Laughing and Rejoicing
While checking Sakeenah's memorisation of Surah Abasa, she got stuck at aya 39 — ضاحكة مستبشرة — faces that are laughing and happy. I explained the meaning of the aya and told her to smile when she reads this aya — and that helped her remember the aya better.
She then asked me, "Why is Allah saying laughing and happy? People only laugh when they are happy. Why does Allah need to repeat the point?"
"Masha Allah, that is a brilliant question. Not everybody that laugh is happy," I said.
"Really? I thought you only laugh when you are happy," she replied, unconvinced by my answer.
"Sometimes adults laugh when they have a problem that is too big, and they don't know how to solve it. They would cry, and when the crying stops and they still don't know what to do, sometimes they laugh."
"Oh... maybe I'll understand when I get older," Sakeenah said
"I have a more straightforward example for you," I announced and immediately tickled her. She laughed so hard.
"Stop... Hahaha... stop... haha..." Sakeenah was laughing non-stop.
After a few seconds, I stopped tickling her.
"Did you like being tickled?" I asked.
"Initially, yes. But after a while, no."
"But you still laughed, didn't you?"
"Yes. Oh, now I get it. I laughed, but I wasn't happy. So that means you can laugh and still be unhappy," she answered, finally seeing the point.
"Yes. And Allah wants to be very specific here. When you enter Jannah, you will be laughing, and you will be happy. May Allah allow us to enter Jannah as a family and laugh happily together."