angels, hijab, beard, turbans, etc. This is the most dangerous because it can take a person out of the fold of Islam, even if he is only joking.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“A slave (of Allah) would utter a word, without paying attention to it, which would result in him going down into the Hellfire further than the distance between the east and the west.” (Muslim)

Allah says:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ ۚ قُلْ أَبِاللَّـهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ﴿٦٥﴾ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ ۚ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَائِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَائِفَةً بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ ﴿٦٦

"If you ask them, they declare: ‘We were only talking idly and joking.’ Say: 'Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?' ’Make no excuse; you disbelieved after you had believed'"
(Qur'an At-Tauba 9:65-66)

So a brother with a turban and a beard is not a Sikh or a sister with long black abaya and long hijab is not a Nun.

Joking is permissible with the following conditions:

(a) it does not contain lies

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

“Woe to the one who speaks and tells a lie in order to make the people laugh at it. Woe to him. Then again, woe to him.” (Tirmidhi)

(b) it does not entail to frightening anyone

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

"It is not permissible for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim.” (Abu Dawud).

(c) it does not involve anything haram or impermissible such as mocking and backbiting.

Things that bring on Allah’s wrath and curse are certainly not things to joke about, for example vulgarity, adultery, wine drinking/drunkenness, gay culture, etc.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

“Do not express malicious joy towards your brother’s misfortune, for Allah may have mercy on him and you may be stricken by the thing you made fun of.” (Tirmidhi)

Allah says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِّن نِّسَاءٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقَابِ ۖ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمَانِ ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ ﴿١١

“O you who believe! Let not a group ridicule another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former. Nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former. Nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it to insult one’s brother after having Faith” (Qur'an Hujurat 49:11)

So, hold your laughter when you see your brother slips and falls in front of you, and you think the way he lands on the ground is so funny, and don't go and describe it to everybody at the masjid! (even if he appears not to mind it)

Some people joke with everyone indiscriminately, but scholars and the elderly have special status. So, you cannot joke around them like you do around your friends. You should also not joke with acquaintances or people you do not know because they might not understand your joke and this can lead to unpleasantness.

Like everything else, there is time and place for jokes, and we should not go overboard in our jokes and humor. If we follow the Sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his guidance, we will not go wrong.

May Allah make us among the people of taqwa. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam