Prohibition of Mockery - Qari Zakaullah Saleem
By Qari Zakaullah Saleem | 2026-07-06T18:43:35.3408+00:00 | Topic: Fear of Allah
Khutbah Opening
Amma ba'd — indeed the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, and the worst of affairs are newly invented matters, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Amma ba'd — my dear respected brothers and sisters, and my youth and young kids — today before I begin my khutbah I would like to request my youth and especially the young kids to stay quiet and listen to the khutbah intensively and carefully.
The Purpose of Prophethood: Perfecting Good Manners
Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal, rahimahullah, has reported on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, radhiallahu ta'ala anhu, that the Prophet ﷺ said:
Indeed, I have been sent for the purpose of perfecting the good manners and honorable characters. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 8952)
Indeed, certainly without any doubt, Muhammad ﷺ has been sent to the creation of Allah for the purpose of perfecting the good manners and honorable characters.
My dear brothers and sisters, Allah has created every one of us differently. Every one of us is different to others in their abilities and capabilities, their potentials, their knowledge, their education, their thinking, and even in their physical appearance, their health and wealth. Although Allah has created every one of us differently, we should always bear in mind that all these types of differences hold no value in the sight of Allah. These differences by themselves hold no value in the sight of Allah. The only distinction that Allah recognizes is the distinction of taqwa and piety.
The Principle of Equality in Islam
This is what Allah has said in Surah Al-Hujurat, Surah 49, Ayah 13, when Allah says:
O people, O mankind — indeed We have created you all from one male and one female, and then We have divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know each other — so that you can know each other as so-and-so is the son of so-and-so, and he is the grandson of so-and-so, and she is the daughter of so-and-so. So the only purpose of dividing you into nations and tribes is that you may know each other. And then Allah says: indeed the most honorable with Allah is the one who is the most pious.
Our beloved Prophet Muhammad Rasulullah ﷺ explained this — إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ — this statement of Allah al-Jalal al-Ikram, in his khutbah, the Khutbah of Hajjatul Wada'. On the day of Arafah, when the Prophet ﷺ performed the Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ said:
(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 23489; Al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman)
O people, your Lord is one. Your father, Adam alayhi salatu wasalam, is one. Your religion is one. You are all descendants of Adam alayhi salam, and Adam alayhi salam was created from dust and earth. Listen carefully — there is no priority or superiority for an Arab upon a non-Arab, and there is no virtue for a non-Arab upon an Arab. And there is no virtue for the white and red-skinned one upon the black, and no black has any virtue over the white. Indeed, the only distinction that Allah recognizes is piety and taqwa and consciousness of Allah al-Jalal al-Ikram.
Good Character: The Foundation of Our Religion
My dear brothers and sisters, based on this utmost valuable principle of Islam — the principle of equality — the Prophet ﷺ has taught us best manners and akhlaq. So we as Muslims, we are obliged — every one of us, young and old, male and female — every one of us is obliged to show best akhlaq and manners. And this is the core purpose of the Prophethood of Muhammad Rasulullah ﷺ.
My dear brothers and sisters, I usually say in my talks: the foundation of our religion is the tawheed of Allah. The correct belief and aqeedah is the foundation without which your acts of worship are not accepted by Allah al-Jalal al-Ikram. But unfortunately we find amongst the people who hold the correct and best aqeedah and the right understanding of the tawheed of Allah — they lack in their manners and good akhlaq. They probably tend to forget that our beloved Prophet ﷺ started preaching the tawheed of Allah when Allah granted him Prophethood, and when Allah sent revelation to him when he was at the age of 40.
On the very first occasion when the Prophet ﷺ came out to the people of Mecca in order to give them dawah to the tawheed of Allah — before inviting them to the deen and to the tawheed of Allah al-Jalal al-Ikram — the Prophet ﷺ presented to them his own akhlaq for the past 40 years. Tawheed of Allah is the foundation of our religion, but before tawheed, akhlaq as well. Your correct aqeedah, your correct understanding of the tawheed of Allah, will never benefit others if you do not show good akhlaq and character.
Therefore the Prophet ﷺ said:
There will be nothing more heavy in the scale of good deeds on the Day of Judgment than good character. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4799; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2003)
Although praying, fasting, giving in charity, performing Hajj and Umrah and tawaf — all these acts of worship hold value — but the Prophet ﷺ said the heaviest thing in the scale of good deeds on the Day of Judgment will be good akhlaq.
The Prohibition of Mockery
My dear brothers and sisters, Allah, when He made the mention of the ayah in Surah Al-Hujurat — يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَىٰ — before making the mention of this ayah, Allah gave us some basic principles of good akhlaq and good manners. My dear brothers and sisters, based on those principles we should remember: no one amongst us has any right whatsoever to mock or make fun of others. Allah has clearly said in Surah Al-Hujurat, Ayah 11:
O you who believe — do not let one group amongst you scoff, or make fun, or make mockery of another group. It may be that those who are mocked, those who are laughed at, are better than those who laugh at them. And then Allah specifically made the mention of women — especially women, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. For them specifically Allah, although the principle is that whenever Allah makes the mention of believers in the Quran, whenever Allah says "O you who believe," it consists of male and female, everyone — but in this particular ayah Allah specifically made the mention of nisa and women: and do not let a group of women ridicule or make fun or make mockery of other women. It may be that those who are mocked, they are better than those who mock.
And then Allah continues saying: never ever try to defame others, and do not call upon each other with disgusting nicknames, hateful nicknames. How bad it is to insult one another after having faith and iman — while you claim that you are mu'min, you claim that you are Muslim, you hold the fear of Allah within your hearts — and yet you mock and you make fun of others.
And then pay attention to the last part of this ayah. Allah says: and whoever amongst you has done any of these sins — if he does not repent to Allah — then indeed they are the oppressors, they are the wrongdoers. This last sentence of the ayah, my dear brothers and sisters, indicates that making fun of others, laughing at others, making mockery of others, is one of the major sins in our religion.
You look at someone who is short, you look at someone who is taller than the normal height, someone who is obese, someone who has any kind of defectiveness in his body and his physical appearance, and you laugh at them — you make fun of them. This is never ever permissible in the religion of Allah.
Illness and Disability: A Test from Allah
My dear brothers and sisters, we should also remember that having any kind of deficiency, any kind of disability, any kind of restriction in the ability — this is not for us to make fun of those people who are affected by those problems or illnesses. Rather, they are probably a test from Allah for them. And the Prophet ﷺ has said in a hadith reported by Imam Ahmed, rahimahullah:
The people of good health, on the Day of Judgment, when they witness the great reward that will be given to the people of hardship, will wish that their skins had been cut with scissors in the dunya. (Musnad Ahmad; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2402)
The Prophet ﷺ also said in another hadith — a Hadith Qudsi — that Allah says:
When I test one of My slaves by taking away his two most beloved things — meaning his eyesight — and he remains patient, I will replace them with Paradise. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5653)
So my dear brothers and sisters, if we see any person within our family, within our community, within our society — whether relatives or non-relatives — who has any kind of deficiency or restriction in their ability, or someone who is disabled, or someone who has any kind of defect in their physical appearance, we have no right to mock them, we have no right to laugh at them. Rather, it is considered one of the major sins.
The Prophets Were Also Tested
My dear brothers and sisters, if these types of illnesses or defects in the physical appearance were in any form or shape a defect or something belittling in the sight of Allah, then wallahi, Allah would have never allowed this to happen to His beloved prophets. Allah has made the mention of the stories of His prophets in the Quran.
We know Sayyiduna Ayyub alayhi salam, who suffered from a severe illness for many years. We know Sayyiduna Ya'qub alayhi salam — when he missed his son Sayyiduna Yusuf alayhi salam, he cried day and night to the point that he turned blind. The Prophet Sayyiduna Musa alayhi salam — the one whom Allah has mentioned the most in His Book — he himself suffered from the problem of stuttering, he had a problem in speech, and he made du'a to Allah. The point is that these types of problems, these types of deficiencies or restrictions in the abilities, they are not a disgrace — and we should not laugh at those who suffer from these types of problems.
Honoring the Companions Despite Physical Differences
My dear brothers and sisters, we also find amongst the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ those who had defects in their physical appearances, those who were even disabled — yet the Prophet ﷺ gave them high status, honor and respect. One of the servants of Rasulullah ﷺ — the one who used to carry the slippers of the Prophet ﷺ, the one who used to serve him — he was very short and thin. One day he was climbing a tree and the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ looked upon his legs and they laughed. The Prophet ﷺ never liked it, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "Are you laughing at the thinness of his legs? By Allah, his two legs are heavier in the scale on the Day of Judgment than the mountain of Uhud."
Physical appearance and having good physical health has no value whatsoever by itself in the sight of Allah. So if you are in the state of good health and you belittle those who are suffering from problems or disabilities, this is not permissible.
The Story of Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum
We have another companion — Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum, radhiallahu anhu. What a great companion — the Prophet ﷺ gave him high respect and honor. He is the one who came to the Prophet ﷺ once when the Prophet ﷺ was preaching and giving dawah to the chiefs of Quraish. When Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum, who was blind, came into their gathering and wanted to ask the Prophet ﷺ something, the Prophet ﷺ did not like it and he frowned and turned his face away. Straight away, Allah sent Jibreel alayhi salam and revealed 10 ayaat in Surah Abasa:
He frowned and turned away — why? Because a blind man came to him. What could have told you that he might become pure? Or he came to get a reminder from you, so that the reminder can benefit him. As for the one who is neglectful — these chiefs of Quraysh who pay no attention to the call of Allah — you pay attention to them. And as for the one who came to you running, and he has the fear of Allah, he wanted to learn the deen of Allah al-Jalal al-Ikram — and you, O Muhammad ﷺ, have neglected him.
After that day, the Prophet ﷺ gave Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum radhiallahu anhu — who was blind — a great honour, to the point that the Prophet ﷺ appointed him as one of the mu'adhdhin of his Masjid an-Nabawi. He used to make the adhan of Fajr every single day. And not only this — on many occasions, at least on 13 different occasions, whenever the Prophet ﷺ travelled outside the city of Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ appointed this blind companion as an imam for his companions.
It also shows us, my dear brothers and sisters, that the people amongst our society and within our community who suffer from any kind of illness or disability — we cannot push them away from learning the deen. Unfortunately, we Muslims do not take care of our blind Muslims. We do not take care of our deaf brothers and sisters. How many deaf brothers and sisters within our community have left the religion of Islam because they have no access to understanding the deen of Allah? So the point is, my dear brothers and sisters, we as Muslims have to show and express the best manners and akhlaq to everyone, and we have no right whatsoever to laugh at others or to make fun of others.
May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to rectify our errors and mistakes, and may Allah grant us tawfiq and ability to adopt good and best manners and akhlaq.
The Worst Type of Mockery: Mocking the Religion
My dear brothers and sisters, the worst type of mockery is when you make fun of those who practice the religion of Allah. When you laugh at someone because of their Islamic dress code — when you laugh at a sister because of her hijab and niqab, when you laugh at someone who has grown the beard according to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — because mocking them and making fun of such people is as if you have mocked the religion of Allah. And mocking the religion of Allah and mocking the sunnah of the beloved Prophet ﷺ is classified as kufr. You might fall into kufr unknowingly by laughing at someone's Islamic appearance or because of laughing at someone's Islamic dress code.
Allah says in Surah Al-Mutaffifin:
Indeed, those who committed crimes in this dunya used to laugh at those who believed in Allah. This is one of the characteristics of disbelievers — to laugh and make fun of believers. Whenever they would pass by them, they would wink, they would make gestures, and they would laugh at them. And whenever they would go back to their own people, they would go back jesting and making fun of them.
Allah says: We never sent these disbelievers as watchers upon believers. And today, on the Day of Judgment, I will allow My believing servants to laugh upon the disbelievers — they will be sitting on their thrones and they will be laughing at the disbelievers. Those who mocked the believers in this dunya — have the disbelievers received fully what they used to do in the dunya?
And in another verse, Allah has clearly said: if you make fun of the religion, if you laugh and make mockery of the religion and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, then do not expect any excuse that "we were just making a joke." No — the deen of Allah is not for making jokes. If you have mocked the religion of Allah or if you have mocked someone who practiced the religion of Allah, in fact you have mocked the religion of Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. You do not need to make any excuse — after having faith and belief, you have disbelieved. This is one of the worst types of mockery.
The Practicing Muslim Has No Right to Mock the Non-Practicing
It is also very sad when we find amongst our practicing brothers and sisters — those whom Allah has given tawfiq and ability to pray five times a day, who observe the rulings of the Sharia, who try to follow the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ in their physical appearance and their Islamic dress code — but at the same time, these very same people themselves make fun of those who are non-practicing.
If it is not permissible for non-practicing believers or even non-believers to make fun of believers, then at the same time it is not permissible for practicing brothers and sisters to make fun of those who are not practicing. Because Allah has created us all equal as humans. Although we have been created differently, in the sight of Allah we hold no value except by taqwa and piety. And it is not for me to judge myself, and it is not for you to judge yourself, that you have taqwa or piety — it is upon Allah. You cannot say "I am pious, I am a righteous person, I am practicing the religion of Allah, so I have the right to make fun of those who do not understand the deen of Allah." You should not be making fun of them. Rather, your responsibility is to give them advice and invite them to the deen of Allah.
May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to replicate the akhlaq and the best manners that the Prophet ﷺ showed and that the Prophet ﷺ taught us, as he ﷺ said: "I was sent to complete the best manners."