Tafsir

Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، because of his prophetic gentleness, may not have, perhaps, disclosed her secret. But, when she took the first step and presented a charge sheet of false accusation against him, he was compelled to tell the truth: هِيَ رَ‌اوَدَتْنِي عَن نَّفْسِي (It was she who sought to seduce me).

The matter was dense and delicate. For the ` Aziz of Misr, it was difficult to decide as to who should be taken as being true. That was no occasion for evidence and proof. But, Allah, great is whose majesty, has His own ways of saving His honourable servants from sin and keeping them unaffected and protected from it. He would do the same for them during their worldly life when He would arrange to save them from being disgraced, even if it would take a miracle to do that. Usually, on such occasions, infant children have been chosen to unfold truth, infants who are not expected to talk customarily. But, by giving them power of speech miraculously, Allah Ta’ ala would arrange for the acquittal of His favoured servants from accusations levelled against them. This happened when people started accusing Sayyidah Maryam falsely. Allah Tad gave a day old infant, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، the ability to speak and it was through his tongue that He had the sanctity of his blessed mother manifested - a very special manifestation of His power indeed.

Similarly, when another accusation of this nature was made under the umbrella of a major conspiracy against Jurayj, a pious elder among the Bani Israil, it was a new-born child who testified to his innocence. When Pharaoh got suspicious about Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، the small daughter of the personal lady hair-styler of the wife of the Pharaoh was given the power of speech and it was she who saved Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) during his childhood from being hurt by the Pharaoh.

Similarly, in this event relating to Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، according to a narration of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas and Abu Hurairah ؓ ، Allah Ta’ ala bestowed that power of speech upon a small child - and that too in one of the finest ways of wisdom. This small child was lying in a cradle in this house. There was no way it could have occurred to anyone that this child would have watched their movements and understood what they were doing - and then, would be able to even go on to describe it in some manner. But, Allah is absolutely powerful. When He decides to highlight the greatness of those who strive in the mission of their obedience to Him, He is quite capable of demonstrating before the whole world that every particle of this universe works as His secret service which knows every criminal inside out and keeps a record of his or her crime and when the time comes, it speaks out the truth.

Think of the Resurrection, the awesome plain of the Hashr when, at the time of the accounting of deeds, human beings will, goaded by their old worldly habit, refuse to admit their crimes, then, their very hands and feet and skins and surroundings will be called upon to stand as witnesses against them. Each such witness shall lay each and everything done by them bare before the unimaginably huge multitude gathered together on that fateful day of Al-Mahshar. That would be the time when human beings will find out that their hands and feet and the walls and doors of their homes inside, and the security arrangement outside these, none of them, not even one, were their own. In fact, all of them were secret agents of Allah, the Rabb of all Power.

In sum, this small child, who was lying in the cradle oblivious of everything in the world around him, was made to speak out - as a miracle of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) precisely at the time when the ` Aziz of Misr, being on the horns of a dilemma, did not know what to do.

Furthermore, if this child could have only said that Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) is free of any blame and it is Zulaikha who is at fault, then, even that much would have been no less than a miracle, and a formidable proof of the innocence of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . But, Allah Ta ala had this child say something farsighted which would separate truth from false-hood decisively. What the child said was: See the shirt of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . If it is torn up from the front, then the word of Zulaikha is true and that of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) could be otherwise. And if the shirt is torn up from the back, then there remains just no other probability but that Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was running away from her and Zulaikha wanted to stop him.

Apart from being a miracle of speech manifested by a child, this was something which could be understood by everyone around on its own. So, when the direction was followed, it was observed that the shirt was torn up from the back. Thus, the innocence of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) stood proved openly from physical signs as well.

The explanation of the ` shahid' or witness of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) given here - that he was a small child blessed with the power of speech as a miracle - stands proved from a Hadith of the Holy Prophet t. This Hadith has been reported by Imam Abmad in his Musnad, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and Hakim in Mustadrak. They have rated this Hadith as Sahih (sound). In this Hadith, it is said: ` Allah Ta` ala has blessed four children the power of speech while still in their cradle.' These four are the same as mentioned earlier. (Mazhari) However, in some narrations, other explanations of ` shahid' or witness have also been reported. But, Tafsir authorities such as Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir and others have declared the first Tafsir to be the weightier one.