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qāla maʿādha llāhi ʾan naʾkhudha ʾillā man wajadnā matāʿanā ʿindahū ʾinnā ʾidhan la-ẓālimūna
He said, ‘God forbid that we should detain anyone except him with whom we found our wares, for then we would indeed be wrongdoers.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Yusuf – Verse 79
79. “He said: ‘Allah forbid that we take (anyone) other than him with whom we found our property. Indeed (if we did so) we would certainly be of the unjust ones’.”
Yusuf immediately turned down this proposal, implying that a just person will never punish an innocent man for an offence which had been committed by someone else. To do such a thing would make one an oppressor. The verse says:
“He said: ‘Allah forbid that we take (anyone) other than him with whom we found our property. Indeed (if we did so) we would certainly be of the unjust ones’.”
It is interesting to note that Yusuf never uses the word thief to refer to his brother, on the contrary, he says “him with whom we have found our property”. This is one of the signs indicating that he was careful to use no offensive language in all of his life.
Explanations
1. It is necessary for everyone to observe regulations and rules and breaking them is forbidden even for the ‘Aziz.
2. Breaking just laws is an act of oppression. One must not break laws at the behest of this and that person.
3. The innocent must not be held responsible and suffer the consequences for what someone else had done even when he consents to do so.