Al-Sijn
Definition
Al-sijn — the prison — is the place where Yusuf spent years after being falsely accused by Zulaykhah, despite his innocence being effectively established even before he was imprisoned. Ibn Kathir notes the extraordinary spiritual fact: Yusuf chose prison over sin, saying 'My Lord, prison is more beloved to me than what they are calling me to.' Far from being merely a place of suffering, the prison became Yusuf's school of patience, his platform for da'wah to his fellow inmates, and the context in which his gift of dream interpretation would eventually reach the Pharaoh. Ibn Kathir reads the prison not as a divine abandonment of Yusuf but as a divine positioning — placing him exactly where he needed to be to rise from slave to minister in one moment.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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