Lecturer: Yasmin Amin

The last session of the Islamic College’s monthly lecture series on “Humor in Islam and Muslim Civilization” was held on January 18.

Muslims today are stereotyped as humorless. Grim images of burning flags and besieged embassies are printed over and over again to represent Muslims. As a result, an entire civilization and culture is regarded as merciless… and also devoid of humor. But is this the reality? Certainly it neglects the abundant evidence of humor in Islamic countries for many centuries. This presentation explored Muslim humor across the ages. It began by looking at modern texts and websites; then proceeded to an examination of anecdotal literature referred to as the nawadir genre; and concluded with an exploration of hadith.

Yasmin Amin is finalizing a PhD at the University of Exeter on “Humor and Laughter in the Hadith”. She obtained a post-graduate diploma in Islamic Studies from the American University in Cairo in 2006 as well as an MA in Islamic Studies from the American University in Cairo in 2010; her dissertation was on the hadiths narrated by Um Salamah. Prior to that, she had a lengthy career in business administration. She is also a co-editor of the upcoming volume, Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice.

Source: The Islamic College