Saad Tasleem – April Fools’ Day

			Before I get started with questions for today, I did want to talk a little bit about April Fool's
day since Today is April Fool's Day, I did post a tweet and I posted on my, on my Instagram as well.
		

			But the general rule when it comes to, like laughing and joking and pranks and things like that, is
that, in general, like joking and laughing, it is considered something and it's not, um, it's
considered something which is good. And one of our scholars, he said that joking is soon enough, but
it's only son enough for the one who knows how to joke, meaning the prophets, I said him would laugh
and joke, and so on and so forth. But we have certain guidelines, right, like, but everything else,
to basically keep our morals in check. So, so yeah, so one of the big things that stands out to me,
is the issue and there's more guidelines than this, but just one main issue is the issue of like
		

			lining, or like deceiving someone. When it comes to joking. The Prophet, the prophet, as I said, I
sent him he was asked by the companions, the first time I made a joke and the companions they were,
they were surprised to see the percent of joke. And they said, O Messenger of Allah, like you joke
with us as well. And he said, I said, I do I do joke. I will. I can indeed Apollo in a heartbeat. He
said, except, I only speak the truth. Meaning he doesn't lie when he tells jokes. So it's not okay
to lie even even as a joke, or to deceive someone.
		

			That's that's the general Yes, there are certain exceptions, are scholars mentioned that if if it is
obvious that what you're saying is not true, then that wouldn't necessarily be considered lying. And
that type of joking would be okay. So for example, if you're like telling a joke, and in the like,
in the joke here, you say something, which obviously isn't true. So let's say the premise of your
joke is, you know,
		

			there was, there was a, like, a lion driving a car, right? Or like a dog driving a car. And
obviously, like, and then that's how you start your joke, obviously. Like, there wasn't a lion or a
dog, or whatever it is driving a car. So the person hearing that joke, they know it's a joke. They
know, obviously, that cannot be true. It's part of the joke. So something like that would be an
exception. Also sarcasm, as long as the sarcasm is like, clear. And what I posted today, I, you
know, was I said, what I say? I said, Don't worry, it's it's your it's okay to lie today. Right?
		

			And I was being completely sarcastic. And it was, it was obvious to me, I guess, sometimes when you
type something out, I guess you lose some of the the, I guess people have a difficult time picking
up on the sarcasm. To me, it was obvious enough, like, obviously, like, as a Muslim, you wouldn't
say like, okay, one day out of the year, it's okay to lie, right? This is the exception. And then on
top of that, I posted the Hadith, right, where the President um, said that I do joke except I don't
tell lies. So it was pretty obvious to me, but I guess, you know, some people some people missed it.
Some people are like, you know, they were confused. And they're like, you know, why is it okay to
		

			lie on this day? And,
		

			and I think I posted it, it was on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as well. I don't remember where
it was, but someone was like, you know, I'm really disappointed in you, that you celebrate April
Fool's Day and this and then whatever. So, I don't know my experience when it comes to sarcasm
online has not been a positive experience. I think I've once or twice posted a sarcastic comment,
which to me was pretty obvious that it's like I'm being sarcastic but people had a difficult time
picking up on it, I think for the future and challenge them to leave the sarcasm to like in person
lectures, where people can actually hear my voice and hopefully
		

			hopefully they can you know, pick up on the sarcasm when it's so yeah, so the default is that no,
we're not allowed to we're not allowed to tell a lie. When it comes to joking also, deception or
harming someone you know, we have this big culture now. Like I call it the or it's been called the
it's just a prank, bro culture, right where you can basically do whatever you want as long as after
you go. Oh, it's just a prank, man. It's just a prank, bro. Like, you know, I know you're you're
like you were like harmed or like that was horrible or whatever is a terrible experience. It's just
a prank, bro. Like, that just makes it okay. islamically No, that's that's not okay. Right.
		

			So So yeah, so that's that's our like our morals as Muslims we never want to cause hurt or pain or
discomfort to anyone we don't even even hurting people's feelings. And one of the things that I
often talk about when it comes to, to joking is and you know, I have a whole class where we discuss
these issues called the fuckup chillin
		

			Haven't heard him in a while, but it's coming back in China. In the fit of chillin, there's a whole
section that deals with laughing and joking and pranks. But one of the things that we talked about
in that class is that the purpose like islamically, like as a Muslim, the purpose of joking with
someone is to bring them happiness, or joy. So if you're playing a joke on someone, and they don't
feel happy, they don't feel joy doesn't make them feel good, then that defeats the whole purpose of
that job is as a Muslim. And that's regardless of how many people found it to be funny. So if, let's
say like, you joked with someone, and they didn't like it, like they were hurt by it, but like 100
		

			other people laughed, and they were like, you know, they had a great time, like, haha, you're so
funny or whatever it may be islamically that joke is like an epic fail because you have defeated the
purpose of the joke and that is to make someone feel good or to make someone feel happy. So yeah, so
just that's something to keep in mind, inshallah, out of it comes to our jokes. Yes. I just want to
mention that quickly in this today's, you know, April Fool's Day or whatever it may be. Yeah, we'll
love it.