Muslims and Humour: Essays on Comedy, Joking, and Mirth in Contemporary Islamic Contexts

Description

This thought-provoking collection offers a multi-disciplinary approach on the subject of humour, Muslims, and Islam. Beginning with theoretical perspectives and scriptural guidance on permissible and restricted humour, the volume presents a variety of case studies about Muslim comedic practices in various cultural, political, and religious contexts. This unprecedented scholarship sheds new light on common misconceptions about humour and laughter in Islam and deftly tackles sensitive themes from blasphemy to freedom of speech. Chapter 9 is available Open Access via OAPEN under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Bernard Schweizer is Professor Emeritus of English at the Department of English, Philosophy and Languages at Long Island University. Lina Molokotos-Liederman is Affiliated Researcher at the Woolf Institute and Scientific Collaborator at University of Fribourg. Yasmin Amin recently completed her doctoral studies at University of Exeter with a dissertation titled, "Humour and Laughter in the Hadith".

"We needed a volume that thinks critically about how Muslims create religious humour that is both interdisciplinary and covers different cultural contexts. Thankfully, we now have that volume." David Feltmate, Auburn University at Montgomery "This collection is a welcome contribution to the study of humour in relation to Islam. It reveals that, contrary to popular belief, Islam is not hostile to humour and Muslims are as funny as non-Muslims." Georges Tamer, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg