Brief Comments on Riyaadh al-Saaliheen #102

Why do you make fun of someone for the things which you yourself do?!

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد

Narrated `Abdullah bin Zama: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also advised them not to laugh when somebody breaks wind and said: ❝Why should anybody laugh at what he himself does?❞

[Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (4942) and Saheeh Muslim (6837)]

Shaikh Ibn al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله said:

And among the things the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم admonished against in this Hadeeth is, laughing at someone who breaks wind; meaning: those people who laugh at a person who breaks wind and it had a smell and sound. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم addressed such people as an admonition to them in this regards: ❝Why should anybody laugh at what he himself does?❞

Don’t you break wind like how this person did? Certainly! If that is the case then what makes you laugh? A person laughs at something or is amazed with something which he himself has not done (or cannot do). But as for the thing which he himself does, then he is not supposed to laugh at it. This is why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم admonished those who laugh at someone when he breaks wind because this is a thing which they themselves do, and many people have this habit (of laughing at others who break wind).

In some societies people don’t mind breaking wind while someone is next to them, nor are they ashamed of it. They consider it as something natural like sneezing or coughing or the like. But in other societies, this is considered as rude and blameworthy. But whatever the case, laughing at your companion and shaming him is uncalled-for.

Also in this there is an indication that a person should not humiliate or shame someone for a thing which he himself does. If you do not censure yourself, then why are you censuring others?!

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen of Shaikh Ibn al-`Uthaymeen (3/119-120)]