Are jokes and riddles forbidden?

Permissible jokes are allowed, but lying in them is forbidden, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Woe to him who speaks to make people laugh, and he lies. Woe to him, woe to him." As for riddles (fawazir), they are competitions with trivial questions and prizes, often accompanied by শরী‘আ (Sharia) prohibitions such as mixing (of genders) and music, and they involve a waste of time. Therefore, one must avoid them.