Explanation of the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: (I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing to the point where I could see his molars . . . ).

The Shaykh : Now, here is another hadith narrated by the author with his authentic chain from Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing to the point where I could see his molars; he only used to smile (peace and blessings be upon him)."
In this hadith, or in its beginning, the Lady Aisha speaks about the nature of the Messenger (peace be upon him), which was that he used to smile, but he did not laugh with a full laugh such that his molars would be visible. The molars are what the common people call the small tongue at the top of the palate?
The student : The pharynx.

The Shaykh : The pharynx. So he did not exaggerate to the point of opening his mouth as many people do. And this, without a doubt, while this kind of laughing with loud cackling and shouting is not forbidden, it is certainly not indicative of perfection and excellence. Therefore, whoever follows an example should follow the example of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who did not go beyond smiling, so he should not laugh, especially with loud cackling, shouting, and raising the voice. This is what the Lady Aisha said: "I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing to the point where I could see his molars," meaning: I never saw him laughing a laugh where I could see his molars; he only used to smile (peace and blessings be upon him). Here is something that must be mentioned: In some hadiths from other than the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is described as having laughed until his molars appeared. What is the reconciliation between such a hadith and the hadith of Aisha that we recited just now? Aisha says: "I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing to the point where I could see his molars," while others say: They heard the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and saw him laughing until his molars appeared. The molars are the molar teeth. So the reconciliation is easy, using one of the scientific rules which states: "Whoever preserves the proof is a proof against whoever does not preserve it, and whoever knows is a proof against whoever does not know." So both the Lady Aisha and the others, both the Lady Aisha who denied that the Messenger used to laugh and the others who affirmed that he did laugh, each of them is truthful, and each of them narrated what they heard and witnessed. So we do not lie about one of them at the expense of the other. So we say, by way of reconciliation between what the Lady Aisha denied regarding the laughing of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and that he only used to smile, and what others affirmed in more than one hadith that he used to laugh until his molars appeared, that occasionally, or rarely, the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to laugh, and that was only due to the strength of the cause for the laughter. So this would be by way of rarity. For example, the Messenger (peace be upon him) once told his companions the following hadith, saying: He comes out of the Fire ruined. Of course, he cannot walk like a normal human being; he is ruined and tired, so he crawls like a small child walking toward his path to Paradise. So he is the last man to come out of the Fire and the last man to enter Paradise. He comes out of the Fire crawling. So while he is walking, a great tree with abundant shade and many fruits appears to him, and he says: "O Lord, bring me to that tree so I can take shelter in its shade, eat from its fruit, and drink from its water." So the Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) says: "O My servant, is it possible that if I bring you to it, you will not ask Me for anything else?" He says: "No, O Lord, I do not ask You for anything else." So our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) brings him to it, and he takes shelter in its shade, eats from its fruit, and drinks from its water. Then he sets out walking toward Paradise, and another tree appears to him, greater and more lush than the first, and he says: "O Lord, bring me to that tree," and he repeats the previous phrase. So his Lord bestows upon him and says: "O My servant, did I not make you promise that you would not ask Me for anything other than that? Perhaps you will ask Me for something other than this." He says: "I do not ask You for anything else." So he takes shelter in its shade, eats from its fruit, and drinks from its water. Then he continues on the path, and a third tree appears, and so on. He returns and hopes for the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), asking Him to bring him to it, and so on. Then he sets out walking until he approaches and nears Paradise and its gates, and he says: "O Lord, let me enter Paradise." So He says: "Enter Paradise, and for you in it is like the world and ten times its weight." So the servant says: "O Lord, are You mocking me, and You are the Lord and You are the Truth?" Here the narrator of the hadith, who is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, laughs. So the Tabi'i who heard the hadith from him asks: Why did you laugh? He said: Because when the Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned that the servant said to Allah (Mighty and Majestic): "Are You mocking me, and You are the Lord?" the Messenger (peace be upon him) laughed. And perhaps here the narrator said: until his molars appeared (peace be upon him). So the Messenger was asked why he laughed, and he said: Because Allah laughed at His servant when he said to Him: "Are You mocking me, and You are the Lord?" This poor servant did not believe it, knowing that he had come out of the Fire ruined, unable to walk. So how could Allah say to him: "Enter Paradise, and for you in it is like the world and ten times its weight?" His mind could not accommodate this great divine favor, so he thought that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), his Lord, was mocking him. So with his ignorance, he said: "Are You mocking me, and You are the Lord?" So the Messenger (peace be upon him) laughed at the words of this servant because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) had laughed. So the point is that the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to laugh rarely, but the cause for his laughter was that there was a very strong compelling force such that the Messenger (peace be upon him) would laugh. In summary: The habit of the Messenger (peace be upon him) was predominantly smiling, and he rarely laughed. When he did laugh, it was not the laughter of players and those who are heedless, but his laughter (peace be upon him) was a laugh of astonishment, driven by force and limited in scope. The Lady Aisha said: "I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing to the point where I could see his molars." So we have known the reconciliation between her denial and the affirmation of others: the affirmer takes precedence over the denier. And this is a very important rule by which a student of knowledge is able to reconcile many texts that appear at first glance to be contradictory.