Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Habibollah Abbasi ¹
• Shirin Roshani ²

¹ Department of Persian Language & Literature, Kharazmi University

² Kharazmi University

Abstract

This study, through a descriptive-analytical approach, explored and compared the concept of laughter and humor in the thought of two influential Muslim intellectuals, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi and Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali. It highlighted the fundamental differences in their philosophical, theological, and cultural perspectives. Al-Tawhidi, associated with the Mu‘tazilite tradition and known as a philosopher and man of letters, viewed laughter and wit as integral to human experience and as a defensive strategy against life’s hardships and constraints. Influenced by al-Jahiz, he regarded humor as a medium for social criticism, a reflection of philosophical skepticism, and a means of spiritual refinement. For him, laughter bridged wonder, astonishment, and social interaction, offering intellectual pleasure and inner balance. In contrast, al-Ghazali, a Shafi‘i jurist and Ash‘arite theologian living in a period of cultural and moral decline, treated laughter, jest, and humor as severely limited and in need of strict regulation. He permitted only modest, ethical smiling and condemned excessive joking or ridicule as threats to morality and piety.
The comparison demonstrated that Mu‘tazilite discourse interprets laughter as an expression of freedom, social critique, and lived human experience, whereas Ash‘arite discourse frames it as an instrument for preserving ethics, disciplining society, and strengthening religiosity. The study underscored the decisive role of historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts in shaping Islamic attitudes toward laughter and humor, revealing how divergent views reflect the deeper divide between rationalist philosophy and jurisprudential-theological thought in the Islamic tradition.
The comparison demonstrates that Mu‘tazilite discourse interprets laughter as an expression of freedom, social critique, and lived human experience, whereas Ash‘arite discourse frames it as an instrument for preserving ethics, disciplining society, and strengthening religiosity. The study underscores the decisive role of historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts in shaping Islamic attitudes toward laughter and humor, revealing how divergent views reflect the deeper divide between rationalist philosophy and jurisprudential-theological thought in the Islamic tradition.

Keywords

• Humor
• Mu‘tazilite discourse
• Ash‘arite discourse
• Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi
• Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali