Islamic humour is the long tradition of humour in Islam, dating as far back as the Prophet Muhammad.
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In accordance with Islam, Muslims generally abide by some basic rules on making jokes, such as humour being within the limits of Islamic tolerance, and not going beyond the bounds of truth.
There are many Muslim comedians around the world who feel comfortable making fun of Muslim stereotypes. In the USA there is Baba Ali, Omar Regan and the Allah Made Me Funny comedy tour featuring Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss and Mohammed Amer; in the UK there is Shazia Mirza and Shaista Aziz; in South Africa there is Riaad Moosa; and in Norway, the controversial Shabana Rehman.[1]
Jokes about the Mullah Nasruddin are told throughout the muslim world and beyond. On the surface they are short humorous tales. They are told and retold endlessly in the teahouses and caravanserais of Asia and can be heard in homes and on the radio. But it is inherent in a Nasruddin story that it may be understood on many levels. There is the joke, but there is also the structure of the tale that functions as an analogy or metaphor for some aspect of human nature or learning.
One day, Mullah Nasruddin decided to go fishing. He called upon his good friend Rabbi Moishe, got their poles and bait together, rented a small rowboat at the local harbor, and off to sea they went. After an amazing afternoon of fishing, the two men had caught thirty fish. An elated Mullah Nasruddin said to Rabbi Moishe, "Better mark this spot so we can come here tomorrow!"
The next day Mullah Nasruddin met up with Rabbi Moishe at the rental harbor for another day of fishing.
"Did you mark the spot?" Mullah Nasruddin asked Rabbi Moishe confidentially.
"Of couse," replied Rabbi Moishe, "I painted a big white X on the bottom of the rowboat."
"You fool!" shouted Mullah Nasruddin, slapping his forehead, "What if we can't rent that same boat today?"
A thief went to Nasrudin's house and carried away almost all the possessions of the mullah to his own home. While Nasrudin had been watching from the street. After a few minutes Nasrudin took up a blanket, followed him, went in to his house, lay down and pretended to go to sleep. The thief asked Mullah, "who are you? And what are you doing in my house?" Mullah replied, "we were moving into your house, weren't we?"
"When I was in the desert," said Nasruddin one day, "I caused an entire tribe of horrible and bloodthirsty bedouins to run." "However did you do it?" "Easy. I just ran, and they ran after me."