Humour

Hassan Mahamdallie remembers the comedy and comedians of his youth, Hussein Abdulsater explores the Islamic approach to humour, Bruce B Lawrence is enthralled by Sufi satire, Gilbert Ramsay and Moutaz Alkheder dissect Jihadi jokes, Boyd Tonkin relishes the wordplay in Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq's Leg Over Leg, Robert Irwin enjoys old Arab gags, Eric Walberg explores Muslim comedy in America, Leyla Jagiella dissects the old theory of biological and psychological humours, C Scott Jordan is astonished that comedy and news have merged into a single entity, Hussein Kesvani half regrets his viral tweet, Shazia Mirza has a good laugh, Mevlut Ceylan retells Nasreddin Hodja tales, Shanon Shah is impressed by Arab political humour, Samia Rahman takes a sip from the famous drink of Abu Nuwas, Ziauddin Sardar defends the integrity of put-upon pigeons, and Rachel Dwyer hands our Bollywood Comedy Awards.

In this issue

  • Rumi the Poet
    History

    Sufi Satire

    David Mamet has defined satire as ‘a type of wit that is meant to mock human vices or mistakes, often …to expose political missteps or social…

    Bruce B Lawrence
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