Why Did the Egyptian Noblewomen Cut Their Hands? Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥīʾs Interpretation of Qurʾān 12:31

• Main Author: Mustansir Mir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Religions
• Subjects: Qurʾān; Qurʾānic exegesis; Iṣlāḥī; Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī; Joseph; Zulaykhā
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/8/619

Sūra 12 of the Qurʾān, <i>Joseph</i>, tells the story of the prophet Joseph. He is bought as a slave by an Egyptian high official, whose wife—tradition calls her Zulaykhā—makes an unsuccessful attempt to seduce him, and is ridiculed by her peers for her failure to do so. She invites them to a banquet, hands them knives, and presents Joseph before them. Upon seeing him, the women cut their hands with the knives they are holding (Qurʾān 12:31). According to the generally accepted exegetical view, they do so because they were so awestruck by Joseph’s beauty that they did not know what they were doing and accidentally cut their hands while thinking that they were cutting some food item, like fruit. Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī differs from this view. He argues that the women wished to succeed where Zulaykhā had failed, and, unable to persuade Joseph in the beginning, they threatened to kill themselves if Joseph would not listen to them, and, to convince Joseph that they were serious in carrying out the threat, they deliberately cut their hands with knives. This article gives details of Iṣlāḥīʾs interpretation of the Qurʾānic verse in question and discusses how that interpretation calls for re-evaluating some crucial aspects of the Qurʾānic story of Joseph.