Joking

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

Bomb joke student let out on bail

1 See Volume One, Chapter Forty Six for this Sunnah

i Rebecca Allison; Thursday January 22, 2004; The Guardian

ii Bukhari & Shamail-e-Tirmidhi, Chapter on humour, p. 225

O Allah (The Exalted) bless our master Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as much as You have created in Your Seven Heavens.

In the Guardian Newspaper the following article was published; “The British student facing up to 15 years in jail after allegedly making a joke about having a bomb in her rucksack at an airport in America was last night released on bail. Samantha Marson, 21, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, was arrested before boarding a London-bound British Airways flight from Miami on Saturday.

She is alleged to have placed her hand luggage on an x-ray machine before telling the screener: “Hey, be careful, I have three bombs in here.” Asked to repeat herself, she allegedly made the same statement twice more, setting off a terrorist alert and landing herself in jail. She was freed from custody in Miami after paying a bond, which was set at £2,700, the Miami-Dade county department of corrections said. ‘Ms Marson has been bailed to appear before a court on February 6, when she will be asked to enter a plea on a charge of making a false bomb report.’ An official said ‘bail was set at £2,700 but Ms Marson could have paid as little as £275 if bailed by a bonding agency.’

The British embassy in Washington said ‘consular officials had visited her yesterday but it was not clear if the visit led to her release. She had been in America for three months and was about to fly home to the UK to renew her US visa when she made her remarks.’ British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have warned of the dangers of joking about security following the incident.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that, “The companions asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) you joke with us?’ The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, ‘Yes, I do not say but the truth.” ii