Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Yūsuf (Joseph) | FACING UP TO TRIAL
we have rendered here as, ‘Come’.
False Accusation and Irrefutable Testimony
“She truly desired him, and he desired her. [He would have succumbed] had he not seen a
clear sign from his Lord.” (Verse 24) All commentators on the Qur’ān, past and present
alike, have focused their attention on this last incident. Those who have taken their
information from Jewish sources mention numerous legendary reports describing
Joseph as one driven by insatiable desire, and God unable to restrain him despite all
His evidence. He is said to have seen his father’s image on the ceiling, biting his
finger. Another such report suggests that he saw several plates of calligraphy, with
verses of the Qur’ān, [Yes, the Qur’ān!] denouncing such action, but he continues as
though he saw nothing. Then God sent the angel Gabriel, telling him to save Joseph.
The angel hit him in the chest. There are many such reports, but they are all clearly
groundless and manifestly fabricated.
Most commentators on the Qur’ān say that her desire was physical, whilst his was
mental. Then he saw the evidence from his Lord, and he was able to resist
temptation.
The late scholar, Rashīd Riđā’, rejects this view altogether. He says that she
desired to hit him because of his dignified resistance when she was the mistress to be
obeyed. On the other hand, he desired to repel her, but he preferred to try to escape.
However, she caught up with him and tore his shirt from behind. To interpret the
verse as her desire to hit him and his desire to repel the aggression however is
merely an attempt to draw Joseph away from responding to temptation at that
particular moment. This is an arbitrary interpretation which lacks proper support.
Looking at the text here, and reviewing Joseph’s situation, given that he had lived
for quite some time in the palace, I feel that the Qur’ānic statement, “She truly desired
him, and he desired her. [He would have succumbed] had he not seen a clear sign from his
Lord,” represents the culmination of a long line of temptation on the one hand, and
initial resistance on the other. This is a true description of a goodly human soul,
resisting temptation, then weakening a little, then turning to God for support and
escaping unscathed. The sūrah does not dwell for long on these conflicting emotions,
because the Qur’ān does not aim to paint that moment into a panoramic scene that is
far larger than what is appropriate to the story, or to human life in general. Hence,
the sūrah mentions Joseph’s resistance at the outset and at the end, with a moment of
weakness in between. This then gives us a credible and practical picture.
This interpretation of the text is closer to human nature and to the protection God
grants prophets. Joseph was only a human being. It is true that he was chosen by
God. That is indeed the reason why his weakness was limited to feelings only, and
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