Defamation by Women Mentioned in Surah Yusuf According to Hamka: A Review

Many of the contemporary social and criminal problems are due to the defamation of women. This has been emphasised in the al-Qur’an and Hadith, especially about the dangers of women defaming men. The Prophet PBUH iterated, “I have not left behind me any fitnah (temptation) more harmful to men than women” (al-Tirmidhi). The Al-Quran had proven this through the narrative about Prophet Yusuf PBUH, who faced defamation after being seduced by Zulaikha. Hence, this working paper had identified the issue of defamation by women that exists in Surah Yusuf besides analysing the HAMKA interpretation pertaining to this issue. This study had employed the qualitative design involving library research. Therefore, the source of the primary data was the al-Azhar Interpretation text, which was considered a case study. Data in this study were analysed using the thematic method by gathering verses of the al-Qur’an related to Prophet Yusuf PBUH and Zulaikha according to a specific theme based on the HAMKA interpretations. Initial examinations found that the issue of defamation by women contained in Surah Yusuf referred to the seduction by Zulaikha due to sexual desires (hawa nafsu) because she was totally in love with Prophet Yusuf PBUH and possessed an immoral attitude prevalent among all the urban women at that time.