Yusuf · Makki · ayah 35 of 111

Yusuf 12:35

ثُمَّ بَدَا لَهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ مَا رَأَوُا۟ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لَيَسْجُنُنَّهُۥ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍ

“Then it appeared to them after they had seen the signs[595] that he [i.e., al-ʿAzeez] should surely imprison him for a time.[596]”

Saheeh International

Essence

They had seen every proof of his innocence, and then they changed their minds and locked him away for a time that had no edges.

A reflection

He was not jailed on suspicion

The picture many of us carry is of a man jailed on a false charge. The household believed the accusation, or half believed it, and acted on it. A tragedy of misunderstanding.

The ayah closes that door in four words. After they had seen the signs.

The commentaries list the signs. A shirt torn from behind. A witness from her own family. Women who cut their hands at one sight of him. Her own confession, in front of guests. One early report adds scratches on the face. These were the proofs of his innocence, and everyone in the household had seen them.

Then they imprisoned him.

The commentaries are agreed on why. Not because they doubted him, but because the story was spreading. Imprison him until people stop talking. Imprison him to stop the scandal. One commentary goes further. Locking him up made it look as though he had been the guilty one, and the talk would settle on him rather than on her.

That is a different kind of injustice from a mistake. It is a decision taken with the facts in hand.

A restaurant has an outbreak of food poisoning. Everyone in the kitchen knows it was the owner's nephew who left the chicken out. The sous-chef is let go, with a kind word, until things settle. Nobody ever says he did it. Nobody needs to.

Yusuf did not go to prison because people were wrong about him. He went because people were right about him, and it was inconvenient.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.