Yaser M. Haddara

Note: This is the third part of an ongoing series on humor in classical Islamic texts. Here are links to part 1 and part 2. For those new to my blog or to this series, it arose out of discussion about specifically some of the racy humor in the TV show Little Mosque on the Prairie (LM). I began by citing stories from the time of the sahaba indicating that they enjoyed jokes, both oral and practical. The second piece looked specifically at humor in Muslim societies and my claim that the outrage at some of the license taken by LM seems at odds with the kind of jokes most of us say, hear, and laugh at on a regular basis. I left off saying that the thing we need to look at next is my claim that, “Historically, humor has been important to Muslims, and the particular sort of humor we’re talking about has been ok with Muslims.” I broke this into three pieces:

1. The significance, importance, and/or prominence of humor in Islamic intellectual history.
2. Racy humor in the general history of Muslim communities.
3. Appreciation of such humor by credible sources (scholars, pious individuals, respected people, etc.)

So now . . . [drum roll please] . . . part 3.

So first, the question of the significance, importance, and/or prominence of humor in Islamic intellectual history. We find that Muslims developed several genres of literature in which humor was a primary component, if not the only one.

To begin with, humor was incorporated in a type of literature that we may term a literature of irreverence (e.g. the poetry of Abu Nawwas, Thousand and One Nights, etc.) I am sure many of us are familiar with these at least in name. By themselves I don’t think they lend much credibility to the point being made here so I am not going to dedicate more space to them. However, there were several other categories. The following are the ones that I came across.

“Handbooks” of Language

Scholars developed the genre of ma3aajim-ul-lugha. These books, which I would term linguistic lexicons, were compendiums of word and phrase usage. (In English a lexicon is sorted alphabetically, these were not). A scholar would collect hadeeth, speeches, poetry, stories (in particular humorous stories where language is wielded effectively by a skillful artist) to illustrate vocabulary and its use. Examples include al-Bayan wat-Tabyeen by al-Jahidh, al-Kamil by al-Mubarrid, al-Amaaly by az-Zajjaaji, and others. Al-Kamil is one of the most famous of these collections. He begins by quoting a couple of the beautiful hadeeths of the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him (including the one about “the best of you” and “the worst of you” that I posted earlier). He then proceeds with various “chapters” such as A Chapter on Some of the Wisdom of the Sages. Some of the chapters are about a single item (e.g. the khutba of Aly ibn Aby Talib for such and such incident). Some are longer.

The following story that was included among the words of the sages is a sample of something that has some interesting insight, excels in the use of language, and still manages to come up with a bit of humor. A king wanted to test his advisor. He asked him, “What is the best thing that may be given to a person as rizq (sustenance)?” The man responded, “An intellect by which to live.” The king then asked, “And if he cannot have that?” He said, “Character that beautifies him.” “If not that?” “Wealth to cover him (his needs and his weaknesses).” “If not that?” “A bolt of lightening that to burn him and relieve the people and the land of his presence.”

Al-Amaali was another book in this category. The author narrates the story told by a man by the name of Sadaqa ibn Moosa who says, “A neighbor of ours had the name Himaar (Arabic for donkey). He married a woman from the people of Dara and she came to be important to him. She asked him to change his name and he agreed. He came to her and said, ‘I have taken the name Baghl (Ar. for mule).’ She said, ‘It is better than before, but you are still in the stable!’”

Encyclopedic Collections

A second genre that was popularized in the fourth and later centuries is al-mawsoo3aat (literally encyclopedias) where an author would compile a collection that encompasses numerous examples of poetry, prose, speeches, jokes, funny stories, etc., and would classify them according to some scheme (either by source, or by topic, or some other scheme). The intent often was to make the collection as comprehensive as possible, but since it was very difficult to define the theme of such a book, it was equally difficult to judge when an author had included “enough”. Nonetheless, the results were these impressive encyclopedia’s of quotations and stories. The most famous examples include al-Aghany by al-Asfahani, al-3iqd al-Fareed by ibn Abd Rabbuh, Nihaayat-ul-Arib by An-Nuwairy, and al-Mustadhraf by al-Abshihi.

Al-3iqd al-Fareed is a particularly interesting example since it is highly respected and widely quoted by contemporary scholars. He narrates the following story:

A man came to Shurayh (a famous judge) and they had the following dialog.

Visitor - “I came from Syria.”
Shurayh - “A distant place and a long trip for a visit.”
“I got married here.”
“May you have happiness and good progeny.”
“We had a boy.”
“May he grow up with courage and pleasure to you.”
“And I wanted to take my family and move (back to Syria).”
“A man is most deserving of the company of his family.”
“But I had accepted a condition to our marriage that she stays in her homeland.”
“Conditions rule.”
“So I came seeking your ruling.”
“And I have given it.”
“Who did you rule against?”
“Against the son of your mother.”
“According to whose testimony?”
“The testimony of the nephew of your aunt!”

People seem to have found the last statement by Shurayh particularly funny because in the last little while as I scanned through several of these books I have seen it quoted in half a dozen places, most of them without the rest of the story! Another story from al-3iqd al-Fareed concerns a man who came to Umar ibn Qays and asked him what he should do if upon leaving the masjid he discovers that a pebble from the masjid grounds had somehow gotten carried in the folds of his clothes or in his shoes or on his forehead. He said “throw it away!” The man said, “People say that such a pebble would wail until it is returned to its place in the masjid.” He told him, “Let it wail until it rips its throat.” The man responded, “Subhaanallah! It has a throat?” He told him, “How else could it wail?”

Al-Asma3y (famous scholar of Arabic grammar) wanted to describe the extreme lack of reliability of a man that was engaged in scholarship but was too prone to error. He said, “When he heard a lesson, he would understand something different from what he heard, then write down something different from what he understood, then read from the book something different from what is written in it!”

Another man also accusing another of error in transmitting knowledge said, “By the time he was done copying a book it was no longer in Arabic!”

In short, there were humorous anecdotes, parables, or quotes in almost every chapter of this book.

Books of nawaadir

Nawaadir literally means “rare things” but in this context was meant to refer to more-or-less funny stories were the humor is again primarily in someone’s cleverness in the use of language and where they are able to use cute turns of phrase to win a confrontation, or to win the admiration of others, or to endear themselves to an object of affection, etc. Examples of this genre include many of the books of Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi. They also include a sub-genre of books of “akhbaar”, i.e. books purporting to be collections of stories of specific categories of people. Two prominent authors in this latter genre are al-Jahidh with books about “Lepers, blind men, and those with limps” and “The Miserly”, and Imam ibn al-Jawzi with “akhbaar al-adhkiyaa” (stories of smart people), “akhbaar al-hamqa wal-mughaffaleen” (stories of idiots and easy marks), “akhbaar al-nisaa” (stories of women), “akhbaar al-dhiraaf wal-mutamaajineen” (stories of funny people and pleasure-seekers) etc.

Of these three authors, ibn al-Jawzy is the most interesting to quote because he was a well-known and well-respected jurist as well as being an effective orator and preacher. In his introduction to the stories of idiots he argues that it has been the long standing tradition of leading scholars to solicit jokes and humor, even if it gets a little bit explicit or pushes the envelope of propriety somewhat, in order to take a break from serious discourse and rejuvenate the soul and intellect for the task at hand.

He includes a story that is told that the Hoopoe bird came to prophet Suleiman, peace be upon him, and wanted to invite him for a meal. Suleiman (pbuh) asked, “I alone?” and the bird said, “No. You and your entire army. Meet me on such and such island at such and such time.” When Suleiman (pbuh) and the army gathered the bird flew up, caught a locust, strangled it, and threw it into the ocean. Then he said, “Go ahead and enjoy. If you don’t get any of the meat, you can enjoy the broth!” Suleiman (pbuh) and his soldier laughed at this a whole year.

Another story has two men coming to a woman from Quraysh during the time of Umar (ra) and entrusting her with a 100 dinars. “Don’t give the money to either of us alone,” they said. They emphasized that they had to both be present in order to claim the money. About a year later one of them comes back and says that his friend had died and would she give him the money. The woman of course refuses. He gets to talking to her family and her neighbors and keeps asking for the money until the pressure from so many intermediaries got too much for the woman so she gave him his money. She hears nothing about this until almost another year passes. Then the other guy shows up. He asks for his money and she tells him the story. He takes her to Umar (ra) for judgment. Before Umar (ra) rules the woman pleads for Aly (ra) as judge. Umar (ra) refers the case to Aly (ra). When Aly (ra) hears the story he realizes that the two men are pulling a con job on the woman. So he asks the guy, “Didn’t the two of you require that she should not give the money to either of you alone?” The man says yes. So Imam Aly then tells him that if he wants his money, he needs to bring the other guy along!

Another con involved one of the governors appointed by Umar (ra) over the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula. The people of the area were not happy with him and asked Umar (ra) to remove him, which he did. However, thinking that he may in future be reappointed to govern them they wanted to frame him for something so Umar (ra) would never employ him again. They gathered from amongst themselves 100,000 dinars and gave it to one of their tribal leaders. He took the money and went before Umar (ra). He said, “Al-Mughira (that’s the governor) had embezzled this money and left it with me to keep for him.” Umar (ra) summoned al-Mughira and told him of the accusation. Al-Mughira said, “He is lying. It was two hundred thousand.” Umar (ra) was shocked and asked as to what drove him to this dishonesty. He said, “My need and my children.” So then Umar (ra) turns to the man and questions him about the 200,000. The man in a panic over having to produce another 100,000 of course confessed.

Finally, a man spoke with Ash3ab and asked him, “You spent some time in the company of scholars and sat in their sessions. Would you please narrate to us some of the knowledge that you learnt?” Ash3ab says, “I heard 3ikrima say that he heard ibn Abbas say that he heard the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, say, ‘Two attributes cannot both be in a believer.’” They asked him, “What are the two attributes?” He said, “3ikrima forgot one, and I forgot the other.”

Maqaamaat

Maqaamaat. This is a genre that became popular also in the fifth or sixth century. The leading figures in this were al-Hareeri and al-Hamadhani. And the idea of the genre was to write in a style of musical prose with lots of rhyme, puns, humor, and demonstrations of linguistic prowess. The topics were usually “adventures of . . . ” type of thing with each author having a particular protagonist (a made up character) that travels around and encounters different situations and different people.

Al-Hariri’s maqamaat had the protagonist Abu Zayd al-Saruji and the narrator al-Harith ibn Hammam. So every essay begins with “Narrated al-Harith ibn Hammam . . .” and then he will go through a story that happened involving him coming across Abu Zayd in some situation or locality and how Abu Zayd demonstrated his unparalleled linguistic ability and was thus able to prove himself, or to win an argument, or to obtain some money, etc. Maqamaat are very difficult to translate in that the pleasure from reading them comes as much from the sound of the words and their flow as from any aspect of the content. For example, one of the essays is named after Meragha, a city in modern day Azerbaijan. (Each of the essays is named after some location). In this particular story Abu Zayd is challenged to write a letter from a scribe of the governor to his employer outlining his state of financial need and requesting assistance. However, there is a condition: the words of the letter must strictly alternate between words whose letters each have dots (e.g. ت or ظ) and words whose letters have no dots (e.g. س or م). He succeeds in meeting the challenge composing a long letter that begins with praise of generosity, compassion, and nobility, and putting down the opposite characteristics, then proceeds to praise of the person of the governor, then to outlining the condition of need of the petitioner, then finally asking for assistance.

The maqaamaat are very difficult to translate because of their emphasis on linguistic genius and the subtlety of the humor, which focuses primarily on the clever use of language and secondarily on the character of Abu Zayd and his constant preference for travel and independence even though it frequently puts him in the position of needing aid. I know of one published translation but was unable to find a citation for this article. However, I found this website which includes translations as well as brief commentary.

I also came to learn (see this Arabic article on wikipedia) that this book became the first known illustrated book in Arabic literature when the artist Yahya al-Wasiti (7th century A.H.) decided to draw two plates accompanying each essay.

This picture for example (taken from the same wikipedia article linked above) accompanied the Euphrates essay, an essay that should be very interesting to modern readers as it involves Abu Zayd trying to settle the dispute between engineering and the humanities :) . Literally, the argument was between “the two kinds of scribes”: scribes whose function is to compose linguistic pieces, and scribes whose function is to calculate and record numbers. He begins by favoring the former over the latter putting down the mathematicians’ profession as merely “more useful” :) (His words, “the profession of composition is nobler, and the profession of computation is more useful”). He then proceeds at length to justify the superiority of composition to computation. However, at the end of his ruling he recognizes that he has displeased some of those present. So he then engages in the same exercise in reverse (thus avenging us numerical folk). He starts this second round by saying, “However, the profession of computation revolves around seeking accuracy, whereas the profession of composition revolves around combining things together (i.e. not necessarily with accuracy).” The word that I have translated so clumsily as “combining things together” is talfeeq which could also mean “faking” or “bringing together things that don’t belong together”.

Other Books

There were also books meant for pedagogy in Arabic literary style (e.g. the book of ibn al-Muqaffa3). While these books were meant to discuss and analyze style, they invariably included examples of good literature and again there was constantly an attraction to find humorous citations to illustrate the point.

And finally, there were a few books that don’t fit into any of the particular genres above but dealt directly or indirectly with humor. An example of something that is indirectly humorous is one by a scholar that decided to write a book lamenting how times had gone bad and people’s friendships were no longer what they used to be. He titled his book “The excellence of dogs over many of those that wear clothes” (fadl-ul-kilaab 3ala katheer mimman labisa-th-thiyaab). The humor here is primarily in the title and carries over into the author’s introduction and the overall tone of the book.

But there were also books written directly and specifically to talk about humor, including the need for humor. There is a book by an early scholar by the name of ibn al-Marzuban (d. 309 A.H.) titled كتاب ذم الثقلاء - I am not really sure how to translate this, but thuqalaa (sing. thaqeel) are the people whose company is kinda painful: they are annoying, or lacking in good humor or good etiquette and people don’t like their company. So the book is about citing things from the Quran, the sunnah, the sayings of the companions and scholars to show that the company of such people is to be avoided and that in fact it is a bad thing (even religiously kinda) to be in such a category! For example he narrates that Abu Huraira (ra) when he would feel this way about someone he would pray, “O Allah, forgive him and relieve us of him.” A man came to Bashar (a well-known poet who was blind) and said to him, “Whenever someone’s eyesight is taken he is given something to compensate. What were you compensated with?” He answered, “That I will not have to see you and be depressed to death by the sight!” Al-Hajjaj was brought a man of al-Khawaarij and he declared, “By Allah I hate you!” The man replied, “May God enter into paradise the one of us that hates the other more!” Another story with Bashar is that someone came to sit with him and Bashar considered him thaqeel (annoying, etc.) so Bashar let loose with a loud fart. The man thought to himself that it was accidental and said nothing. So Bashar let another one loose and the man still thought the best of it. When he did it a third time the man expressed shock and asked, “Abu Muadh, what is this?” Bashar said, “Huh. Did you hear or did you see?” The man said, “I heard.” Bashar told him, “Do not believe until you see!”

The final example is a book called al-maraa7 fil-mizaa7 (Comfort in Humor) which aims to specifically be a book about humor, discussing first the importance and adab of humor then including stories of humor from the time of the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, then his companions and later times. He narrates for example the story that Abdullah ibn Wahb narrated:

al-Layth told me about Abdullah ibn Hudhafa, a companion of the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, who liked to joke around. During one of the travels of the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, he undid the belt around his camel so that when the messenger of Allah, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, rode it he almost fell. I asked al-Layth, “He did this to get him to laugh?” He answered, “Yes.”

Another companion noticed that the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, was upset over something. So he thought of a way to get the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him to laugh. He asked, “O Messenger of Allah. When the dajjal (anti-Christ) comes people will be experiencing a great drought and he will have mountains of good food. Do you think that if I am still living that I should go to him and eat of his food as much as I want, then when I am completely full I declare my belief in God and reject him? Or should I just disdain his food?” The prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him laughed - and in general his laughter was to smile - and he said, “God, may He be exalted, will give you sufficiency on that day as He gives the believers.”

A remarkable story is told by Aisha (ra) and tells us much about the subject of humor in their societies. (A word used in the story below is al-muD7ika - المضحكة - meaning a woman that on a regular basis, or as a profession, or as a known role, gets people to laugh; I have translated it as comedienne). Aisha (ra) speaks of a Makkan woman who, even before Islam, used to go visit the women of Quraysh and get them to laugh (tells them funny stories, etc.) She says that after hijra and when things became relatively stable the woman came to Madeena and, Aisha (ra) narrates, “She visited me. I said, ‘So and so, what brings you here?’ She said, ‘To come to you (meaning the Makkan women that had migrated).’ I said, ‘So who are you staying with?’ She said, ‘So and so, a woman that used to get the women of Madeena to laugh.’ At that time the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, entered and he recognized the woman. He asked, ‘So and so?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He asked, ‘Who is she staying with?’ I said, ‘So and so the comedienne.’ He said, ‘al-hamdulillah, souls are like drafted soldiers: the ones that are recognize one another (i.e. they are of similar character) will get along, and the ones that reject one another (i.e. they are of dissimilar character) will separate and not get along.’” — Not only does this story indicate that the role of comedienne was recognized and appreciated, but we have the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, recognizing that and citing it as a cause for like-spirited people to get along and strike friendships!

From the later generations we read of al-Shu3aby (a well-known scholar) when a man comes to him and asks him what to do with his beard for wudoo. Al-Shu3aby told him that what he is supposed to do is to comb through it with his fingers. He expressed the concern that this may not be enough to get it wet. Al-Shu3aby responded, “If you are concerned about this then soak it from the night before!”

A man came to Abu Haneefa and asked him, “If I take off my clothes and get into the river to perform ghusl should I face the qibla or some other direction?” Abu Haneefa replied, “It is better to turn your face in the direction of your clothes so they wouldn’t get stolen.”

Again a word of caution - I am in no ways trying to be scholarly here. The above classification is solely my own and simply based on books that I’ve seen or seen cited or heard discussed. I haven’t read every one of the books I mentioned above, I haven’t studied classifications of Arabic literature, and I am simply sharing the little to which I have been exposed.

O.K. So I’ve cited all these books as being either predominantly humorous or as including humor as a primary tool. I have also tried to include citations from many of them so that people would get an idea what I am talking about. The humor in these texts covers a wide range, but the majority of it involves the clever use of language. It varies widely in the kind of taste that it caters to, which is an important consideration in humor in general: not every joke will be funny to every person (also keep in mind that some stuff does get lost in translation :( ). What I have yet to comment on is the fact that the humor in these texts varies greatly in the degree of its “politeness” or “tameness”. Everything that I have so far quoted has been very tame.

The reality is these folks did not shy away from humor that came in various shades of irreverence. Several of the authors preface their books or these particular jokes by invoking the sayings of Ibn Abbas and other companions and scholars that taking a break with humor or poetry is advisable to rejuvenate one for the serious work ahead. Invariably, such humor or poetry would have to come from the currency of the times, and at times it may push the limits of propriety.

One story, particularly interesting because it is told in a number of sources, including al-3iqd al-fareed and al-maraa7 fi al-mizaa7 (both quoted above) involves Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (grandson of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, ra, he was known as Ibn Aby Ateeq and that’s how I’ll refer to him in this story) and Abdullah ibn Umar (ra). (Editorial note: the story involves the use of a particular verb that I don’t want to try to figure out how to translate — I will render it as $*&# and the past tense will be $*&#’d and I hope you get the picture :) ). Ibn Aby Ateeq was married to a noble woman of Quraysh and she had composed a couple of lines of poetry insulting him (guess he had made her upset at some point ;) ). The lines of poetry refer to him losing whatever intellectual capacity he may have once had, and to him wasting all his money on adulteresses and wine! Having composed the poetry she taught it to one of her servant girls who would sing it occasionally. On one such occasion, the girl sang the lines of poetry in his presence and he questioned her who had composed them. When she told him it was her mistress he understood that he was the person being so maligned! Apparently he nonetheless thought them admirable for he had the girl write them down for him. Walking out of his house shortly thereafter he ran into Ibn Umar and decided to have some fun. Showing him the poetry he asked Ibn Umar what he should do with the author should he ever catch him. Ibn Umar suggested that forgiveness and ignoring the insult would be the nobler course of action. Ibn Aby Ateeq instead said, “By God, if I were to ever catch the author I will $*&# him.” Ibn Umar was very upset both by the attitude and the vocabulary and was very stern in admonishing Ibn Aby Ateeq. They parted ways, days passed, and then they happened to meet again. Ibn Aby Ateeq then reminded Ibn Umar of the poetry and then told him, “You know, I finally met the one that wrote that poetry I showed you and I $*&#’d him.” Ibn Umar was so shocked and he grabbed hold of Ibn Aby Ateeq, shook him, and started telling him off, until Ibn Aby Ateeq leaned in and whispered to him that the person in question was his wife! According to the story Ibn Umar thought the whole episode quite funny!

Imam Ibn Abdel Barr narrates the story that two litigants came before a judge. The plaintiff said of the other, “This Adulterer son of the Adulteress owes me such and such.” The judge questioned the respondent, who denied the entire matter. The judge asked the plaintiff to produce either witnesses or evidence. He called two witnesses that both testified that “this Adulterer son of the Adulteress” owes the plaintiff such and such. So then the judge addressed the guy and told him, “You, Adulterer son of the Adulteress, pay back what you owe.” The man was quite indignant and complained saying, “I can understand this man and his witnesses falsely maligning my honor and the honor of my mother, but how do you the judge give yourself such liberty?” The judge was taken aback and said, “Son, when you never stopped any of them, I simply thought that was actually your name.”

Throughout the texts, we find quick quips either directly about, or indirectly involving marriage, sex, and desire. A commonly cited story has one person or another being quoted saying that his grandmother complained to his grandfather of how infrequent sexual relations had become for them. The man responds by claiming that Umar’s ruling on a similar matter was that it was sufficient for a man to have intercourse with his wife once a month to have discharged his husbandly duty. The granny’s response, “And everyone other than us is just ignorant of this ruling?”

Another quip involves Imam Aly and a man who brings someone before him for punishment. He tells Imam Aly that the man claimed to have had a wet dream involving his mother. Imam Aly’s judgment is to stand the man in the sun and apply the legal punishment of flogging to his shadow! (This particular story is told in numerous places, and undergoes considerable distortion so that it winds up with at least three different versions - the one I chose here is the tamest).

Yet another witty exchange involves Hisham ibn Abdel Malik (an Umayyad khalifa) who asked a man that used to frequent his court to find him a wife from his tribe (the tribe of Kalb), and the man obliges. He later teases the man that it seems that “width” (Ar. سعة) is characteristic of the women of Kalb. The man quips, “The women of Kalb were made for the men of Kalb.”

A final example in this category is with Imran ibn Hattan, a man reputed to be rather unattractive, who was married to a very beautiful woman. He returns home one day to find his wife having prettied-up for him and he just sits and stares at her for a while. She finally asks him, “What’s with you?” He says, “By God you’re beautiful.” She says, “Good news! You and I are of the people of paradise.” He says, “How is that?” She explains, “Because you were given someone like me and showed gratitude, and I was given someone like you and showed patience.”

In addition to such quips, we also find many stories and references concerned with love, particularly unrequited love. A woman by the name of al-Thurayya was famed for her beauty and her story is one of several famous pairs of lovers that were not destined to unite. One day, Umar ibn Aby Rabee’a (the man who had fallen madly in love with her) is in Madeena and he sings a few lines of poetry starting with the words, “Who would carry my message to al-Thurayya” and referring to her beauty and her hold on him. He concludes with the words, “They ask me whether I love her? I say the extent of my love is greater than the count of raindrops, pebbles, and grains of sand.” Hearing these lines Ibn Aby Ateeq determines that he just has to be the one to deliver that message. He rides from Madeena to Makka, finds the woman, and recites the poetry to her. When she tells him that he has indeed delivered his trust, he turns his ride around and returns to Madeena.

This woman (al-Thurayya is Arabic for Venus) used to spend the summers with her family in al-Taif. Every day, Umar ibn Aby Rabee’a would go out to the outskirts of Makka to await the farmers coming in from al-Taif with their produce hoping to hear anything about anything involving her. One day he asked the arriving farmers if anything worth mentioning had transpired in their city. They tell him that as they left the city they heard loud wailing and lamentations for some woman whose name they had forgotten but that is the name of one of the stars in the Heavens. He asks whether they mean Venus and they remember that to be the name. Completely at wit’s end he rides as fast as he can from Makka to al-Taif without stopping or allowing his steed any rest. For his journey he chooses a road known to be particularly rough and difficult to ride because it is shorter. As he approaches al-Taif, he finds his beloved out for a walk with her sisters. He tells her what happened, and she tells him that she was the one that had asked the farmers to make up the information just so she could find out how much she mattered to him! Needless to say, more poetry ensued :)

Also common in this vein were discussions of women, beauty, and the reaction of men to beauty. Imam Ibn Abdel Barr narrates that some sages say, “Perfect beauty in a woman is that four things about her should be very white, four things very dark, four things very red, four things rounded, four things wide, four things narrow, four things thin, four things large, four things small, and four things of pleasant smell.” (He then goes on to list all these fours :) ).

He also tells the story of Abdullah ibn Umar al-Umary, a known 3aabid (someone dedicated to worship) who passed by a woman during hajj and heard her using some inappropriate language (Ar. رفث). He admonished her and reminded her that this is not appropriate behavior for a pilgrim. In response, the woman dropped her face veil to reveal a face that he describes as outshining the Sun for its beauty. She then told him, “Look closely, Umary, for I am among those meant by the poet in his verses:

She pulled back the silken cover from her face,
and brought about her cheeks a thin cloth
She is one of those that did not go on hajj seeking reward,
but to fatally injure the not-so-cautious man of piety
She targets hearts with her eyes and her look,
and when she targets, her shots land where they will surely kill

The man responded to her, “As for me, I will pray to God that He does not punish this beautiful face with fire!” When Said ibn al-Musayyib (the famous scholar of Madeena) heard this story he commented, “Had it been a man from Iraq, he would simply have told her to get out of his face, but this shows the good humor of the worshipers from Hijaz.” :)

There are many more stories along these lines or similar ones. Given that the point is humor, and that humor is anything but universal, it is natural to have different people respond differently to some of these stories. Translation is an issue, but even if I had done a perfect job translating and rendering, we would not expect every person to find every example funny. That is in fact part of the point I’ve been trying to make all along. The other part of the point is the sheer proliferation of these many stories. Regardless of whether every single one is true, the fact of the matter is that they were cited by many authors as funny, witty, humorous, or just plain worth telling. I should also point out that while I tried to push myself to pick edgy stories I also have my own limits in terms of taste and there were (many) stories that were considerably more sexual and/or explicit in nature that I just couldn’t bring myself to use them :)

Our final question has to do with the credibility or stature of the authors quoted. For example, I could no more rely on Abu Hayyan and al-Jahidh than I could on Abu Nawwas. Considered by many scholars to be deviant in theology, personal practice, or both, I have chosen not to include their contributions. (In the case of Abu Hayyan, the contributions are rather extreme any way!)

But the fact is we have here the full range. Ibn Abdel Barr and Ibn al-Jawzy are well-known and prominent jurists. The author of al-maraa7 fi al-mizaa7 is Abu al-Barakat al-Ghazzi, a 10th century (A.H.) scholar who comes from a family of knowledge, was the sheikh of Qari’s in the Umayyad masjid, was a leading Shafi’i scholar of his time, a teacher of hadeeth, and a scholar of tasawwuf. His book includes the story I mentioned above involving Ibn Aby Ateeq and his wife’s poetry. In narrating the story he replaces the $*&# word with a euphemism but in both places where the word occurs notes that the euphemism is his and that Ibn Aby Ateeq was explicit in the language he used :).

Ibn Abd Rabbuh (author of al-3iqd al-fareed), al-Zajjaji (author of al-amaaly), and the authors of the maqamaat books were not necessarily known as jurists or theologians (although in al-3iqd, Ibn Abd Rabbuh is identified as faqeeh). Nonetheless, their books became extremely widespread and well-respected. Both of them lived in the fourth century of hijra. Ibn Kathir praises of al-3iqd al-fareed, and it is said that the author made a living selling copies of his book for a 1000 dirham each.

When all of this is taken together, a consistent picture emerges that seems to be true from very early in the life of the Muslim community all the way through at least the 10th century Islamic. This is a picture in which humor thrived, and decent people narrated and enjoyed much of it, while silently tolerating some that they deemed tasteless or outside their own limits. Everyone, from the most scholarly, to the most carelessly playful, enjoyed some sort of humor and understood that sex, marriage, beauty, love, men, women, and relationships, were all subjects of day-to-day life that provided much in the way of humor, and even something in the way of wisdom. While many scholars admonished the community to “keep it clean” and held themselves to that standard, no one thought to shut the door completely, and their definition of “clean” was fluid and contextual.

There is more to say on the subject, but I think I am finally content to post this part and leave further discussion till later inshaa Allah. If you’ve managed to read all the way down here, please forgive me if I have offended you, and keep me in your du3aa.