Part of The Story of Yusuf and al-'Aziz's Wife (series completed)
· Lesson 21 of 25
The story of Joseph and the wife of Al-Aziz | Episode (21) | False love does not prevent harming the beloved
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The story of Yusuf (peace be upon him)
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with the wife of al-Aziz:
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False love does not prevent one from harming the beloved.
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The women of the city described the condition of al-Aziz's wife toward Yusuf (peace be upon him) by saying,
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❝Love has deeply touched her heart,❞
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meaning that love had penetrated to the pericardium of her heart.
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But was this love genuine, or was it false love?
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Every love between two people rests upon a foundation.
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If the foundation upon which that love is built is strong and firm,
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the love between them will endure.
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But if it is fragile and weak,
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they will soon fall out, and this false love will collapse.
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The greatest foundation upon which love can be built
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is that which seeks the pleasure of Allah Almighty.
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For whoever loves a woman for her piety
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and seeks her hand through what Allah has made lawful for that reason,
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his love rests upon a firm foundation,
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and he will see its fruits in this world and the Hereafter.
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As for love built upon a forbidden foundation,
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it will quickly crumble and its falsehood will be exposed.
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So, of which of the two types was the love of al-Aziz's wife for Yusuf (peace be upon him)?
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We find the answer to this question
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in the details of the story of al-Aziz's wife with Yusuf (peace be upon him).
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First:
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this love stemmed from a married woman toward a man who was a stranger to her,
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and it is strictly forbidden
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for a married woman to lust after someone other than her husband,
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inclining toward him with her thoughts and heart.
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Second:
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this love was built upon the physical beauty of Yusuf (peace be upon him),
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which enticed her and enticed the women alongside her,
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and not upon his piety and chastity;
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rather, she sought to make him disobey his Lord.
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Third:
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the sole objective of this love was unlawful physical gratification,
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not lawful chastity.
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This, then, is false love.
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And false love does not prevent one from harming the beloved
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whenever what is demanded of him is not fulfilled.
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This is precisely what happened from al-Aziz's wife toward Yusuf (peace be upon him).
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For despite her infatuation with him,
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when Yusuf (peace be upon him) fled from her
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and she found her master at the door,
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she cast the blame upon the beloved
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and incited al-Aziz to inflict punishment upon him,
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saying,
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“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)
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that she was incapable of sacrificing herself for the sake of her beloved,
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whose love had touched the core of her heart,
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because her love for him was false love.
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And when Yusuf refused to obey her,
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after repeated demands and attempts on her part,
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and after the women of the city joined her in the seduction,
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she threatened him with imprisonment if he did not comply,
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saying:
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❝I did indeed seek to seduce him, but he firmly remained chaste.❞
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“She said: This is he on whose account ye blamed me. I asked of him an evil act, but he proved continent, but if he do not my behest he verily shall be imprisoned, and verily shall be of those brought low.” (12:32)
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Imprisonment is harm inflicted upon the beloved,
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yet such is false love, founded merely on the fleeting pleasure of the flesh.
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When he stood firm in his resolve despite the threat,
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she ordered him to be imprisoned
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and carried out her threat.
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“And it seemed good to them (the men-folk) after they had seen the signs (of his innocence) to imprison him for a time.” (12:35)
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Thus, this harm through imprisonment came about
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because he did not yield to her and to the woman of the palace.
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Such is the way of most ruling courts in every time and place:
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they incline toward forbidden desires,
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indulge in unlawful lusts,
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and strive to spread them among the women of the city.
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And whoever opposes that,
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his fate is imprisonment, torture, or death.
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How many a scholar, caller, and reformer
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has been cast into prison for opposing the whims of these oppressive courts!
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The order to imprison Yusuf was issued
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solely to protect the interest of the palace's mistress;
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for the news had spread throughout the city
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and become the talk of the people.
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Thus, it became necessary for the Aziz of Egypt
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to make a decision that would silence the voices speaking about him and his wife,
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creating the illusion among the public that the wrongdoer had received his punishment.
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So the decision was
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the imprisonment of Yusuf (peace be upon him).
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It is a story that repeats itself throughout history:
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ruling courts cover up their crimes by imprisoning the innocent
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and pinning false accusations on them,
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despite being fully convinced of their innocence.
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Thus was the decision to imprison Yusuf (peace be upon him):
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it came after his innocence had become manifest to the household of the palace,
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to the Aziz of Egypt,
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and to whoever witnessed the event in the palace.
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Yet it is false love
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that makes the beloved the victim,
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even while fully aware of his innocence.
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The decision to imprison Yusuf was open-ended,
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with no set term,
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because it was based on the whim of the palace's mistress
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and not upon just judgment.
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O noble scholars
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and reformist callers in the city:
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do not be deceived by the false love of the court's mistress,
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for it is built upon securing her own personal interests;
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and do not be swayed by the praise of the Aziz of Egypt,
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for he has no backbone before his commanding, domineering wife.
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“Be not as those who say, we hear, and they hear not.” (8:21)
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"I was eaten the day the black bull was eaten."
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The discussion is to be continued;
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we shall resume in the next gathering, if Allah wills,
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the story of Yusuf with the wife of al-Aziz.