Laughter of Allah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على رسوله الكريم

وعلى اهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المظلومين

والعاقبة للمتقين

As Muslims who adhere to the orthodox creed of the old school Hanabila, we believe that laughter is one of the attributes of Allah, meaning Allah laughs when He wills in a way that befits His Majesty, without resemblance to human laughter. Many other sects, such as the astray Asharis, either deny this attribute of Allah Most High, or interpret it away to mean His mercy. They do so because their approach to theology has been colored by outdated Platonic and Aristotelian metaphysics. According to that Hellenic philosophy, perfection is understood as stasis, and so it is inconceivable and horrifying for the warped Ashari and Mu’tazili mind that Allah, the King of Heaven, laughs. The proof for our creed is the sound Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam):

ضَحِكَ رَبُّنَا مِنْ قُنُوطِ عِبَادِهِ وَقُرْبِ غِيَرِهِ

“Our Lord laughs at the despair of His slave although He soon changes it”

(Sunan Ibn Maja #181)

As already mentioned, the Mu’awwila make ta’wil of this divine attribute and claim it is synonymous with Allah’s mercy, and that Allah does not actually laugh nor does He have an attribute that is known as laughter upon the linguistic meaning of laughter. But this claim is manifestly refuted in what proceeds from the rest of the Hadith. The narrator of the Hadith, Abi Razin (radi Allahu anhu) was amazed that Allah Most High laughs, so he asked the Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) for clarification:

قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَوَ يَضْحَكُ الرَّبُّ قَالَ ‏ نَعَمْ ‏‏ ‏.‏ قُلْتُ لَنْ نَعْدِمَ مِنْ رَبٍّ يَضْحَكُ خَيْرًا

I said: “O Apostle of Allah, does the Lord laugh?” He said: “Yes”. I said: “We shall never be deprived of good by a Lord Who laughs”

(ibid)

If the divine attribute of laughter must in truth be interpreted to be synonymous with Allah’s mercy, or it is not literally laughter, that was the perfect opportunity for the Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) to explain it to his companion Abi Razin (radi Allahu anhu). Instead, the Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) simply replied in the affirmative to his question “does the Lord laugh?”.

Then there is also the authentic Hadith of sayyidina Abi Huraira (radi Allahu anhu) that the Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) said:

يَضْحَكُ اللَّهُ إِلَى رَجُلَيْنِ

“Allah laughs at two men...”

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

And this belief that the Lord God actually laughs, and that laughter is one of His many divine attributes, was revealed in the Zabur – the Psalms of David:

יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh

(Psalm 2:4)

אֲדֹנָי יִשְׂחַק-לוֹ

The Lord shall laugh at him

(Psalm 37:13)

וְאַתָּה יְהוָה, תִּשְׂחַק-לָמוֹ

But You, YHWH, shall laugh at them

(Psalm 59:8)