Abbasid comedy
The Abbasid era was also a golden age for comedy and humor in Arab-Islamic history. The boom in the arts and literature, the proliferation of luxurious lifestyles, and the growth in intellectual and religious freedoms – and conflict – helped foster the spirit of irony and sarcasm among the writers of that era. In the then-emerging urban center of the Arab world, new ways to make a living appeared, including through mercenary writing and poetry, as well as jesting and the so-called tufailis (jocular gate-crashers). These types played on the contradictions among the various communities and classes of Abbasid society, in which poets and drunkards coexisted with clerics and princes, soldiers and craftsmen. “Every aspect of life in that era became the target of ridicule, no matter how serious or taboo,” says Dr. Wadia Taha al-Najem.Silly teachers and naïve preachers
Teachers were mocked mercilessly, and were the subject of much of the punchlines of the jokes of the time. Renowned medieval Arab writer al-Jahiz dedicated entire books to jokes and anecdotes about teachers. Classical linguists were also mocked a lot for their pedantry and fondness for using pompous language. Another segment targeted by the humor and satire of the time were religious preachers, with their exaggerated display of piety and devotion, knowledge, and austerity, and their naiveté, ignorance, ambition and greed. “If a man dies drunk, he shall be buried drunk, and resurrected drunk,” one preacher says in an anecdote from the era, to which a worshiper replies: “By Allah! He must have had a very good wine!”The Bedouins as the butt of jokes
Many classical jokes targeted Bedouins, for their simple manners, superficial understanding of religion and crudeness as compared to the urban dwellers. “Humor in the Abbasid era was a façade that hid a great deal behind it, a rough expression of social, political, and intellectual trends and attitudes in that multi-cultural society,” says Dr. Wadia Taha. Al-Jahiz is perhaps the pioneer of comedy in classical Arabic literature. He left many works that had a sharp tone and a keen eye interested in the characters and flaws of the people of the time. His works include The Book of Misers, The Book of Eloquence and Demonstration, and The Book of Animals. Many other classical books were also keen to record jokes and anecdotes, such as: The Unique Necklace of Ibn Abd Rabbih; The Book of Songs by Al-Asfahani; and Meadows of Gold by al-Masoudi and many others. The Arabs also knew many famous comic characters, like Bahlul, Jiha, Abu Dulama, and al-Shamaqmaq, many of whom pretended to be fools as a way of social satire. Indeed, the history of humor in the Arab world is as old as the Arabic language itself.Raseef22 is a not for profit entity. Our focus is on quality journalism. Every contribution to the NasRaseef membership goes directly towards journalism production. We stand independent, not accepting corporate sponsorships, sponsored content or political funding.
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