# Does joking and laughing a lot mean I lack high aspiration?

*Abdul Rahman Hassan's clip: does joking and laughing show low aspiration?*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/s/9/
- Date: 2021-01-19 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #198 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (29:53–34:42)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-BlBVTr4M&t=1793s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/

**Topics:** Character and virtue; Views on contemporary scholars

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth rejects a preacher's claim that joking and laughing show low aspiration, calling laughter the very definition of happiness and joy.

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth plays a clip, replaying its end, in which Abdul Rahman Hassan says that laughing and joking too much shows a person lacks high aspiration, since the important things in life, such as losing weight or memorising the Quran, take sweat and blood, and that people who joke excessively tend to have lives that are not in order, down to their children and partners. Mufti remarks that this is what one gets for attending such gatherings. He says laughter is the very definition of happiness and joy, and that this is selling misery in the name of happiness by calling joy and laughter misery, citing a poet's line [?] about renaming insanity as sanity. He adds that the preacher's family and children would surely appreciate him laughing more with them.

## Sources and names cited

- Abdul Rahman Hassan

## Transcript (machine tier, 29:53–34:42)

[29:52] Peoples so I'd come across actually laughing and joking right right I'd come across oh actually let's begin with why not speaking of these kind of preachers laughing and joking too much and becoming excessive in that is an indication that a person Lacks High aspiration and the question here is how is that possible what is a relationship with joking and high aspiration High aspiration is a person who's focusing what is serious and what is important in life the important things in life are serious they're not things that are

[30:30] jokes they require sweat and blood if you want to lose weight joking when you go to the gym and you need to work out it's pain it's sweat it's if you want to memorize the Quran it requires reducing on your sleeping spending time alone with yourself revising repetition all of that joking too much takes away from your seriousness in things that you need to achieve many people their personality of laughing too much excessively and joking too much excessively it does oh oh bloody hell where did he go it does generally lead to no actually we need to get the rest of that we need to get the rest of that right

[31:08] oh right because I wanted you guys to catch the last part of what he said there's uh laughing and joking too much and becoming excessive in that is an indication that a person Lacks High aspiration and the question here is how is that possible what is a relationship with joking and high aspiration High aspiration is a person who's focusing what is serious and what is important in life the important things in life are serious are jqu serious discussion to lose weight it's not a joking matter when you go to the gym and you need to work pain it's sweat if you want to memorize thean it requires reducing on your sleeping spending time alone with

[31:47] yourself revising repetition all of that joking too much takes away from your seriousness in things that you need to achieve many people their personality of laughing to much excessively and joking too much excessively it does generally speaking go into other things in their lives the way they are to their children the way they with their pner you tend to find their life is not in order mainly because they're not a serious person they takes everything as a joke sorry sorry sorry sorry [Laughter] sorry we're going to come to the other one in a moment people this is the kind

[32:27] of stuff you get for for going to these kind of to for attending these Jas that's what you're going to get you're going to get somebody there like that saying um look uh you know joking and laughing is a uh you know if people who generally joke and laugh if you look at their lives they're pretty

[32:56] miserable oh so Muti stop being miserable stop being miserable yeah honestly where do they get this stuff from you know that I mean that that is the very definition of of of happiness and joy

[33:24] laugh ah this is what you call you you know like you you're selling misery in the name of happiness and trying to deprive them of joy and laughter by saying joy and laughter is misery you know what's [Music] that what's that ofal he says you know they've renamed Insanity sanity and switched them around uh and he

[34:02] says you know whoever wants expresses himself however he wants this this is the you know they selling you Misery by saying that's true happiness you should be serious Blood Sweat and people who are laughing laughter to TOA TOA God forbid is a sign of misery you know if you see those people in their real lives they're like uh you know it pours into their family I mean for God's sake I'm sure your family and your children like you said would appreciate you laughing more with

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment Hv-BlBVTr4M/s/9. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/s/9/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.