On the issue of humor and laughter in Islamic tradition

Abstract

The article deals with representation of ‘humor’ in contemporary Islamic discourse represented by the works of religious figures such as Yusuf al-Qardawi, Sadiq al-Mahdi, Hasan ‘Abd al-Gani Abu Gudda. The Islamic scholars’ views on the nature of humor, its legitimacy in Islam and its bounds, are investigated. Despite the fact that Islamic tradition in whole has a favorable attitude towards humor, it does provoke conflicts caused by specificity of humor perception and recognition as well as ambiguity of religious injunctions. Refs. 22.