From The Islamic Heritage : Truly Halal Humour

Book excerpt: Many muslims turn to materials labeled as Halal banter or halal humour in order to take a break and have a bit of laugh. The problem is that the majority of these materials (Halal banter /humour) is often just a recycling of memes from non Muslim sources. A lot of it is shallow and lacks the wit or depth many muslims are looking for. A lot of the times, religious practises are used in a mocking scenario. The practising muslim finds it hard to enjoy any of it without feeling guilty or uneasy. This is while the Islamic library and heritage is brimming with light hearted content that serve as an amusement and entertainment for the heart as well as a record of the social and cultural history of the past generations. Muslim historians and chronologists ensured to preserve any interesting stories involving bizzare events, humor or anything else out of the ordinary in their books of history. They also included biographies and stories of those famed for their humour or entertaining stories such as Asha`ab, Juha and others. We find plenty of these type of materials in the classical works of famed scholars such as Imam al-Dhahabi in his 'Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi in his `History of Baghdad`, and ibn Asa`kir in his `History of Damascus`, who did not leave out anything that has reached them no matter how trivial it might be; no doubt with the intention of preserving it for future generations. Additionally, books dedicated to humorous or interesting stories have been authored. Examples of this include `The Stories of the Fools and the Dumb` and `The Intelligent` by ibn al-Jawzi, `al-Tatfil: Wa-hikayat al-tufailiyin` (Interloping and the Stories of the Interlopers) by al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi. Many books dealing with humour and storytelling which are based on these classical sources have been written in modern time such as `Smile` by Sheikh Aidh al-Qarni. However, all these works are written in Arabic and little work has been carried out throughout the years and up until now into translating these books into English, As a result , English speaking readers are left out from accessing this enriching and entertaining side of the Islamic heritage. Unaware of and unable to access this side of the Islamic library, these readers would look in any other place but the Islamic library when seeking something light hearted and entertaining believing that these kind of theme is non-existent in the Islamic heritage. "From The Islamic Heritage :Truly Halal Humour " dives deep into the ocean of muslim literature to bring out pearls of humour and wit from this hidden treasure.