💭 In this age of erasing all gender differences, when society has waged an open war against the fiṭrah (natural human predisposition), our religion makes assertions that may ruffle our contemporary sensibilities: the male is unlike the female. How so? we ask. Qur’anic commentary on this topic is subtle, but one sure gender difference is in our common displays of aggression. 'And the women of the city said…' Here, Allah reveals that news of the royal scandal pulsed through the city primarily on the tongues of women. Their ears perked and leaned in, all too eager to hear about the wife of al-‘Azīz seducing her young servant, all too eager to revel in her downfall. While there is no doubt that

'He has impassioned her with love.' 💭 Her powerlessness before Yūsuf (as) reminds me of when Ibn ‘Abbās (rA) once passed a young man at Hajj. Reduced to skin and bones, he had to be carried around by others due to how weak he had become. Ibn ‘Abbās inquired about this young man’s condition and was told that he was suffering from ‘ishq (love sickness). Shocked by the man’s condition, Ibn ‘Abbās spent the entire day of ‘Arafah seeking refuge with Allah from his heart ever falling captive to ‘ishq. So let this moral maxim be your guide: guard yourself from the pathways that lead to your inevitable destruction (this principle is called sadd al-dharī‘ah), and guard especially whoever or whate

'He has impassioned her with love.' 💭 To fall in love with someone, unwittingly and without engaging in prohibited behavior, is not sinful before Allah. This was certainly not the case with the wife of al-‘Azīz. Once Yūsuf (as) blossomed into maturity, she positioned herself in constant proximity to him, feeding her infatuation with an unobstructed view of his beauty. So what pulsed her heart of fiery lust was her own doing. She was to blame for lingering in temptation’s way, knowing full well that Yūsuf was a man of modesty and would not indulge her. This is an excerpt from the book 'When The Stars Prostrated' by Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy and Rania Abuisnaineh. To purchase, visit:

Quran

💭 Those who defy Allah are humiliated in this world and the next. People are always ready to turn on them in an instant, even if they may flatter them in their presence or envy their status. The wife of al-‘Azīz became the talk of the town overnight, and instead of this returning her to her senses, it drove her into mischief and vengeance. She will eventually reform, but not everyone is as fortunate. A person should always beware of having their wrongs exposed publicly, because the humiliation it brings many times causes a person to continue down that path until their life ends. Not persisting in sin, not publicizing one’s sin, and not speaking of others’ sins are three established ways in