Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem
On the authority of Abu Hurairah – may Allaah be pleased with him - the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
لَا تُكْثِرُوا الضَّحِكَ فَإِنَّ كَثْرَةَ الضَّحِكِ تُمِيتُ الْقَلْبَ
‘Do not laugh excessively; indeed too much laughter deadens the heart.’
[Ibn Maajah hadith no: 4193. Declared as sound by al-Albaanee in As-Silsilah As-Saheehah 2/18]
Al-Allaamah As-Sindee – may Allaah bestow mercy on him - said in his Haashiyyah on Sunan Ibn Maajah:
أَيْ تَجْعَلهُ قَاسِيًا لَا يَتَأَثَّر بِالْمَوَاعِظِ كَالْمَيِّتِ
‘That is, [excessive laughter] makes the heart to become hardened such that it does not take heed from exhortations; the same way a dead person is.’
And our Lord – the Mighty – asked the hypocrites of old to laugh on because it is the lot of people of hypocrisy to laugh whimsically:
فَلْيَضْحَكُوا قَلِيلا وَلْيَبْكُوا كَثِيرًا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
"So let them laugh a little and (they will) cry much as a recompense of what they used to earn (by committing sins)." [Taubah: 82]
Ibn Abee Talhah reported from Ibn Abbaas – may Allaah be pleased with him - that he said about the Verse above:
الدنيا قليل، فليضحكوا فيها ما شاءوا، فإذا انقطعت الدنيا وصاروا إلى الله، عز وجل، استأنفوا بكاء لا ينقطع أبد
‘The world is infinitesimal, so let them laugh as they like. When the world cease to be and they go on to meet Allaah – the Mighty and Most Sublime – they (the hypocrites) will start a round of cries that will never cease.’
We ask Allaah for His mercy.
So, carry on, O hysterical laughers, laugh in Zulu or Swahili, and if you like in Efik or Birom, you will definitely meet your Lord one day with that laughter.
