As'salamu Alaikum Mark,
Welcome to the blog. May Allah Almighty further lead you to Islam. Ameen.
Regarding
لغو (laghu), it means rubbish talk, or nonsense, or talk that is made of bad things, or vain. See Noble Verses 19:62, 23:3, 25:72, 28:55, 31:6-7, 56:25, 78:35.
From
www.answering-christianity.com/quran_moral_code.htm:
When you hear rubbish talk, or nonsense, or talk that is made of bad things, or vain, don't stay and listen to it. Pass by it (
والذين لايشهدون الزور واذا مروا باللغو مروا كراما). Nonsense, vain and nonsensical talk are forbidden.
[023:003] Who avoid vain talk; والذين هم عن اللغو معرضون[028:055] And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: "To us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you: we seek not the ignorant. سلام عليكم لانبتغي الجاهلين" واذا سمعوا اللغو اعرضوا عنه وقالوا لنا اعمالنا ولكم اعمالكم سلام عليكم لانبتغي الجاهلين
Again, see Noble Verses 19:62, 23:3, 25:72, 28:55, 31:6-7, 56:25, 78:35.
No Laghu in Heaven:This does not include the Glorious Quran, for the Glorious Quran contains no laghu in It. The Noble Verses are talking about the inhabitants of Heaven and their regular conversations:
[078:035] No vanity shall they hear therein, nor Untruth:-
[056:025] Not frivolity will they hear therein, nor any taint of ill,-
[019:062] They will not there hear any vain discourse, but only salutations of Peace: And they will have therein their sustenance, morning and evening.Again, see the Noble Verses and link above.
Comedy Talk:It depends on the words and the talk. If it's satire kind of talk that is not ill, and it reflects the bad things about a current situation, then it is ok. If it's harmful and/or trash talk and jokes on people, or cheap words that have no value, or words of blasphemy against Allah Almighty and Islam, then it is forbidden:
[031:006] But there are, among men, those who purchase idle tales لهو الحديث, without knowledge (or meaning), to mislead (men) from the Path of God and throw ridicule (on the Path) ليضل عن سبيل الله بغير علم: for such there will be a Humiliating Penalty.
[031:007] When Our Signs are rehearsed to such a one, he turns away in arrogance, as if he heard them not, as if there were deafness in both his ears: announce to him a grievous Penalty.31:6 ومن الناس من يشتري لهو الحديث ليضل عن سبيل الله بغير علم ويتخذها هزوا اولئك لهم عذاب مهين
31:7 واذا تتلى عليه اياتنا ولى مستكبرا كان لم يسمعها كان في اذنيه وقرا فبشره بعذاب اليم
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, used to joke sometimes:
Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari:
"The Prophet used to invoke Allah, saying, "Allahumma ighfirli khati'ati wa jahli wa israfi fi amri, wa ma anta a-'lamu bihi minni. Allahumma ighfirli hazali هزلي wa jiddi wa khata'i wa amdi, wa kullu dhalika 'indi"WHICH READS IN ENGLISH AS:
"O Allah! Forgive my mistakes and my ignorance and my exceeding the limit (boundaries) of righteousness in my deeds; and forgive whatever You know better than I. O Allah! Forgive the wrong I have done jokingly هزلي or seriously, and forgive my accidental and intentional errors, all that is present in me." (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 75, Number 408))The Prophet used the word HAZAL (satire, comic). That's what satire today means in Arabic:
https://translate.google.com/#ar/en/%D9%87%D8%B2%D9%84
https://translate.google.com/#ar/en/%D9%87%D8%B2%D9%84%D9%8AYet, Allah Almighty said this about the Glorious Quran:
86:14 وماهو بالهزل
[086:014] And it (the Quran) is not a vain talk هزل.No one is perfect:No flesh and blood was ever infallible, perfect or sinless. Visit also this link to see how
Jesus coveted the world for 40 days and 40 nights, and was turned into
King Kong by satan [
1] when he made him climb the fortress-like temple to jump and commit suicide. Yet, the Bible considers
coveting to be a sin.
Please also visit:
www.answering-christianity.com/warning.htmTake care,
Osama Abdallah