Laughter In Classical Books

Did you know that classical scholars used to write laughter as “haha – هه هه” in their books?

Here is a “haha” recorded from one of the Salaf, with a SAHIH ISNAAD:

1- Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal narrates:
حدثنا عبد الله حدثني ابي حدثنا عفان بن مسلم حدثنا حماد بن سلمة عن ثابت عن انس قال قيل لابي موسى ان غزوان لا يضحك قال فقال يا غزوان لم لا تضحك فقال هه هه وما اصنع بهذا
“It was said to Ghazwaan: “Why don’t you laugh?”
He said: “Haha, what do I do with this?”
[“Kitab al-Zuhd”, 1/206].

2- Khatib al-Baghdadi narrated:
عبدالله بن احمد بن حنبل يحكي عن بعض شيوخه قال قال رجل لهشيم يا ابا معاوية اخبركم ابو جرة عن الحسين فقال هشيم انا ابو حرة عن الحسن ووصف شيخنا ضحك هشيم هه هه
“The laughter of Hashim was haha.”
[“Al-Jaami li Akhlaq al-Rawi”, 1/286].

Similar example have been recorded by Ibn al-Jawzi and other scholars in classical books.

Ahead of their times … they wrote it, before it was cool on social media 😎😂