In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The story of Yusuf (peace be upon him)
with the wife of the 'Aziz:
"Indeed, it is of the cunning of you women;
indeed, your cunning is great."
After seeing the rational evidence of Yusuf's truthfulness (peace be upon him),
which was that the shirt was torn from the back,
the 'Aziz became certain that his wife was the guilty one.
He said to her:
"Indeed, it is of the cunning of you women;
indeed, your cunning is great."
The 'Aziz realized
that all that had transpired was orchestrated by his wife,
and that she sought to plot against Yusuf and the 'Aziz through her words.
“And they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind, and they met her lord and master at the door. She said: What shall be his reward, who wisheth evil to thy folk, save prison or a painful doom?” (12:25)
“And they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind, and they met her lord and master at the door. She said: What shall be his reward, who wisheth evil to thy folk, save prison or a painful doom?” (12:25)
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Allah Almighty informs of their condition when they raced together toward the door:
Yusuf was fleeing,
and the woman was pursuing him to bring him back into the house.
She caught up with him during that pursuit
and grabbed his shirt from behind,
tearing it severely;
it is said that it slipped off him.
Yusuf continued fleeing and heading forward,
while she was in pursuit of him.
Then they encountered her master—
meaning her husband—at the door.
Thereupon, she extricated herself from the predicament she was in
through her cunning and wiles,
and said to her husband, deflecting blame and projecting her own offense onto Yusuf:"
“And they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind, and they met her lord and master at the door. She said: What shall be his reward, who wisheth evil to thy folk, save prison or a painful doom?” (12:25)
meaning an act of indecency,
"except that he be imprisoned,"
meaning confined,
"or receive a painful punishment,"
meaning that he be beaten with a severe, painful beating.
As for *kayd* (cunning or strategizing),
al-Raghib al-Isfahani (may Allah have mercy on him) said regarding it:
"It is a form of artifice and scheming,
which can be blameworthy or praiseworthy,
though it is used predominantly in a blameworthy sense."
And Tahir Ibn 'Ashur (may Allah have mercy on him) said of it:
"It is doing something in an apparent manner other than what is intended,
in order to reach a specific objective."
Describing a woman's cunning as "great"
is not a disparagement of womanhood;
rather, on the contrary,
it is praise for her
and for the innate faculties that distinguish her from men.
Sayyid Qutb (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"It does not grieve a woman to be told,
'Indeed, your cunning is great';
for to her subconscious it indicates
that she is a consummate female,
fully possessing the feminine capacity
for great subtlety and cunning."
This characteristic in a woman
demonstrates her ability to
use tact and artifice to attain what she desires.
So if she intends good
and uses her wits in a manner that does not constitute
a transgression of the bounds of Allah,
then this is praiseworthy cunning.
But if she intends evil
and employs wiles that transgress the bounds of Allah,
then this is blameworthy cunning.
Woman is more adept at cunning than man,
and that is no defect in her;
rather, the defect lies in her using
this cunning in disobedience to Allah
or in harming the man.
This may be a cause for her entering
the Fire, should she do so.
Reflect, my dear sister, upon the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
"I have not seen anyone more deficient in intellect and religion
who can rob the senses of a resolute man more than one of you."
Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"His saying 'rob' denotes a profound ability to take away,
and *lubb* (core intellect) is more specific than ordinary intellect,
for it is its quintessential core;
and 'resolute' refers to one firmly in control of his affairs.
This is an emphatic description of them,
for if a man who controls his affairs yields to them,
then one who lacks control will do so all the more."
If this is a woman's ability
to sway the intellects
of the most discerning and resolute of men
until she achieves what she desires,
then it is incumbent upon her to beware of using it
in that which angers the Lord, Mighty and Majestic is He,
and becomes a cause for her entering the Fire.
Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"It appears to me
that this is among the reasons why women constitute the majority of the inhabitants of the Fire;
for when they cause a resolute man to lose his intellect
until he does or says what is inappropriate,
they share in his sin and bear an even greater share."
Thus, if a woman possesses such an ability
that even the wisest of men cannot overpower it,
this means she has a capability that men do not possess.
I have long marveled at the woman who possesses this ability,
yet fails to devise ways to resolve her marital problems with her husband,
limiting its use merely to obtaining ephemeral worldly gains.
In order to truly understand this subtle feminine cunning,
we should cite some examples from the biographies of the finest women of the Ummah.
Among the examples from the life of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her)
is the following account:
On the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to love honey and sweetmeats.
Whenever he finished the 'Asr prayer,
he would visit his wives and draw close to each of them.
He visited Hafsah bint 'Umar
and stayed with her longer than he normally stayed.
I became jealous and inquired about the matter,
and it was said to me:
'A woman from her clan gifted her a small leather skin of honey,
so she served the Prophet (peace be upon him) a drink from it.'
I said, 'By Allah, we shall surely devise a plot for him.'
So I said to Sawdah bint Zam'ah:
'He will soon draw near to you;
when he comes near you, say:
"Have you eaten *maghafir*?"
He will tell you, "No."
Then say to him:
"What is this odor I detect from you?"
He will say to you:
"Hafsah gave me a drink of honey."
Then say to him:
"Its bees must have fed on the *'urfut* shrub."
And I shall say the same,
and you, Safiyyah, say likewise.'
She said: Sawdah related:
'By Allah, no sooner did he stand at the door
that I nearly blurted out what you commanded me to say out of sheer awe of you!'
When he drew near to her,
Sawdah said to him:
'O Messenger of Allah, did you eat *maghafir*?'
He said, 'No.'
She said, 'Then what is this odor I detect from you?'
He said, 'Hafsah gave me a drink of honey.'
She said, 'Its bees must have fed on the *'urfut* shrub.'
When he came around to me,
I said something similar to him.
When he came around to Safiyyah,
she said the same to him.
When he came around to Hafsah,
she said, 'O Messenger of Allah,
shall I not serve you some of it?'
He said, 'I have no need for it.'
She said: Sawdah exclaimed,
'By Allah, we have deprived him of it!'
I said to her, 'Be quiet!'"
Related by al-Bukhari.
And just as 'A'ishah plotted regarding Hafsah,
Hafsah matched her with another subtle plot in a different incident.
On the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her):
Whenever the Prophet (peace be upon him)
set out on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives,
and the lot fell to 'A'ishah and Hafsah.
During the journey, the Prophet (peace be upon him),
when night fell,
would ride alongside 'A'ishah and converse with her.
So Hafsah said:
"Would you not ride my camel tonight,
and I ride your camel,
so that you see from a new perspective and I do as well?"
She replied, "Yes."
So she mounted it.
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) came
to 'A'ishah's camel while Hafsah was upon it,
greeted her with peace,
and rode on until they halted.
'A'ishah sorely missed him;
so when they halted,
she thrust her feet into the rushes of *idhkhir* grass and said:
"O Lord, cause a scorpion or snake to sting me,
while I cannot utter a single word of complaint to him!"
Related by al-Bukhari.
Among the subtle manifestations of wiles in the lives of the Mothers of the Believers
is the following incident:
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) was once
in the home of one of his wives,
when another of the Mothers of the Believers sent a dish of food.
The wife in whose house the Prophet (peace be upon him)
was staying struck the servant's hand,
and the bowl fell and broke in two.
So the Prophet (peace be upon him) gathered
the broken pieces of the bowl,
then began gathering into it the food that had been in the bowl,
while saying:
"Your mother felt jealous."
Then he detained the servant
until a sound bowl was brought from the one in whose house he was staying,
and he gave the sound bowl to the one whose bowl was broken,
while retaining the broken bowl in the house of the one who broke it.
Related by al-Bukhari.
Ibn al-'Arabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"If it is asked:
'Why did he not discipline her, even verbally, for her transgression?'
We said:
Perhaps he understood that the wife who sent the gift intended, by sending what she sent to her house,
to provoke or flaunt superiority over her.
So when she broke the bowl,
he did no more than say:
"Your mother felt jealous."
Another form of scheming in the lives of the female Companions
was the scheming of Umm Kulthum bint 'Uqbah against al-Zubayr
in order to be released from his marriage.
It is narrated on the authority of al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam
that Umm Kulthum bint 'Uqbah was married to him,
and while she was pregnant, she said to him:
"Soothe my heart with a single divorce."
So he pronounced a single divorce upon her,
and then went out to the prayer.
When he returned, she had already given birth.
He said: "What is the matter with her?
She tricked me, may Allah requite her trickery!"
Then he came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
who said: "The decree has reached its appointed term;
propose to her as any other suitor would."
Related by Ibn Majah.
Among the forms of scheming for which a woman incurs sin
is drawing attention to her hidden adornment
through various subtle ways
to attract a man's attention.
Allah Almighty said:
"And let them not strike their feet"
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.” (24:31)
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.” (24:31)
"O believers, so that you may succeed."
For she might be wearing an anklet on her leg,
with her garment draped amply over her feet,
yet as she walks along the pathway,
she strikes the ground with her foot so that the anklet chimes,
and a man's heart trembles along with it.
Is this not a form of scheming?
Another form of prohibited scheming
is for a woman to boast of receiving favors from her husband which he never did,
solely to spite her co-wife.
It is narrated from Asma', may Allah be pleased with her,
that a woman said: "O Messenger of Allah,
I have a co-wife;
is there any blame on me if I pretend to receive from my husband
things that he does not actually give me?"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, replied:
"The one who falsely boasts of having received what was not given
is like one who wears two garments of falsehood."
Related by al-Bukhari.
Abu al-'Abbas al-Qurtubi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"She was asking
whether it was permissible for her to display before her co-wife
that her husband had favored her,
or given her from his wealth more than she was entitled to,
or more than he gave her co-wife,
out of vainglory over her,
and to give her the impression that she is more cherished by him;
so he answered her with words dictating that such conduct is forbidden."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, prohibited her
from this scheming
because it corrupts the harmony between a man and his household,
and that is strictly forbidden.
Do you now grasp, my dear sister, the meaning of Ibn Hajar's earlier words
when he said:
"It appears to me that this is among the reasons why they constitute the majority of the inhabitants of the Fire;
for if they become the cause of depriving a resolute man of his senses
until he does or says what is improper,
they share in his sin and even exceed him in it."
So imagine, my sister, this trait residing in a woman who does not fear Allah,
while the gates of evil and corruption are flung wide open before her:
how skillfully will she contrive to lure a man into sins and carnal desires,
driving him away from the straight path!
Therefore, a man must beware of the schemes of the women around him
by blocking every avenue leading thereto,
and exercising self-restraint by dealing with women strictly within the bounds of the Shariah.
Let him never be deceived by his own intellect,
for the one upon whom revelation descended from heaven bore witness
that she is capable of depriving even a resolute man of his senses—
so how would it be for anyone less?
The discussion continues,
and we shall resume in our next gathering, if Allah wills,
with the story of Yusuf and the wife of al-'Aziz.