Anecdotes from the Life of the Prophet Muhammad
by Mumtaz Ahmad Faruqui
Humour of the Prophet
1. The Holy Prophet had a keen sense of humour and ready wit. Once a man asked for a ride, and the Holy Prophet replied that he would give him a baby camel to ride. Thereupon, the man remarked that the baby camel would be of no use to him. The Prophet replied that a camel gave birth to a camel, and that every camel was once a baby.
2. An old lady once paid a visit to the Prophet, and wanted to be reassured if her good deeds would entitle her to enter Paradise. The Prophet, with the hint of a smile on his lips, told her that no old woman would enter Heaven. Thereupon, the lady became depressed and frightened. The Prophet then relieved her anxiety by telling her that everyone would be made young again before entering Heaven. The old lady heaved a sigh of relief and went home happy.
3. Once the Holy Prophet and his cousin, Ali, were seated next to each other, eating palm-dates out of a bag. The Prophet thought of playing a joke on Ali. After eating a date, he would quietly slip its stone into the pile lying in front of Ali. When they had finished eating the dates, the Prophet remarked,
“Let us see who has eaten most of the dates.”
When they looked down, surely the pile of stones lying in front of Ali was bigger and higher. On this, the Prophet smiled. However, realising the joke, Ali countered by saying:
“Ah, sure, it seems you were so hungry that you ate your dates along with the stones.”
On this, both of them burst into laughter.