# Why do some religious people dislike laughter? *Why institutional religion dislikes laughter* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/19/ - Date: 2021-04-13 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #210 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:10:13–1:14:11) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=4213s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/ **Topics:** Cults, clergy and religious abuse; False and fabricated hadith **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says humour lets ordinary people see absurdity and question authority, which is why institutional religion dislikes it and why reports against laughter were fabricated. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says institutionalised religion has always disliked humour because satire lets ordinary people see absurdity and question authority, and that reports against laughing much were fabricated for this reason. **Evidence, his words at 1:12:01:** “i feel that institutionalized religion has always hated uh humor because it's felt that humor hmm you know it's just this is something that if you allow it to enter the realm of religion authority will disappear” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=4321s) ## Longer summary Responding to a message about people who say he laughs too much, Mufti Abu Layth gives reasons why people dislike laughter. For some who are sad or empty, it reminds them of what they lack. For institutionalised religion, humour allows satire, satire lets ordinary people see absurdity and question authority, while an always-serious discourse lets figures of authority keep control; he says this is why institutionalised religion has always disliked humour and why reports were fabricated such as that laughing much makes the heart sad. His stream then drops out for over a minute of technical trouble before he returns. ## Sources and names cited - report: la tukthir al-dahik fa inna kathrat al-dahik tumit al-qalb (paraphrased by the host: laugh much and your heart becomes saddened) ## Transcript (machine tier, 1:10:13–1:14:11) [1:10:03] um victorian father figure um that's just you know that's his because that that cannot be god who created this cosmos not for me not for me so you know if people want to worship that it's their life it's their choice but to me allah is rahman rahim he's somebody who says look just pondering the cosmos and let that sink so yeah and the laughter thing is is interesting because why do people hate laughter so much i i find that very fascinating as a discussion [1:10:41] and i think that you know people there's there's a few reasons one is that i think to some people who are sad but as in whether they're sad visibly or not or empty that it kind of makes reminds them of what they don't have i think there's that element definitely from a psychology perspective but they can they can just embrace it and also there's an element of for religion the problem with laughter for institutionalized religion [1:11:21] is it allows you to satirize things and you see the moment you satirize things you can question authority and that's a big problem for for for authority within see because if you can you see if you're allowed to make a joke out of something you will actually common people can actually see the stupidity in it whereas if you're being very serious the figure of authority can always control you quite well because they would see because they're speaking from a position of authority so as long as the discourse is always serious [1:12:01] everything is serious you it's almost like a losing battle and they get to sustain their authority but the moment humor comes in the problem with that is you can show things to be quite absurd and common people can actually relate to seeing absurdity so i feel that institutionalized religion has always hated uh humor because it's felt that humor hmm you know it's just this is something that if you allow it to enter the realm of religion authority will disappear and that's why [1:12:40] they fabricated all these hadith as well you know oh if you laugh so much your heart will become saddened and and all of this oh my god are things dying down here let me just switch this on one moment [Music] um [Music] [1:13:27] [Music] [Music] foreign right oh sorry i'm back i'm back i'm back i'm back i'm back i'm back i think uh something i i must have [1:14:06] knocked something out there but i fixed it i'm back uh one moment i hope this is helpful as well these kind of reflections i feel that it's good you know at times to just reflect over certain things and and obviously it's good to read your messages so just bear with me i will be coming to your questions as well right ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 8XuHMCz2N3U/s/19. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/19/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.