a fabricator. Each of these charges is graver than adultery or slanderous accusations of unchastity, especially adultery committed in secret, unknown to anyone. Joseph was falsely accused of committing adultery, of accusing her of unchastity, and of spreading reports of her indecency. Thus, the lies told about the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were graver than those told about Joseph.

The same applies to the lies told about the messengers of firm resolve, such as Noah and Moses, when one of them is described as a madman and a liar who fabricates lies against Allah.

The harm that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions suffered at the hands of the polytheists was greater than mere confinement. Joseph was imprisoned and otherwise left alone, whereas the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions suffered verbal and physical abuse, besides being prevented from going about their usual affairs. This is what confinement means: its purpose is not to make someone reside in a prison, but to prevent him from going about his usual affairs. Neither the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor Abū Bakr maintained a prison. Rather, the first to establish a prison was ʿUmar. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would “hand a debtor over to his creditor and say, ‘What has your captive done?’” He would thus make the debtor a captive in his creditor’s custody until he paid him what he was owed. This is the purpose of confinement.

The Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—were prevented from going about their affairs in Mecca as a means of harming them, until many of them left for Abyssinia. They chose to live among those Christians under a just king rather than remain among their own people. Those who remained