Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 70

(Ayah71,70){فَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ … :} In the interpretation of these verses, most people have stumbled, due to which they accuse Yusuf (peace be upon him) of conspiring with his brother to keep him with himself, then placing the cup in his brother’s luggage, having the announcement made that all the brothers are thieves, then searching them himself, and finally taking out the cup from his brother’s luggage and declaring him a thief in order to keep him with himself. The objection that arises is that this is not befitting the dignity of a prophet. They answer this by saying that Allah Almighty has said: «{ كَذٰلِكَ كِدْنَا لِيُوْسُفَ }» [ یوسف : ۷۶ ] “Thus did We plan for Yusuf.” This means that Yusuf (peace be upon him) did all this by Allah’s command, so it was permissible, and that using a stratagem for a permissible purpose (even if the stratagem itself is impermissible) is allowed. However, if the verses are studied carefully, there is no involvement of Yusuf (peace be upon him) in any stratagem or conspiracy; this was entirely a plan from Allah Almighty, of which even Yusuf (peace be upon him) had no prior knowledge. The real situation of the incident is that the first time the brothers came, Yusuf (peace be upon him) did them a favor and had his servants place their money back in their sacks without their knowledge, which they only discovered upon reaching home. Now, when his real brother came, for his special help, he quietly placed the cup in his brother’s luggage himself, without telling anyone, as this did not involve the hardship of returning all ten brothers’ luggage, and to avoid the risk of jealousy if the brothers found out. Therefore, only he was aware of this, and no one else. Before the caravan departed, one of the storehouse guards needed the cup, and when it was not found, a search began. They pondered who could be the thief, who had come here? Other than these brothers, no one else had come, so an announcer made the proclamation, “O people of the caravan! You are thieves.” The brothers did not even imagine such a thing. Thus, all their subsequent conversation was with the announcer and his fellow storehouse guards, in which they themselves stated the punishment for theft that was customary among them. Then one of those guards searched, and by Allah’s plan, he happened to search the other brothers’ luggage first, then took out the cup from Yusuf’s brother’s luggage, and according to the punishment stated by the brothers themselves, that brother was detained. Yusuf (peace be upon him) was completely unaware of this matter, but when things reached this point and Yusuf (peace be upon him) was informed, he considered it a plan from Allah and remained silent. After the cup was found in his brother’s luggage, he could not even defend him, otherwise it would be alleged that he was siding with a proven criminal and trying to save him, whereas a person like Yusuf (peace be upon him) would not be willing to become the target of such an accusation. The fact that our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) called two Ansari companions and informed them regarding the woman standing by him that she was Safiyyah (his wife) is proof of this. However, he did not call his brother a thief with his own tongue. You can gauge the purity and truthfulness of his nature from this statement: when the brothers said that their father is a very old and venerable man, please let him go and keep one of us in his place, Yusuf (peace be upon him) did not say that we will only detain the thief, but rather said, “We will only detain the one with whom we found our property.” This interpretation is completely in accordance with the verses, clear and simple, and there is no objection on Yusuf (peace be upon him) in it that would require an answer.

70. 1. The commentators have stated that this سِقَايَة (drinking vessel) was made of gold or silver, and besides being used for drinking water, it was also used for measuring grain. It was secretly placed in Binyamin's luggage.

70. 2. الْعِير originally refers to those camels, donkeys, or mules on which grain is loaded and transported. Here, it means أَصْحَابُ الْعِير, i.e., the people of the caravan.

70. 3. This attribution of theft was, correct in its own right because the announcer was not aware of the plan devised by Prophet Yusuf ﷺ, or it means that your condition is like that of thieves, as the king's cup, without the king's consent, is inside your luggage.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).