No matter where you go in the world, or who you talk to, if you ask, "Do you want to be mocked?" it is very probable that the answer you would receive from everybody, would be "Certainly not." Nevertheless, these people who do not at all enjoy being mocked, regard mockery as a source of great entertainment, but when the brunt is born by somebody else. Wide acceptance of this manner of speaking amongst people deceives them and makes them regard mockery as acceptable. They claim that such behavior has no ill intent, and is even enjoyed by the person mocked. When the same thing happens to them though they do not think the same. When a person mocks them they feel anger, answering that he or she is trying deliberately to make them angry and to belittle them. But, because it is often employed as a way of assuming superiority over others, they do not hesitate to treat others in this humiliating way whenever they find the chance. When they mock a person's defects and weaknesses, they enjoy presuming their own superiority. Because they have suppressed the voice of their consciences, over time, these people become increasingly cruel and abusive. In addition to adopting a snobby attitude, speech and lifestyle, they take pleasure in making fun of physical birth defects or human frailties in general. The small size of a person's nose, his lack of hair, his accent, his poor eyesight, his weight, his intellectual level, another's style of dress, her occupation, her workplace, the district she lives in, her home furnishings and her car, can all become the object of this derision. They even mock people who sneeze, stutter, get something stuck in their throats or stumble and fall. People with a derisive character think that, by exposing these faults they are belittling others, and thus affirming their own qualities. And, they emphasize their mockery by repeating them for days, months or even years.
On the other hand, the mistake of some people who are the subject of mockery is to reply with similar derisiveness. In ignorant societies derision becomes so widespread that it can be likened to a civil war of egos, while in truth it is a form of behavior which Allah has warned people to avoid:
You who believe! People should not ridicule others who may be better than themselves; nor should any women ridicule other women who may be better than themselves. And do not find fault with one another or insult each other with derogatory nicknames. How evil it is to have a name for evil conduct after coming to faith! Those people who do not turn from it are wrongdoers.
Being aware of this instruction from Allah, the faithful are never mocking in their speech with one another; to those who do so towards them they nevertheless behave modestly and answer according to the morality of the Qur'an, because they know that one can only attain true superiority by living according to the morality of the Qur'an. Answering those who heed the negative prodding of their lower selves, and act ignorantly with a similar low level of behavior is the easy option. However, what is more correct is to ignore the incitements of the lower-self and listen rather to the voice of one's conscience. Muslims are those who speak with the guidance of their consciences.
There is nothing entertaining about mocking common human frailties like sneezing, coughing or falling, or talking about physical birth defects, or referring to people by unflattering nicknames. Proceeding from this standpoint, the faithful take no pleasure in any hurtful, belittling words or other derisive forms of humor. Just as they do not themselves descend to this kind of baseness, they do not permit anyone else to be mocked when they are present. They act in the knowledge that it was Allah Who allotted frailties, and that He has the power to inflict the same frailties on those guilty of the mockery. Allah announces this truth in this verse:
Messengers before you were also mocked, but those who jeered were engulfed by what they mocked.
