Don’t Walk Away from Sin, Run to Allah | From Trial to Triumph Ep. 11

From Trial to Triumph — Episode 11: Don't Walk Away from Sin, Run to Allah

For those of you who are starting to join these halaqas as of today and perhaps haven't joined in the past, all of the sessions have been recorded and put on YouTube so you can try to catch up if you wish to catch up. We have covered about 25 ayat so we'll just be continuing from where we stopped in the previous semester. We had a small kind of break or hiatus during the last 4-5 Sundays but insha'Allah the goal is that every single Sunday moving forward till December we'll go ahead and have these sessions between 4–5 before the classes start insha'Allah.

Recap: Zulaikha's Plot and Yusuf's Escape

The last discussion that we actually had before we had that small hiatus or that break was the discussion taking place around Zulaikha, the wife of this minister, presenting herself and aiming to entice or incite Yusuf alayhi salam. She locks the doors and opens up this opportunity of committing this sin, and Yusuf alayhi salam is pretty much closed off — there is an open avenue, an open door to commit this sin — and he is able to persevere and deter from the pathway of sin and save himself.

Allah tells us how he saved himself, which I spoke about in the last session. As he is leaving the room and running away, the wife of this minister — the wife of the prime minister of Egypt — pulls his shirt and it rips. As he is running, the door opens, and the husband, who happens to be his master as well, his boss, his employer, is standing right in front. The wife yells and screams out and she says:

"Oh husband, oh master, there really can't be any consequence or punishment that is appropriate for such an offense except that this person should be imprisoned and he should be punished" — meaning he should be humiliated in public, this is what عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ refers to — "because of the fact that he aimed or tried to come for the honor of your wife."

The First to Speak Is Not Necessarily the Victim

As she yells this — and the last thing I spoke about before we ended the session was — just because a person cries first, or cries wolf first, or makes the first statement to start the argument or begin the claim, it doesn't necessitate that they are the victim or the culprit. Ultimately we follow the hujjah, we follow proof. Where is there proof, and we lean towards that. Because oftentimes whoever is louder, we will side with him, whoever has a stronger propaganda machine — like how genociders do — people will side with him. But the reality of truth and falsehood is that the truth may not be the loudest, it may not have the same level of display, but it will always be the loudest voice in the room.

So Yusuf alayhi salam speaks up and says, "No, no, this is not me, this is her, this has nothing to do with me." As Yusuf alayhi salam pleads his case, he says:

"Oh king, I know your wife is an honorable person and you may not want to hear this." This is why Imam Qurtubi rahmatullahi alayhi narrates that Yusuf alayhi salam actually didn't say anything when the king opened the door — he didn't say that she tried to hold him against his will, he kind of held back to keep her honor. He only spoke up when she made the claim against him, or else he was quiet.

He says, "Oh king, as much as your wife is an honorable person, she is the one that initiated this situation, she is the one that held me against my will." رَاوَدَ comes from the root letters of إِرَادَة — in Arabic إِرَادَة means to intend. رَاوَدَ is like a hyperbolized version of it — that she opened up every opportunity and window to entice and seduce him and she closed every door for him to get out. So رَاوَدَتْنِي عَن نَّفْسِي — عَن نَّفْسِي in Arabic over here means "against my will" — she did it against his will.

How Do We Find the Truth When Both Parties Disagree?

Now she responds and says, "No, that's not true, he actually is the one that did this to me." Now they are going back and forth. How do you settle and find the truth in these situations, where you have two people who are both making claims? It happens to us in our lives as well — one person says this, the other person has an absolutely completely different story. One person is saying that this person did this to me, the other person is saying this never happened. Now obviously one of them is lying, but how do you ascertain who is actually lying? Do you side with a personality? Do you side with perhaps the one who is more powerful? Because if you were to do that, that's not siding with the truth, that's siding with the person.

Rather, Allah highlights in the Qur'an:

Seek justice even if it means that it harms you — even if it comes at your own expense, justice should be sought regardless of who the beneficiary is or who is harmed, because justice is the greatest mandate in our social interactions. Allah begins Surah al-Fatiha by speaking about justice. Allah highlights justice to be one of His greatest qualities, and we know Umar to be the master of justice.

The Prophet ﷺ would say:

"If my daughter was to steal, I would cut her hand" — meaning I would not impose the wrong ruling upon anyone, but I would also not concede the correct ruling because of who the person is. As we say in English: principle over personality. The truth will always win.

The Story of Dawud and Hearing Both Sides

For the king, this is a very difficult moment. This is a slave whom he could throw under the bus. This is why the Aziz was, as the Mufassirun say, a good man, a believing man — because he could have easily taken the claim of his wife and it would have made more social sense for him based upon his rapport, based upon the social credibility that he had. But he sought the truth.

How often do we find, even in relationships, that sometimes the husband and wife — one is wronged — and almost 99% of the time the parents will always side with their own son or daughter, they won't even listen to the other party. The Prophet ﷺ says it is enough for a person to be unjust if they rule before they hear the opposite party's statement and the opposite party's angle.

There is a story in the Qur'an about Dawud alayhi salam where people jumped over his roof. They snuck into his house and said:

"This brother of mine has 99 goats, I have one goat, and this brother of mine is trying to buy me out." To give a simpler example for our time: "This brother of mine owns 99 shares of the company, I own one share, and this brother of mine is trying to complete his monopoly. Do I have to sell it to him, or can I keep my one share?" It's a very simple question — it doesn't require that Dawud alayhi salam listens to the other party, because there's not really much to ask. If that is your one share, you absolutely do not have to sell it to the other person. So he gives that ruling.

Allah reveals in the Qur'an in the same story that for Dawud alayhi salam, this was a mistake — it was not a sin, prophets don't sin, but it was an error. Allah says in that same verse:

"We forgave him for it." And then Allah says:

"O Dawud, We have made you an ambassador on the earth — make sure you rule and judge between people with the truth and being honest." He didn't have the wrong judgment — the judgment would not have changed. Often we say, "My conclusion would not have been different if I heard what you said." That's not the point though. We are process-centric, not outcome-driven. Even if my conclusion would not have changed, I still need to hear both sides, because it closes any opportunity of being biased in your judgment. So Dawud is reprimanded as a prophet of Allah — you never heard both sides of the story; why did you make a judgment without hearing the other brother? The other brother is wrong, no question about it, but the process matters.

One of the greatest challenges is that when you do have a relationship and something does happen, the bias of each person kicks in. The mother will think that her daughter or son is correct — how can they be incorrect? And the father will think the same. And now you really can never have sulah — people struggle especially when we deal with situations whether it's marriages or sibling conflicts, it becomes so difficult to create a level ground where people are able to reconcile, because each person believes without any doubt that their party is correct. But prophets can be wrong. From which sky or which cloud did we come from that we can't be wrong?

The Witness and the Torn Shirt

In this entire discussion we are taught how do you find the truth. A person can only find the truth if they are pursuing it, or else it's very easy to reach a conclusion without searching for the truth because that's our bias. So Allah tells us that the husband — who is the master of Yusuf — sought the truth; he wanted to know what actually happened.

So a witness from the family spoke up — شَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِهَا. Someone from أَهْل — and أَهْل can be used for two meanings: it can mean immediate family, or it can also mean people who live in the household of this person. So sometimes someone is not from your family but they live with you — a cousin, or even someone who works for you.

Imam Qurtubi rahmatullahi alayhi mentions that there can be three opinions of who this person is, because Allah doesn't say رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا — "this man spoke up" — or "this woman spoke up." Allah simply says someone spoke up. This also gives us a profound indication: the person who is reconciling and seeking the truth on your behalf is not that important as long as they are not unjust, as long as they have عَدْل within themselves, as long as they are upright and truthful. Because Allah doesn't highlight the individual — He highlights what this person did.

Imam Qurtubi says it could have been a child — this is the majority opinion — literally a baby in a cradle. There is no way Zulaikha could have thought that this child would speak up. The Prophet ﷺ says there were three children who spoke while being in the cradle at an age they should not have spoken: he mentioned Isa alayhi salam, he mentioned this story — الشَّاهِد فِي قِصَّةِ يُوسُف — and the third he mentioned was within the story of Musa alayhi salam, where a child spoke up and said "Musa is not my father." This discussion also takes place under the ayah:

There is a second opinion that this witness wasn't a child but actually someone from the servicemen of that household — people who were close to this prime minister, who would serve him, had the keys of the house but never lived there. It happened that they walked into the house at that time, so she didn't think anyone was home, but this man with access came to fulfill a task and noticed what happened.

The third opinion is that it could have actually been a very intelligent man who was حَكِيم — wise — brought in as a third party to help decide and reconcile who was wrong and who was right. He wasn't even someone who was a part of that home or inside the home when it happened. He was just someone who was brought in as a third party. How Allah even mentions in the Qur'an: when we have disputes, bring a third party that both of you agree upon.

Regardless of who it was — the majority opinion is that it was a child — but we can concede it could have been any of those three. Regardless of who it was, what this person shares gives us clarity on how we seek the truth. This person doesn't begin by speaking about the virtues of Yusuf, or about the honor of the queen. He simply speaks about the facts. He starts off by saying: if his shirt is ripped from the front, and she speaks the truth and he is the one that is lying — and if the shirt is ripped from the back, and she has lied, and he is amongst the truthful ones. He doesn't even speak about the person; he hones in on what can serve as a clear symbol or clear reference of the truth.

"I'm not siding with either of you. I'm giving you a simple reference: if you see this, that means this person is wrong. If you see that, that means that person is wrong."

Another thing we learn from the story is that this testimony was not used in court, because it didn't hold the weight required in court — for a testimony to be held in court, a person would have to have seen it. But this testimony is being used to create clarity within the family. So sometimes everyone always says that you need to have clear proof for someone to be right or wrong — that's for a judgment. That's not for the clarity of your mind and heart. You can use different elements to get to the truth for yourself, or for your family, or for your situation. It's not like this case was taken to court and this testimony was used against the wife of the minister. If that were the case, she would have been punished. She was not punished. It was just to clear the air that Yusuf alayhi salam is not guilty.

Run Away from Sin — Don't Walk

If the shirt is ripped from the front, for obvious reasons, it means he was the one coming upon her. And if the shirt is ripped from the back, for obvious reasons, it means she was the one chasing him. I mentioned this in our last session as well: in order for a person to avoid sin, there is no option of slowly walking away from it. The only way to avoid a sin that is presenting itself is to run away from it.

We find ourselves — all of us — if there is an opportunity of sin, we'll walk, but then we'll take one step forward and take two steps back figuratively. That job, "I know it's haram income, but it's just so attractive." The only way to really get away from that sin is to run away from it:

Run from it. People who are involved in even haram relationships — they step away, then they come back. No. You run away from it. You close the door of return. This is why Allah says تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا — that sincere tawbah means that any door that can be left open that allows you to come back to that sin has to be closed. If there is any door left open, that means you have not done تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا. You've kept that door open. You've turned away from the sin, but you've kept that door open for return.

So Yusuf runs. And when he runs, it only makes sense that the shirt could not be torn in this manner if he had not run. If he had walked away, she could pull the shirt and tug on it, but it would not be ripped. He ran — and he ran to a locked door.

And when they saw that the shirt was ripped from the back, it was clear to the king that the wife was at fault. Though she was the first one to make the claim — just because you spoke up first doesn't mean that you own the truth. Just because you spoke up first does not mean you control how the facts unfold. It can change. And the truth will always expose falsehood — it's a matter of time.

This is why the Day of Judgment is Yawmul Furqan — because all lies are exposed. Ultimately, at times, some people have to wait till that Day. We would hope that we don't have to wait till that Day for the oppression that is done to us and to the Muslims. But generally, it does get exposed. A person can only hide the truth for so long. The truth looks for a way out.

The Meaning of Kayd — A Secret and Sinister Plan

Now the shirt is ripped from the back, meaning Yusuf is innocent. The man who is the شَاهِد says: "This is from your plots" — meaning the plot of the wife. The word كَيْد in Arabic is specifically used when a plan is plotted in secrecy and has a negative intention. So for example, Allah refers to the plan of the army of Abraha — the army of the elephants — using this word, because they planned it in secrecy and had negative intent to harm the people of Makkah. So whenever the word كَيْد is used, it comes with a negative connotation and the idea that it was done in secrecy.

This is what Zulaikha did — her plan to entrap Yusuf alayhi salam, to use this as blackmail against him. And how often this happens: when someone gets pulled into something that is incorrect, immoral, or haram, and then they make this mistake, and someone will use it against them.

Then the witness says:

"Verily your plans and your plots are very intense, they're very severe." And this is not inconsistent with our Shari'ah or with the prophetic tradition — one of the greatest hooks of Shaytan for males is the opposite gender. It is a كَيْد that people get caught in. And vice versa as well — it doesn't mean it doesn't happen the other way. But in the story it is very clear that she is the one making this plot to entrap Yusuf.

Don't Trust Your Own Taqwa in Moments of Compromise

This is where we understand that we never trust our own taqwa to put ourselves in moments of compromise. We don't trust ourselves, thinking that our level of taqwa, or our ability to contain ourselves, is better than someone else's. It's not. We're all human. Even Adam alayhi salam — who was told not to eat from the tree — ate from the tree, though he had many opportunities to eat from any other tree. The nature of it is that we never believe that if we're in that situation, we'll be okay. No. We try our best to run away as far as possible from those opportunities. This is why Allah says:

"Don't even come close to adultery" — don't open up a window or an opportunity where you now have to actually exercise taqwa. Just don't be there for it. Because if you have to exercise it in that moment, you may be able to survive using your taqwa — or you may cave in. إِنَّ كَيْدَكُنَّ عَظِيمٌ — the plot is very heavy, and it's difficult to turn away from. So yeah, it may just be one text message or one interaction, but am I compromised? Because if I'm compromised, it requires great resistance and strength of taqwa to pull back. So it's better not to be in that situation anyways.

Therefore we have barriers in Islam that Allah has put between both genders in regards to how we can speak to each other and how we interact with each other.

What I find to be problematic at times is: people who aim or attempt to be — in the outside world or at college, there is more ease in how we interact — but when we come to places like the masjid, there is a sanctity of the place itself. And by the way, those areas outside require that I interact — if I'm working with someone, I have to interact with them. I can't be working with the opposite gender and say, "Astaghfirullah, I'm Muslim." Similarly I can't be in the university where a professor is male and say I don't want to sit with him. The situations will require those kinds of compromise moments. But in places of sanctity, we hold ourselves at a higher level.

What Is a Sin? The Prophet's ﷺ Answer

People always ask: can I say salam to someone of the opposite gender? There is an entire list of questions in regards to gender interaction. The simple answer would be: if someone that you respect saw it, would it bother them? Would it seem like your credibility is compromised in their eyes?

The Prophet ﷺ was asked, "What is a sin?" — and this can be used anywhere, but it can specifically be used in how we interact with the opposite gender. He responded:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 17742; also recorded in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2553 with similar wording)

"A sin is that which eats you up inside, that bothers you" — now if a person doesn't have a spiritual heartbeat, they won't be able to experience that. It's like telling someone what is unhealthy food: "Unhealthy food is that which gives you issues in your stomach." They say, "Man, I don't even feel it, so it must be healthy." No — your gut is so unhealthy that you don't even feel how toxic this food is. So if a person's spiritual heartbeat is dead or numb, they may not even feel this. But for all of us, we would hope that we have a spiritual heartbeat that will allow us to experience this.

مَا حَاكَ فِي صَدْرِكَ — what eats you up inside, what makes you feel uncomfortable. The second part of that hadith about what is a sin was: وَكَرِهْتَ أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسُ — "You would feel uncomfortable if people saw you in that moment." If I would feel uncomfortable if people saw me in this moment, that means I shouldn't be doing it, because the greatest mufti for the person is themselves. اسْتَفْتِ قَلْبَكَ — we know whether or not we should have been doing it.

The Sign of a Believer

The Prophet ﷺ was also asked, "Who is a believer?" — and this response you should write down and memorize if you can. He said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22030)

"When the good that you do makes you feel good, and when the sins that you commit — that all of us will and have committed — make you feel bad" — not guilt trip, not paralyzed, but they do make you feel a certain way — فَأَنْتَ مُؤْمِنٌ — "know that you are a believer." That sense of fulfillment in doing good, and the sense of regret in committing a sin — that is a sign that a person's heart is alive and that they have إِيمَان.

The Verdict: Yusuf Is Cleared, Zulaikha Is Told to Seek Forgiveness

So he says, إِنَّ كَيْدَكُنَّ عَظِيمٌ — your plots against Yusuf are very heavy. So avoid those situations completely. Then he says:

"Oh Yusuf, ignore this situation — move on. أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا. You were obviously not in the wrong; she was in the wrong. So you don't have to feel bad about it." And then he turns towards the wife and says: "Seek forgiveness for your sin that you committed. Seek tawbah for the sin that you committed. Indeed you are from amongst the wrongdoers."

Now who is speaking right now? Two opinions: one is that the actual شَاهِد, the حَاكِم, the one who is arbitrating this case, is the one saying this. But the stronger opinion is that it is actually the husband — he is saying to Yusuf, "I know that you are not at fault, we are good," and he is telling the wife, "I know you committed this mistake, so seek repentance for it, and you were wrong."

Often times we are able to avoid feeling regret because of a justification that makes sense in our own head. So we don't even feel regret of the sin, because in our head, we think that was something we had no choice but to do. He is telling her: there is no justification for this. One of Shaytan's ways of pacifying our ability to do tawbah is to make us justify the sin in our head. But even if we share it with someone else, it will seem irrational — "No, that doesn't really make sense; you should have avoided that situation completely."

Lessons from Today's Session

We will stop here. Next week insha'Allah, we will begin with the story of the queen inviting all the other noble women and the families of the royal families into her home, and she presents Yusuf to them because of the mockery she was facing. insha'Allah we will start from there.

But a few lessons from today's session:

Number one: Always seek the truth. The truth doesn't follow a person — the truth follows the facts. Seek the facts so that you can find the truth. Never make a judgment without hearing both sides. It would have been very easy for this person to say, "Yusuf is to be a prophet, of course he's innocent," but he actually gave a factual analysis of who is truthful and who is false.

Number two: We learn that, regardless of who we are, we avoid situations of compromise — because either we will be able to persevere like Yusuf, or we will fail, because we don't have the same bandwidth of taqwa as Yusuf alayhi salam.

Last but not the least: If we do commit a mistake, we seek forgiveness from it — because that forgiveness in itself is a sign of goodness for us. Ibn Ata'illah — a great thinker and writer in the Islamic tradition, specifically the Sufi tradition — he says: sometimes a good deed doesn't get a person as far in the eyes of Allah as a sin that a person seeks tawbah from. Sometimes good deeds don't get a person as far in the eyes of Allah as a sin that a person committed and then sought tawbah from — because of how deeply they felt it. So maybe that sin, because I sought the right amount of tawbah for it, brings me closer to Allah. Obviously this is not empowerment to sin — but if it does take place, we have complete tawbah and istighfar that allows us to accelerate and move forward insha'Allah in the eyes of Allah.

May Allah bless you all and reward you all. Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.