Sukhriyyah · Mockery

The story

The Companions trained themselves not to mock. The Prophet ﷺ never mocked anyone; even when correcting disbelievers, his speech was structurally serious. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī: 'The believer does not mock; the mocker has weighed his brother's worth and found it less than himself, and that weighing is the error.'

Why it's named first

Sukhriyyah is mockery, ridicule, making fun of others. Q 49:11 explicitly forbids it: 'O you who believe! Let no group ridicule another group; perhaps they are better than them. Nor let women ridicule other women; perhaps they are better than them...' The verse is severe: the mocker may be mocking those Allah ranks above him.

In the Qur'an

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

“O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name [i.e., mention] of disobedience after [one's] faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.”

49:11Listen Read 49:11 with tafsir

Svenska: TROENDE! Män skall inte göra narr av andra män - det kan hända att de som de gör narr av är bättre än de själva. Och kvinnor skall inte göra narr av andra kvinnor - det kan hända att de som de gör narr av är bättre än de själva. Och förtala inte varandra och ge inte varandra skamliga öknamn; det är gement, troende emellan, att använda öknamn som leder tanken till synd och lastbarhet, och de som [beter sig så och] inte ångrar det gör sig skyldiga till en svår orätt.

In the Sunnah

Tirmidhī 1977 (Muʿādh ibn Jabal): 'Whoever mocks his brother for a sin, he will not die until he himself does it.' The Prophet's ﷺ structural warning: mocking another for a fault attracts the same fault to yourself.

The cure

1. Train silence in moments when others mock; do not join. 2. When tempted to mock, recall Q 49:11: 'perhaps they are better than them.' 3. Develop genuine respect for the unseen-rank of every believer. 4. Make tawbah for past mockery; if specific persons were named, work to make amends.

What is at stake

The mocker structurally injures: (1) the mocked (humiliation); (2) the mocked person's status before Allah (because the mocker presumes to rank below him those Allah may rank above); (3) the mocker himself (the named hadith warning of attracting the same fault). Modern social media has amplified mockery; the structural injuries remain the same.