Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—also said, after some discussion: (1)

“[One of them contemplates] (2) committing a sin, but remembers his standing before Allah and abandons it. Thus Joseph was among those who feared standing before their Lord and restrained themselves from desire.

“Moreover, Joseph, peace and blessings be upon him, was a young, unmarried captive in enemy territory, where he had neither relatives nor friends before whom he would feel ashamed if he committed an indecent act. Many people are kept from committing shameful deeds by their sense of shame before those who know them; once away from home, however, they do whatever they desire.

“He was also alone, with no human being to fear. A soul that urges evil—had his soul been such—would have prompted him to approach her himself, indeed, to devise ways to seduce her, as many who desire the wives of powerful men habitually do when they cannot proposition them directly. If invited, however, even by a servant girl, such a man would be the quickest to respond. How much more so if the woman inviting him were his mistress, who held authority over him, and he feared being harmed for disobeying her!

“Furthermore, her husband, whose usual role would have been to rebuke his wife, did not punish her; rather, he ordered