Surah Yusuf • Ayah 23

Wife of the `Aziz loves Yusuf and plots against HimAllah states that the wife of the `Aziz of Egypt, in whose house Yusuf resided and whose husband recommended that she takes care of him and be generous to him, tried to seduce Yusuf! She called him to do an evil act with her, because she loved him very much. Yusuf was very handsome, filled with manhood and beauty. She beautified herself for him, closed the doors and called him, وَقَالَتْ هَيْتَ لَكَ(and (she) said: "Come on, O you.") But he categorically refused her call, قَالَ مَعَاذَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ رَبِّى أَحْسَنَ مَثْوَاىَّ(He said: "I seek refuge in Allah! Truly, he is my Rabb! He made my living in a great comfort!") as they used to call the chief and master a `Rabb', Yusuf said to her, `your husband is my master who provided me with comfortable living and was kind to me, so I will never betray him by committing immoral sins with his wife,' إِنَّهُ لاَ يُفْلِحُ الظَّـلِمُونَ(Verily, the wrongdoers will never be successful.) This was said by Mujahid, As-Suddi, Muhammad bin Ishaq and several others. The scholars differ in their recitation of, هَيْتَ لَكَ(Hayta Laka), whereby Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and several other scholars said that it means that she was calling him to herself. Al-Bukhari said; "Ikrimah said that, هَيْتَ لَكَ(Hayta Laka') means, `come on, O you', in the Aramaic language." Al-Bukhari collected this statement from `Ikrimah without a chain of narration. Other scholars read it with the meaning, `I am ready for you'. Ibn `Abbas, Abu `Abdur-Rahman As-Sulami, Abu Wa'il, `Ikrimah and Qatadah were reported to have read this part of the Ayah this way and explained it in the manner we mentioned, as `I am ready for you'.

زلیخا کی بدنیتی سے الزام تک ٭٭عزیز مصر جس نے آپ علیہ السلام کو خریدا تھا اور بہت اچھی طرح اولاد کے مثل رکھا تھا اپنی گھر والی سے بھی تاکیداً کہا تھا کہ انہیں کسی طرح تکلیف نہ ہو عزت و اکرام سے انہیں رکھو۔ اس عورت کی نیت میں کھوٹ آ جاتی ہے۔ جمال یوسف علیہ السلام پر فریفتہ ہو جاتی ہے۔ دروازے بھیڑ کر بن سنور کر برے کام کی طرف یوسف علیہ السلام کو بلاتی ہے لیکن یوسف علیہ السلام بڑی سختی سے انکار کر کے اسے مایوس کر دیتے ہیں۔ آپ علیہ السلام فرماتے ہیں کہ تیرا خاوند میرا سردار ہے۔ اس وقت اہل مصر کے محاورے میں بڑوں کے لیے یہی لفظ بولا جاتا تھا۔ آپ علیہ السلام فرماتے ہیں تمہارے خاوند کی مجھ پر مہربانی ہے وہ میرے ساتھ سلوک و احسان سے پیش آتے ہیں۔ پھر کیسے ممکن ہے کہ میں ان کی خیانت کروں۔ یاد رکھو چیز کو غیر جگہ رکھنے والے بھلائی سے محروم ہو جاتے ہیں۔ «ھَیْتَ لَکَ» کو بعض لوگ سریانی زبان کا لفظ کہتے ہیں بعض قطبی زبان کا بعض اسے غریب لفظ بتلاتے ہیں۔ کسائی اسی قرأت کو پسند کرتے تھے اور کہتے تھے اہل حوران کا یہ لغت ہے جو حجاز میں آ گیا ہے۔صفحہ نمبر3978اہل حوران کے ایک عالم نے کہا ہے کہ یہ ہمارا لغت ہے۔ امام ابن جریر نے اس کی شہادت میں شعر بھی پیش کیا ہے۔ اس کے دوسری قرأت «ھئت» بھی ہے پہلی قرأت کے معنی تو آؤ کے تھے، اس کے معنی میں تیرے لیے تیار ہوں بعض لوگ اس قرأت کا انکار ہی کرتے ہیں۔ ایک قرأت ھئت بھی ہے۔ یہ قرأت غریب ہے۔ عام مدنی لوگوں کی یہی قرأت ہے۔ اس پر بھی شہادت میں شعر پیش کیا جاتا ہے۔ سیدنا ابن مسعود رضی اللہ عنہ فرماتے ہیں قاریوں کی قرأتیں قریب قریب ہیں پس جس طرح تم سکھائے گئے ہو پڑھتے رہو۔ گہرائی سے اور اختلاف سے اور لعن طعن سے اور اعتراض سے بچو اس لفظ کے یہی معنی ہیں کہ آ اور سامنے ہو وغیرہ۔ پھر آپ رضی اللہ عنہ نے اس لفظ کو پڑھا کسی نے کہا اسے دوسری طرح بھی پڑھتے ہیں آپ رضی اللہ عنہ نے فرمایا درست ہے مگر میں نے تو جس طرح سیکھا ہے اسی طرح پڑھوں گا۔ یعنی «ھَیتَ» نہ کہ «ھِیتُ» یہ لفظ تذکیر تانیث واحد تثنیہ جمع سب کے لیے یکساں ہوتا ہے۔ جیسے «ھَیْتَ لَکَ ھَیْتَ لَکُمْ ھَیْتَ لَکُمَا ھَیْتَ لَکُنَّ ھَیْتَ لَھُنَّ» ۔صفحہ نمبر3979

آیت 23 وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِيْ هُوَ فِيْ بَيْتِهَا عَنْ نَّفْسِهٖ یعنی عزیز مصر کی بیوی آپ پر فریفتہ ہوگئی۔ قرآن میں اس کا نام مذکور نہیں البتہ تورات میں اس کا نام زلیخا بتایا گیا ہے۔قَالَ مَعَاذ اللّٰهِ اِنَّهٗ رَبِّيْٓ اَحْسَنَ مَثْوَايَ یہاں پر ”ربّ“ کے دونوں معنی لیے جاسکتے ہیں اللہ بھی اور آقا بھی۔ چناچہ اس فقرے کا ایک مفہوم تو یہ ہے کہ وہ اللہ میرا رب ہے اور اس نے میرے لیے بہت اچھے ٹھکانے کا انتظام کیا ہے میں اس کی نافرمانی کا کیسے سوچ سکتا ہوں ! دوسرے معنی میں اس کا مفہوم یہ ہے کہ آپ کا خاوند میرا آقا ہے وہ میرا محسن اور مربی بھی ہے اس نے مجھے اپنے گھر میں بہت عزت و اکرام سے رکھا ہے اور میں اس کی خیانت کر کے اس کے اعتماد کو ٹھیس پہنچاؤں یہ مجھ سے نہیں ہوسکتا ! یہ دوسرا مفہوم اس لیے بھی زیادہ مناسب ہے کہ ”رب“ کا لفظ اس سورت میں آقا اور بادشاہ کے لیے متعدد بار استعمال ہوا ہے۔

Moving to verse 23, the words of the text are:وَرَ‌اوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ وَغَلَّقَتِ الْأَبْوَابَ وَقَالَتْ هَيْتَ لَكَAnd she, in whose house he was, seduced him away from his (resisting) self and bolted the doors, and said, 'come on!'.From the first verse, we know that this woman was the wife of the ` Aziz of Misr. But, at this place, the Holy Qur'an has elected to bypass the possibility of mentioning her by a brief expression as the wife of ` Aziz. Instead, it has chosen to use the expression: الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا (in whose house he was). The hint given here is that the efforts of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) to save himself from falling into sin were further complicated by the fact that he lived in the house of this very woman, under her protection, and as such, disapproving and discarding her verbal advance was no easy task.The Strongest Defence Against Sin is the Seeking of Protection from Allah HimselfHow was he able to do that? There was an outward cause to this. When Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) found himself surrounded from all sides, he took the ultimate recourse. So, like a prophet he was, first of all, he sought the protection of Allah. He said: قَالَ مَعَاذَ اللَّـهِ (May Allah save me! ). We see that he did not place his sole trust in his determination and re-solve to hold out against the invitation to sin - he sought the refuge of Allah first. And it is obvious that anyone who enjoys the protection of Allah can never be moved away from the right path by anyone. It was only after having that coverage, that he started acting as a prophet would, with wisdom and earnest good counsel. Addressing Zulaikha directly and personally, he advised her that she too should fear Allah and give up her intention. He said:إِنَّهُ رَ‌بِّي أَحْسَنَ مَثْوَايَ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَSurely, he is my master. He has given me a good lodging. Surely, the wrongdoers do not prosper.As obvious, it means: Your husband, the ` Aziz of Misr is my master who has raised and supported me and has given me a good home to live in. He is my benefactor. How can I even think of violating his honour? This is great injustice and those who commit injustice never prosper. Implied therein was a lesson for Zulaikha too who was told: When I know his rights on me for having been my master and caretaker for a lesser time than you, then, being his wedded wife of years, you should certainly know his rights on you much more than I do.At this place, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) has called the ` Aziz of Misr his Rabb - though, it is not permissible to use this word for anyone other than Allah Ta’ ala. The reason is that words like this create either a suspicion of Shirk, or a resemblance with those who commit Shirk. Therefore, the use of such words has been prohibited in the Shari` ah of Islam. It appears in a Hadith of Sahih Muslim: ` Let no slave call his master his Rabb and let no master call his slave his عبد abd or servant.' But, this is a unique characteristic of the Islamic Shari` ah where, alongwith the prohibition of Shirk, everything else in which there is the least doubt that they may become the conduits of Shirk has also been prohibited. In the religious codes of past prophets, though Shirk has been strictly blocked but there was no restriction placed on the sources and inlets of Shirk. This was the reason why depiction of images was not prohibited in past religious codes. But in the Shari` ah of Islam, being valid upto the Last Day, full attention was given to protect it from being affected by Shirk. So, the sources and mediums of Shirk, such as, image and words - which arouse suspicion of Shirk were also prohibited. However, the saying of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) :إِنَّهُ رَ‌بِّي (Surely, he is my master), was correct in its place.And it is also possible that the pronoun in: إِنَّهُ (innahu) reverts to Allah Ta` la which would mean that Sayyidni Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had called Allah his Rabb and it was He who, in the real sense, gave him good lodging, and that disobedience to Him was the greatest injustice, and that the unjust never prosper.Some commentators, Suddiyy, Ibn Ishaq and others have reported that during the course of this privacy, Zulaikha started praising his looks with the purpose of softening his resistance. She said: How beautiful are your hair! Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) said: After death, these hair will be the first to part away from my body. Then, she said: How beautiful are your eyes! He said: After death, they will become water and flow down my face. Once again, she said: How beautiful is your face! Thereupon, he said: All this will be eaten up by the earth below. He was looking ahead. This was his concern for the 'Akhirah. Allah Ta’ ala had set it upon him in the prime of his youth and that made all charms of mortal life turn into dust before him. It is true that the concern for 'Akhirah is something which can keep every human being protected from every evil wherever he or she may be. May Allah bless us all with this concern.