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Who imprisoned Yusuf (Joseph), peace be upon him, and was his imprisonment by decision of a judge or by the Al-Aziz (Potiphar) himself?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The exegetes differed regarding the meaning of the pronoun "lahum" (to them/for them) in Allah's verse: {Then it appeared to them, after they had seen the signs, that they should imprison him for a time}. Some of them are of the view that it refers to Al-Aziz alone, in an act of veneration for him. Others believe it refers to Al-Aziz and those who were with him from among the people of counsel. Al-Suddi clarified that it was Al-Aziz's wife who convinced her husband to imprison Yusuf. The exegetes are of the opinion that the Holy Quran did not concern itself with this detail because it offers little benefit, and instead focuses on the point of lesson and wisdom, as the stories of the Quran are the best of stories.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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