The Muslim has a sense of humour
By Dr Muhammad Ali Hashmi
The Muslim has a sense of humour, which makes people like him. He mixes with them and jokes with them when. It is appropriate to do so, without going to extremes or saying anything hurtful. Similarly, when he is serious, he does not go to extremes of harshness and strictness. His humour is within the limits of Islamic tolerance, and does not go beyond the bounds of truth. This is the example of Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) and the Sahabah (Radhi Allaho anhum) in their jokes and humour.
It is reported that the Sahabah said to the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam): “You are joking with us.” He said, “But I never say anything but the truth.” (Bukhari)
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) used to joke, but he never said anything but the truth in his jokes. The Sahabah took the same approach to humour. There are many delightful reports about the jokes exchanged between the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) and the Sahabah.
Among the stories related in the books of Ahadith and Seerat is the report that the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) used to joke with the small child of one of the Sahabah, a boy called Abu Umair, who had a small bird he used to play with.
One day, the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) saw the child looking sad, so he said, “Why do I see Abu Umair looking sad?” :teary3: The Sahabah told him, “The ‘nughar’ [a small bird, like a sparrow], which he used to play with has died, O Messenger of Allah.”
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) began to gently joke with the child, saying, “O Abu Umair, what happened to the nughair?” :hehe: [Nughayr: diminutive of nughar. In Arabic, this is a play on words, because of the rhyme between the boy’s name and that of the bird. This story was reported in Hayaat-us-Sahabah, 3/149]
Imaam Ahmad reported from Anas (Radhi Allaho anho) that there was a man from the desert people whose name was Zaahir. He used to bring gifts from the desert to the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam), and in return, the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) would provide him with whatever he needed when he went out to fight. The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said, “Zaahir is our man of the desert, and we are his town-dwellers.” The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) loved him very much, and he (Zaahir) was an ugly man.
One day, the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) came to him, whilst he was selling some goods. He embraced him from behind. The man could not see him, so he said, “Let me go! Who is this?” Then he turned around and recognised the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam), so he tried to move closer to him once he knew who he was.
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) started to say, “Who will buy this slave?” Zaahir said, “O Messenger of Allah (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam), you will find me unsellable.” The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said, “But in the sight of Allah you are not unsellable,” or he said, “But in the sight of Allah you are valuable.”
An old woman came to the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah that I will enter Paradise.” He said, “O Mother of So-and-so, no old women will enter Paradise.” The old woman went away crying :teary2:, so the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) said, “Tell her that she will not enter Paradise as an old woman, for Allah says: We have created [their Companions] of special creation, and made them virgin-pure [and undefiled]. (Qur’aan 56:35-36).” (Reported by Tirmizi)
One of the Ahadith that reflects the Holy Prophet’s sense of humour and enjoyment of fun is the report that Ahmad gives from Aisha, who said: “I went out with the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) on a journey. At that time, I was a young girl and was quite slender. The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) told the people, ‘Go on ahead,’ so they went ahead, then he said to me, ‘Come, let us have a race.’ So I raced with him, and I won. He let the matter rest until I had gained weight. Later, I accompanied him on another journey. He told the people, ‘Go on ahead,’ so they went ahead. He said to me, ‘Come, let us have a race.’ So I raced with him, and he won. He began to laugh, and said, 'This is for that.”’ :nahnah:
The Sahabah saw nothing wrong with joking or having fun, as they saw the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam), their leader and teacher, occasionally doing so.
The many delightful stories about their sense of humour reflect the easy-going nature of the first Islamic society, and how far removed it was from narrow-mindedness and gloom.
In “al-Adab al-Mufrad”, Bukhari reports from Bakr bin Abdullah, who said: “The Companions of the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) used to throw melon-rinds at one another, but when the matter was serious, they were the only true men.”
This is moderate, Islamically acceptable humour, which does not go beyond the bounds of truth, or lessen the gravitas or manhood of a person. Rather, it serves its purpose of refreshing hearts and minds. An example of the Sahabah’s sense of humour, which made the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) laugh, is the report given by Imaam Ahmad from Umm-e-Salamah (Radhi Allaho anha).
Abu Bakr (Radhi Allaho anho) went to do business in Basra, and with him were Nu’ayman and Suwaybit bin Harmalah (Radhi Allaho anhuma), both of whom had been present at Badr.
Suwaybit was in-charge of food on the journey, and Nu’ayman said to him, “Feed me!” Suwaybit said, “Not until Abu Bakr (Radhi Allaho anho) comes.”
Nu’ayman was a fun-loving man with a sense of humour, so he went to some people who had brought livestock with them, and said, “Will you buy a sturdy Arab slave from me?” They said, “Yes.”
He said, “He has a big mouth, and he may tell you that he is a free man. If that means that you do not want to take him, then forget the matter, and do not cause trouble for me with him.”
They said, “No problem, we will buy him.” So they bought him for ten young she-camels. Nu’ayman brought the animals back, and told the people: “There he is!” Suwaybit said: “I am a free man!” They said, “He has already told us all about you,” :nono: and put a rope around his neck and led him away.
Then Abu Bakr came, and was told what had happened. He and his companions went and returned the animals and took Suwaybit back. They told the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) what had happened, and he and his Sahabah would laugh about the story for a year afterwards. :rotfl:
A Bedouin came to the Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam). He entered the mosque and left his camel in the courtyard. Some of his Companions said to Nu’ayman ibn Amr al-Ansaari, who was known as an-Nu’ayman: “If you slaughter it, we will eat it, because we want to have some meat, and the Messenger of Allah (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) will pay for it.”
So al-Nu’ayman slaughtered it. Then the Bedouin came out and saw his saddle, so he shouted, “They have slaughtered my camel, O Muhammad!”
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) came out and asked: “Who did this?” They said, “An-Nu’ayman.” So he went looking for him, and found him at the home of Duba’ah bint al-Zubayr ibn 'Abdul Muttalib (Radhi Allaho anha), where he had hidden in a ditch and covered himself with palm branches and leaves.
A man pointed to where he was and said, loudly, “I have not seen him, O Messenger of Allah.” 
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) brought him out of the ditch, and his face was dirty from where the leaves had fallen on him.
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) asked him, “Why did you do that?” An-Nu’ayrnan said: “The ones who told you where I was, O Messenger of Allah, are the same ones who told me to do it.”
The Holy Prophet (Sall Allaho alaihe wasallam) began wiping his face and laughing, then he paid the price of the slaughtered camel. [See Hayat-us-Sahabah, 3/154, 155]