Assembly of Women
The Egyptian chief's wife persisted in claiming her innocence, but the
rumours spread outside her household . She could no longer hide her passion for
Yoosuf. She continued to seek justification for her behaviour. Soon the ugly
incident became the talk of the town . It became a favourite topic with women
and men . They would say, "Very strange ! Amazing ! The wife of ai-Azeez is madly
in love with a slave . "
She argued with women who blamed her, "If you were in my position, you
would have done exactly what I did !"
I n the city, the women were saying, "The wife of this nobleman is trying to
seduce her slave boy. Her love for him has pierced her heart. We see her
indeed in obvious error." When the wife of ai-Azeez heard of their malicious talk,
she invited them and prepared for them a luxurious mea l . She wanted to show
to the women of the city that Yoosuf was a slave boy of a different personality.
He was not like other slave boys they knew about.
She invited them all to her house for a meal and prepared a sumptuous
feast. With the feast, she had also provided each one of them with fruit and
desserts, which could only be eaten by cutting them with sharp knives . Sn sile
provided each one of them with a knife for the purpose . She had already
prepared Yoosuf ( �� ) for this occasion with a magnificent dress, which only
increased his gracefulness .
Yoosuf ( �� ) was at that time in the prime of his youth . She asked him to
appear before the assembled women, and so he did . When they saw him they
found him exalted and they stood up in awe. They never thought of a human
being to be so handsome . They were so deeply taken that they lost the feeling
of their existence. They were totally enthralled with his charm and taken by how
Prophet Voosuf �� (4) ••••
handsome he looked
that they unconsciously
cut their hands with the
knives they were holding .
They exclaimed, "This is
no mortal huma n . This is a
gracious angel ." The
women's emotions ran
high . At last, with fury and
frustration, she admitted,
"I seduced him but he
remained chaste . This,
then, is he about whom you have been blaming me. Now if he does not do
what I bid him, he will most certainly be imprisoned and humiliated". Now the
other women advised Yoosuf to listen a nd obey what his mistress desired from
him .
But Yoosuf ( �� ) rejected it altogether. He prayed, "My Lord ! I prefer
imprisonment to that which they invite me. If You do not turn away their guile
from me, I may be caught in their snare and become one of the ignorant."
It is remarkable to note that despite such extraordinary control and such
amazing resistance to temptation, there is no trace of pride in Yoosuf ( �\ ) . He
never boasted that by dint of his righteousness he was able to overcome the
temptation, which faced him . He never displayed any feeling of self-praise . He
never bragged at remaining firm in the face of temptation . On the contrary, he
humbly implored Allah the Almighty to help him overcome those temptations.
This was in fact the most sensitive stage in Yoosuf's training .
The situation gives an idea of the moral fall of upper classes of Egyptian
society of those days . This goes to show that there is nothi ng so new about the
promiscuous behaviour, which characterizes the social life of Europe and
America today. Centuries ago more or less the same situation prevailed in Egypt
as it is prevailing in our so-called enlightened times .
Almighty Allah granted Yoosuf's prayer and averted their guile from him .
Surely, He alone is All-Heari ng, All-Knowing . It is very important to realize that
according to the Qur'an, Yoosuf ( �\ ) was imprisoned not because his master
�
•••• Prophet Yoosuf �� (4)
believed him to be guil1y. He was imprisoned because, in his weakness,
ai-Azeez wanted to reduce the intensi1y of the feelings of his wife . Being entirely
submissive to her, he behaved like a riding-camel whose reins she had in her
hands .
The imprisonment of Yoosuf ( �1 ) under such circumstances was his moral
victory. On the other hand, it was the defect of the corrupt upper class Egyptia n
socie1y. Everyone in the ci1y had now become familiar with Yoosuf's name.
People came to know that Yoosuf was not just a physically attractive young
man; he was also possessed of nobili1y, firmness of character a nd elegance of
behaviour. At the time of his imprisonment, Yoosuf ( �� ) was barely twen1y-one
years old .
This proves that if a person resolves to remain pure and chaste, Allah the
Almigh1y certainly comes to his help. Allah listened to the prayer of Yoosuf ( �� )
and saved him from the advances of the corrupt woman .
AI-Azeez decided it was better to send Yoosuf to prison. He knew that
Yoosuf was innocent, but even then Yoosuf ( �� ) went to prison.
Prophet Yoosuf �� (4) ••••
A. State whether these statements are true (T) or false (F) .
1. The whole town was talking about ai-Azeez' wife's incident. T
--
2. The women were totally enthralled with Yoosuf's charm . T
---
3. Yoosuf ( �\ ) gave in to his mistress . F
--
B. Answer the fol lowing questions.
1. How did ai-Azeez's wife decide to justify her behaviour?
She said if other women saw Yoosuf they would have done the same thing.
2. Was Yoosuf (�1 ) imprisoned because h e was guilty of immoral behaviour?
If not, then why?
He was imprisoned because, in his weakness, Al-Azeezwanted to reduce the
intensity of the feelings of his wife.
3. What did Yoosuf's imprisonment signify?
This proves that if a person resolves to remain pure and chaste, Allah the Almighty
certainly comes to his help.
