Surah Yūsuf (Joseph)

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

[Surah Yūsuf (12): verse 30]
“Some women in the city said, ‘The chief minister’s wife is trying to seduce her young servant. Love for him has consumed her heart. Indeed, we see that she has clearly gone astray.’” (30)

This statement contains several forms of scheming.

First: They said, “The chief minister’s wife is trying to seduce her young servant.” Rather than mentioning her by name, they described her in terms that proclaimed the ugliness of her conduct by identifying her as a married woman. An indecent act committed by a married woman is uglier than one committed by an unmarried woman.

Second: Her husband was the chief minister of Egypt, its leader and foremost dignitary. This made such an indecent act on her part all the uglier.

Third: The man she was trying to seduce was a slave, not a free man. This made it still more shameful.

Fourth: He was her own young servant, living in her house and under her care, and thus had the standing of a member of the household. Her case was therefore unlike that of a woman seeking such a thing from an outsider unconnected to her household.

Fifth: She herself was the one attempting the seduction and pursuing him.