In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The story of Yusuf (peace be upon him) with the wife of al-Aziz.
And Yusuf remained steadfast against the greatest of temptations.
The temptation of women is the greatest temptation a young man can ever face,
and there is no deliverance from it except by turning to Allah and seeking refuge in Him from its evil,
and then by adopting the lawful means to confront this temptation.
Indeed, Yusuf (peace be upon him) was tested with the temptation of the wife of al-Aziz,
while she was a woman of high status and great beauty,
and he was a young, foreign servant in her house,
having no family in that land of temptation.
Yet despite all of this, he safeguarded his chastity from falling into it,
sought refuge in Allah from its evil,
and chose prison over yielding to temptation.
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Yusuf (peace be upon him) sought refuge from their evil and their plots,
“He said: O my Lord! Prison is more dear than that unto which they urge me, and if Thou fend not off their wiles from me I shall incline unto them and become of the foolish.” (12:33)
meaning from immorality.
“He said: O my Lord! Prison is more dear than that unto which they urge me, and if Thou fend not off their wiles from me I shall incline unto them and become of the foolish.” (12:33)
That is: 'If You leave me to myself, I possess no power over it,
nor do I possess any harm or benefit for myself,
except through Your might and Your power.
You alone are the One whose help is sought, and upon You alone is reliance placed,
so do not leave me to myself.'"
“He said: O my Lord! Prison is more dear than that unto which they urge me, and if Thou fend not off their wiles from me I shall incline unto them and become of the foolish.” (12:33)
"So his Lord answered him,"
as the verse states.
That was because Allah granted Yusuf (peace be upon him) immense protection,
shielding him so that he resisted with the utmost restraint,
choosing prison over yielding to that.
And this represents the highest stations of perfection:
that despite his youth, beauty, and perfection,
his mistress seduced him—
she being the wife of the chief minister of Egypt,
possessing the utmost beauty, wealth, and authority—
yet he refrained from it
and chose prison instead,
out of fear of Allah and in hope of His reward.
For this reason, it is established in the two Sahihs
that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"There are seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there is no shade except His:
a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah;
a man whose heart is attached to the mosque
from the moment he leaves it until he returns to it;
two men who love each other for the sake of Allah,
meeting for His sake and parting for His sake;
a man who gives charity and conceals it
such that his left hand does not know what his right hand has spent;
a man whom a woman of high status and beauty invites [to sin],
and he says, 'Indeed, I fear Allah';
and a man who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes overflow with tears."
And for young men, in Yusuf (peace be upon him),
there is an excellent example in confronting the temptation of women.
But before we review the method of Yusuf
in confronting the temptation of the wife of al-Aziz
and the women who were with her,
we must mention the ways
through which young men are exposed to the temptation of women.
O young men!
The temptation of women reaches you through two pathways:
The first is a passing, incidental pathway,
which occurs when a young man happens to see a young woman,
or communicates with her in one way or another,
or what occurs in mixed family gatherings.
The second is a systematic, deliberate pathway,
which is orchestrated by the devils among mankind,
who plot to plunge youth into the temptation of women
by every means at their disposal,
such as:
flooding society with degenerate, mixed parties
under the guise of entertainment and openness to the world;
imposing co-education at all academic levels;
integrating women into all jobs and diverse fields;
prohibiting the segregation of spaces for women and men
across all spheres of life;
banning sincere counsel and the enjoining of good in society
under the pretext of allowing personal freedoms;
flooding the media landscape with vulgar and degenerate movies and series,
presenting them as role models to be emulated;
spreading the display of female adornment (tabarruj) and encouraging it,
while restricting the Islamic hijab and veiled women in all spheres of life;
opening the doors of brothels and facilitating them for youth;
repealing all laws that protect chastity in society and criminalize fornication;
and enacting laws that allow fornication to spread,
such as declaring that consensual sex is not a crime,
or prohibiting women from profiting through prostitution and penalizing only that aspect,
so that fornication becomes freely accessible throughout society;
alongside many other schemes aimed at the chastity of young men and women.
This systematic pathway may be accompanied by other factors that aid in the downfall of youth into the temptation of women,
so one must beware of them
and increase vigilance and caution when experiencing them.
Such factors include: first, being away from home.
A young man living abroad for studies,
or due to emigrating from oppressive lands,
is tremendously vulnerable to temptation,
as there is no moral restraint from the society he lives in,
nor from his family due to their distance from him;
this makes it easy for him to fall into the temptation of women.
Some states have employed this pathway to corrupt the youth
by contriving scholarship programs in non-Muslim lands
and plunging large numbers of young men and women into these programs,
so that they return with their souls thoroughly indoctrinated
with what is intended for them in the near future.
Yet Yusuf was a stranger in Egypt, far away from his family,
and despite that, he guarded his chastity against temptation and did not fall into it.
Second: a group of women conspiring to seduce a young man.
This is among the calamities of our time,
for it has become widespread in many societies today
to see the collective pursuit of young men by girls,
and the practice of vice in a coordinated manner.
And the women conspired along with the wife of al-Aziz against Yusuf (peace be upon him)
to make him fall into immorality, yet he remained chaste.
Third: the threat of imprisonment, dismissal from work,
expulsion from continuing education, or deportation from the country
if the young man does not engage in vice with the lady of the palace and her corrupt entourage.
And Yusuf (peace be upon him) was threatened with imprisonment,
yet he chose it over falling into temptation.
Thus, taking Yusuf (peace be upon him) as an example in his confrontation
with the temptation of the wife of al-Aziz and the women who were with her
is an absolute necessity for all young men and men
when confronting such temptation.
So how did Yusuf (peace be upon him) confront it?
Yusuf (peace be upon him) confronted the temptation of the wife of al-Aziz and the women with her
through several means, the first of which was:
seeking refuge in Allah from this temptation.
When she said, "Come on, you!", he replied, "Allah forbid!"
And this seeking of refuge took place at the very onset of the temptation.
Therefore, every young man who wishes to be saved from the temptation of women
must seek refuge in Allah from it at his very first encounter with it.
The second means:
when Yusuf (peace be upon him) saw that the temptation was persistent
and that attempts to make him fall into temptation were repeated,
he repeatedly sought refuge in Allah from the temptation
and persistently supplicated Allah to turn it away from him.
Likewise, a young man should continually seek refuge in Allah from temptation
as long as he lives,
until Allah delivers him from it.
The third means:
practical flight from the place of temptation.
After seeking refuge upon her saying "Come on, you!", Yusuf (peace be upon him)
raced to the door to escape her while she pursued him.
So it is not enough, O young man, to seek refuge in Allah from the temptation of women
and then frequent places of temptation without keeping away from them,
such as sitting in mixed cafés in shopping malls,
repeatedly frequenting markets without any need to buy,
visiting mixed entertainment venues,
attending degenerate parties,
or visiting internet websites
and degenerate mobile applications.
Furthermore, know, O young man,
that you may be tested with places of temptation that you cannot escape,
such as mixed educational environments and mixed workplaces,
just as Yusuf (peace be upon him) was tested by remaining in the palace of al-Aziz with his wife,
who was the source of temptation.
In that case, there is no recourse but to emulate Yusuf in his supplication that Allah turn temptation away from you,
and to be persistent in doing so.
The fourth means:
relying upon Allah when confronting temptation.
This is evident from his supplication (peace be upon him) when he said:
"And if You do not turn their plot away from me, I will incline toward them and be of the ignorant."
Indeed, a young man's conceit regarding himself, his intellect, and his personal abilities,
and his reliance upon them when confronting the temptation of women,
is the very beginning of falling into temptation.
For a woman is more capable of plotting against a man and entrapping him in her desire if she wishes.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught us to seek refuge in Allah every morning and evening
from relying upon ourselves.
For he (peace be upon him) said, advising his daughter Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her):
"What prevents you from listening to what I advise you:
to say in the morning and in the evening:
'O Ever-Living, O Sustainer, by Your mercy I seek aid;
rectify for me all my affairs,
and do not leave me to myself even for the blink of an eye.'"
Self-reliance when facing the temptation of women
means that a young man believes he is capable of facing this temptation on his own,
and that he is too intelligent for a woman to lure him and make him fall into her desire.
This is true conceit and self-delusion,
and it marks the beginning of the fall.
The fifth means:
choosing the available alternatives to distance oneself from temptation,
even if they are contrary to what a person desires and likes.
Yusuf (peace be upon him) was given the choice between only two options, with no third:
either committing immorality or going to prison.
So he chose prison over committing immorality,
as there was no third option before him.
And prison, even though it is naturally disliked by human beings,
was made by Yusuf (peace be upon him)
beloved to himself for the sake of the pleasure and acceptance of Allah.
“He said: O my Lord! Prison is more dear than that unto which they urge me, and if Thou fend not off their wiles from me I shall incline unto them and become of the foolish.” (12:33)
Thus, he transformed what was disliked by the self into something beloved to it,
for the sake of being saved from the temptation of women.
Be certain, O young man,
that nothing can save you from temptation except turning to Allah
and seeking refuge in Him.
And Allah Almighty answered His prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him)
when he turned to Him,
as He Almighty said:
“So his Lord heard his prayer and fended off their wiles from him. Lo! He is Hearer, Knower.” (12:34)
"Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."
To be continued...
We will continue in an upcoming session, if Allah wills,
the story of Yusuf with the wife of al-Aziz.