[2] The Right to Remove False Accusations from Oneself

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Allah, The Most High, said:

وَٱسْتَبَقَا ٱلْبَابَ وَقَدَّتْ قَمِيصَهُۥ مِن دُبُرٍ وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَا ٱلْبَابِ قَالَتْ مَا جَزَآءُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بِأَهْلِكَ سُوٓءًا إِلَّآ أَن يُسْجَنَ أَوْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

قَالَ هِىَ رَٰوَدَتْنِى عَن نَّفْسِى وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِهَآ إِن كَانَ قَمِيصُهُۥ قُدَّ مِن قُبُلٍ فَصَدَقَتْ وَهُوَ مِنَ ٱلْكَٰذِبِينَ

So they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back. They both found her lord (i.e. her husband) at the door. She said: “What is the recompense (punishment) for him who intended an evil design against your wife, except that he be put in prison or a painful torment?” He [Yusuf] said: “It was she that sought to seduce me,” – and a witness of her household bore witness (saying): “If it be that his shirt is torn from the front, then her tale is true and he is a liar! [Yusuf 25-26]

Yusuf did not want to mention it (i.e. the woman’s guilt), but when the woman said, “What is the recompense (punishment) for him who intended an evil design against your wife…? He mentioned it and said, “It was she that sought to seduce me.”  [1] 

When the wife of the Aziz (falsely) accused him that he had sought to commit an immoral act with her, Yusuf, peace be upon him, belied her regarding what she had accused him and repelled what she attributed to him, saying: “It was not I who tried to seduce her; rather, it was she who sought to seduce me.” [2]

The scholars said: When she declared herself innocent and was not truthful regarding the fact she loved him—for it is characteristic of a lover to prefer the beloved over oneself—he (Yusuf) said, “It was her who sought to seduce me”.   Thus, Yusuf spoke the truth in response to her false accusation and lies against him. Nawf ash-Shami and other than him said: It was as if Yusuf, peace be upon him, did not reveal (the details of) the affair, then when she transgressed against him (i.e. through the false accusation), he became angry and spoke the truth.[3]

[1] Tafsir al-Baghawi. paraphrased

ما كان يريد يوسف أن يذكره ، فلما قالت المرأة : ما جزاء من أراد بأهلك سوءا ؟ ذكره ، فقال : هي راودتني عن نفسي

[2] Tafsir at-Tabari. paraphrased

قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: قال يوسف لما قذفته امرأة العزيز بما قذفته من إرادته الفاحشة منها، مكذِّبًا لها فيما قذفته به ودفعًا لما نسب إليه: ما أنا راودتها عن نفسها , بل هي راودتني عن نفسي

[3] Al-Qurtubi. paraphrased

قال العلماء : لما برأت نفسها ; ولم تكن صادقة في حبه – لأن من شأن المحب إيثار المحبوب – قال : هي راودتني عن نفسي نطق يوسف بالحق في مقابلة بهتها وكذبها عليه . قال نوف الشامي وغيره : كأن يوسف – عليه السلام – لم يبن عن كشف القضية ، فلما بغت به غضب فقال الحق