The Ruling on Pranking Muslims

The rise of social media has brought with it many immoral habits that did not exist in society before or if it existed, it existed in small forms. One of those immoral habits is the habit of pranking people. Pulling off a successful prank relies on the person incorporating many tactics that are not permissible in the religion. For example, a person pranking another person might rely on lying to the person, he might rely on embarrassing the person, or he might rely on scaring the person. All of these acts are haram from one Muslim to another, and they are haram from a Muslim to a non-Muslim.

The entire purpose of a prank is to get others to laugh at an individual. The prankster puts a victim in a situation that will cause fear or embarrassment for the sake of laughs. This completely goes against the character of a true Believer in Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.

When we look at the impermissibility of pranking another Muslim, we will look at it from four perspectives:

1. Scaring a Muslim

2. Embarrassing a Muslim

3. Lying to make people laugh

4. Impersonating the actions of the kuffaar

Each one of these four will be dealt with individually and evidence will be provided insha’Allah.

Scaring a Muslim

Scaring a Muslim through words or actions is not permissible. We can see this in the following Hadith:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي لَيْلَى، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَصْحَابُ، مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَسِيرُونَ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَنَامَ رَجُلٌ مِنْهُمْ فَانْطَلَقَ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى حَبْلٍ مَعَهُ فَأَخَذَهُ فَفَزِعَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ لاَ يَحِلُّ لِمُسْلِمٍ أَنْ يُرَوِّعَ مُسْلِمًا ‏"‏ ‏.

AbdurRahman ibn AbuLayla narrated: The Companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us that they were travelling with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). A man of them slept, and one of them went to the rope which he had with him. He took it, by which he was frightened. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: It is not lawful for a Muslim that he frightens a Muslim.

[Sunan Abi Dawud]

We can understand from the general statement of the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) that scaring or frightening another Muslim is not permissible under any circumstance. It does not matter if the frightening is done by words or actions, nor does it matter if the harm done was physical or emotional. This is a form of oppression, and it is not acceptable behavior from one Muslim to another.

We can also understand from the Book of Allah that fear mongering among Muslims is from the traits of the hypocrites. This can be seen in the following verse:

لَّئِن لَّمْ يَنتَهِ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌۭ وَٱلْمُرْجِفُونَ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ لَنُغْرِيَنَّكَ بِهِمْ ثُمَّ لَا يُجَاوِرُونَكَ فِيهَآ إِلَّا قَلِيلا

If the hypocrites, and those with sickness in their hearts, and fear-mongers in Medina do not desist, We will certainly incite you O Prophet against them, and then they will not be your neighbors there any longer. {33:60}

This verse is dealing with war, but we can still see that Allah addressed the people that spread fear through false rumors to scare the people. This being a trait of the hypocrites should make us want to avoid it at all cost whether it is in war or in jest. We should not scare any Muslim. In fact, we should not be a source of fear for anybody or anything. We teach the people Islam, so they fear Allah and fear the punishment for disobeying Allah; not to fear us or our pranks.

Embarrassing a Muslim

Purposely embarrassing your Muslim brother or sister to get laughs out of people is not permissible under any circumstance. This goes against the very tenants of brotherhood the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us to have. We can see the advice of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in the following Hadith:

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا تحاسدوا، ولا تناجشوا، ولا تباغضوا، ولا تدابروا ولا يبع بعضكم على بيع بعض، وكونوا عباد الله إخوانًا. المسلم أخو المسلم: لا يظلمه ولا يحقره، ولا يخذله. التقوى ههنا- ويشير إلى صدره ثلًث مرات- بحسب امرئ من الشر أن يحقر أخاه المسلم كل المسلم على المسلم حرام دمه وماله وعرضه." رواه مسلم

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, "Do not envy one another; do not inflate prices by overbidding against one another; do not hate one another; do not harbor malice against one another; and do not enter into commercial transaction when others have entered into that (transaction); but be you, O slaves of Allah, as brothers. A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim; he neither oppresses him nor does he look down upon him, nor does he abandon him in his time of need. Piety is here, (and he pointed to his chest three times). It is enough evil for a Muslim to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. All things of a Muslim are inviolable for his brother-in-faith: his blood, his property and his honor".

[Muslim]

The primary point of this Hadith I want you to focus on is the honor of another Muslim. By humiliating or embarrassing your Muslim brother and causing people to laugh at him, you have dishonored him. That is not permissible.

Moreover, embarrassing a Muslim for laughs is a form of mockery and ridicule. These two actions are traits of the hypocrites and not the Believers.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌۭ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونُوا۟ خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَآءٌۭ مِّن نِّسَآءٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا۟ بِٱلْأَلْقَـٰبِ ۖ بِئْسَ ٱلِٱسْمُ ٱلْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ ٱلْإِيمَـٰنِ ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ

O believers! Do not let some men ridicule others, they may be better than them, nor let some women ridicule other women, they may be better than them. Do not defame one another, nor call each other by offensive nicknames. How evil it is to act rebelliously after having faith! And whoever does not repent, it is they who are the true wrongdoers. {49:11}

All of these actions have been made forbidden to protect the honor of the Muslims. No Muslim should dishonor another Muslim by making him a source of laughter and jokes. This is not permissible. This is not limited to pranks because this can include making memes on the internet that cause people to mock or ridicule another Muslim. This is from the behavior of the hypocrites as we can see from the following verse from the Quran:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ ۚ قُلْ أَبِٱللَّهِ وَءَايَـٰتِهِۦ وَرَسُولِهِۦ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِءُونَ

If you question them, they will certainly say, “We were only talking idly and joking around.” Say, “Was it Allah, His revelations, and His Messenger that you ridiculed?” {9:65}

These hypocrites that were mentioned in this verse were standing around making fun of the Sahabah. Allah revealed this verse and the one after it showing that their mockery of the Believers took them out of Islam.

لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا۟ قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ ۚ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَآئِفَةٍۢ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَآئِفَةًۢ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ مُجْرِمِينَ

Make no excuses! You have lost faith after your belief. If We pardon a group of you, We will punish others for their wickedness. {9:66}

The story in its entirety can be seen in the following Hadith:

عن عبد الله بن عمر قال : قال رجل في غزوة تبوك في مجلس : ما رأينا مثل قرائنا هؤلاء لا أرغب بطونا ، ولا أكذب ألسنا ، ولا أجبن عند اللقاء ! فقال رجل في المجلس : كذبت ، ولكنك منافق ، لْخبرن رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - فبلغ ذلك النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - ونزل القرآن . قال عبد الله بن عمر : فأنا رأيته متعلقا بحقب ناقة رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم تنكبه الحجارة ، وهو يقول : " يا رسول الله ، إنما كنا نخوض ونلعب ، " ورسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - يقول : أبالله وآياته ورسوله كنتم تستهزئون لا تعتذروا قد كفرتم بعد إيمانكم

Abdullah ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: A man said in a gathering during the Battle of Tabuk, “I have not seen anything like these Reciters of ours (referring to the Companions of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم). They have the biggest of bellies, they have the most dishonest of tongues, and they are the cowardliest in battle.” A man sitting in the gathering said, “You have lied, and you are a hypocrite. I will inform the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) of what you said.” Before the man reached the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), Allah had already sent down a revelation to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) informing him of the gathering. Abdullah Ibn Umar said, “I saw him (the man from the gathering) hanging on to the rope tied to the sides of the camel of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) while the rocks were popping up and hitting him in the legs, and he was saying, “O Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) we were just joking and speaking in jest.” The Messenger of Allah responded to him saying, “With Allah, His signs and His Messenger were you mocking. Do not make excuses because you have truly disbelieved after you entered the faith (Islam).”

This Hadith was narrated by Ibn Jarir At-Tabari in his tafseer, and the chain of narration is authentic.

We can clearly see in this Hadith that mocking and laughing at the Muslims is from the trait of the hypocrites. Therefore, any pranks or memes that are meant to make people laugh at another Muslim should be avoided completely. If a person falls into this sin, he has to repent from the sin and apologize to the person that he made fun of. This is a form of oppression, and if the person does not forgive the oppressor, he will have to answer on the Day of Judgment for his oppression. May Allah forgive us!

Lying to Make People Laugh

Lying is not permissible under any circumstances. Whether you are lying to avoid a punishment or lying to make people laugh, it is not allowed in the religion of Islam. Some people might say that we have a Hadith that shows that lying is permissible for a wife to her husband or husband to his wife. However, that Hadith is not referring to lying; it is referring to prevarication, which is not a lie. When you blatantly lie to get people to laugh, you are falling into sin. This can be seen in the following Hadith:

حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدُ بْنُ مُسَرْهَدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى، عَنْ بَهْزِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏ "‏ وَيْلٌ لِلَّذِي يُحَدِّثُ فَيَكْذِبُ لِيُضْحِكَ بِهِ الْقَوْمَ وَيْلٌ لَهُ وَيْلٌ لَهُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Mu'awiyah ibn Jaydah al-Qushayri narrated: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: Woe to him who tells things, speaking falsely, to make people laugh thereby. Woe to him! Woe to him!

[Sunan Abi Dawud]

Therefore, if the prank involves this type of lying to make people laugh, which most of them do, it is not permissible. Other actions that can fall under this impermissibility are telling jokes and funny stories that are not true to get people to laugh. This is what you see from comedians, and it is not permissible. May Allah guide us!

Impersonating the Actions of the Kuffaar

This is the final aspect of pranks that causes them to be prohibited. We can see that all the different aspects of pranks were traits that the hypocrites were known by. We can also see in this day that pranks were started on social media by the kuffaar. There is no pranking in Islam, so this is not from the behavior of the Muslims. Impersonating the actions of the Kuffaar, especially in actions that go against Islam, is not permissible. We can see this in the following verse from the Quran:

ثُم َجَعْلنَٰـَك َعلَٰى َشِريَعٍٍۢة ِمَنٱْلَْْمِرفَٱتِبْعَها َوَلاتَتِبْعأَْهَوآَءٱلِذيَن َلا َيْعلَُموَن

Now We have set you O Prophet on the clear Way of faith. So, follow it, and do not follow the desires of those who do not know the truth. {45:18}

We follow the Quran and the Sunnah, and we reject anything that goes against the Quran and the Sunnah. The actions that go into pranks are actions that are prohibited in our religion, so we reject them. We do not follow anybody in actions that go against the Quran and the Sunnah. Allah also stated in the Quran:

وَلَن تَرْضَىٰ عَنكَ ٱلْيَهُودُ وَلَا ٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ هُوَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ ۗ وَلَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَآءَهُم بَعْدَ ٱلَّذِى جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ ۙ مَا لَكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِىٍّۢ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ

Never will the Jews or Christians be pleased with you, until you follow their faith. Say, “Allah’s guidance is the only true guidance.” And if you were to follow their desires after all the knowledge that has come to you, there would be none to protect or help you against Allah. {2:120}

This verse should cause a person to fear Allah and refrain from impersonating the people of desires in their actions. Allah also stated in the Quran:

۞ أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ ٱلْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ مِن قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌۭ مِّنْهُمْ فَـٰسِقُونَ

Has the time not yet come for believers’ hearts to be humbled at the remembrance of Allah and what has been revealed of the truth, and not be like those given the Scripture before—those who were spoiled for so long that their hearts became hardened. And many of them are still rebellious. {57:16}

After reading all these verses from the Quran, why would anybody want to do actions of the kuffaar, especially those actions that are prohibited in our religion. You might think you are being cool and being funny, but you are not going to be cool answering for those actions in your grave nor will you be funny in your grave.

Conclusion

To conclude, there exists no aspect of pranking a Muslim that is permissible. Every aspect of pranking should be avoided by a Muslim. We as brothers honor one another, and we treat each other with respect. Pranking a Muslim is not respectful nor is it honoring our brothers. May Allah guide us!