قَالَ مَعَاذَ ٱللَّهِ أَن نَّأْخُذَ إِلَّا مَن وَجَدْنَا مَتَٰعَنَا عِندَهُۥٓ إِنَّآ إِذًا لَّظَٰلِمُونَ
“He said: Allah forbid that we should seize save him with whom we found our property; then truly we should be wrong-doers.” — M. M. Pickthall
Zemahşerî12. c.✓ Citation verified
According to this exegete, the expression 'ma'azallah' is a formula of seeking refuge meaning 'we seek refuge with Allah from taking someone else instead of an innocent person'; here the infinitive (ma'az) has been annexed to the real object of the verb (min), and the particle 'min' has been omitted. The word 'izen' is in the nature of a response and punishment to their speech, because the meaning is 'if we take someone else in his place, we would have committed injustice.'
فأضيف المصدر إلى المفعول به وحذف من . و { إذا } جواب لهم وجزاء ؛ لأن المعنى : إن أخذنا بدله ظلمنا
Fahreddin er-Râzî12-13. c.✓ Citation verified
Râzî notes that Joseph's keeping his brother would constitute a legal injustice (zulm), but that Allah may have guided him to act in this manner. This may have been for the purpose of intensifying the trial directed at Jacob and preventing him from taking the path of forgiveness/compensation; this situation is compared to when Moses' companion was commanded to kill the child who, if he lived, would become insolent and disbelieve.
والجواب : لعله تعالى أمره بذلك تشديدا للمحنة على يعقوب ونهاه عن العفو والصفح وأخذ البدل كما أمر تعالى صاحب موسى بقتل من لو بقي لطغى وكفر
Kurtubî13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Kurtubî, this expression conveys the brothers' seeking refuge with Allah from holding the innocent one (Benjamin) in place of the guilty party, meaning that they refrain from taking someone else by acting contrary to the covenant they had made among themselves.
أي معاذ الله أن نأخذ البريء بالمجرم ونخالف ما تعاقدنا عليه أي أن نأخذ غيره
İbn Kesîr14. c.✓ Citation verified
According to this exegete, the relevant phrase expresses, with reference to a matter that people have stated and confessed to, that it is unacceptable for an innocent person to be held and punished together with the guilty one.
أي كما قلتم واعترفتم أي إن أخذنا بريئا بسقيم
Beydâvî13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to this exegete, the brothers invited Joseph to show mercy by telling him that their father was very old and offered to have one of themselves held as ransom in place of their lost brother; they said this either because he should complete the kindness he had shown them or because, as someone who always does good, he should not break his habit. Joseph responded that he could only take the person in whose possession his goods (water vessel) were found, and that taking someone else would be injustice even according to their own legal judgment. The exegete further conveys that Joseph's true intention was that Allah permits taking whoever the scale of burden is found upon for His pleasure and benefit, and therefore if he had taken someone else, it would have been injustice.
قال معاذ الله أن نأخذ إلا من وجدنا متاعنا عنده فإن أخذ غيره ظلم على فتواكم فلو أخذنا أحدكم مكانه. إنا إذا لظالمون في مذهبكم هذا
Taberî9-10. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Taberî, this expression denotes seeking refuge with Allah from holding an innocent person in place of a guilty one; it is noted that taking someone other than the person in whose possession the goods are found would mean doing something that does not belong to the person and committing injustice against people.
أستجير بالله من أن نأخذ بريئا بسقيم
Comparison
Common ground
Taberî, Kurtubî, Ibn Kathîr, and Zamakhsharî agree that the expression 'ma'azallah' carries the meaning of seeking refuge with Allah from holding an innocent person in place of a guilty one and punishing them; in this reading, the brothers' adherence to their own covenant and avoidance of injustice come to the foreground.
Differences
While Zamakhsharî and Kurtubî address the issue predominantly at the level of language and rhetoric (i'rab, annexation of the infinitive, omission of the prepositional particle), Taberî offers a narration-based explanation. Beydâwî adds a broader narrative context and elaborates on the brothers' request for mercy and Joseph's legal judgment. Râzî, on the other hand, addresses a different dimension by taking up the question of whether Joseph's conduct would be considered legally unjust and establishing this within the framework of divine guidance/trial, drawing comparison through analogy to the Moses narrative; this represents a more theological/scholastic approach than the others.
Historical context
The earliest exegete Taberî's narration-focused method evolved in later periods (Zamakhsharî, Kurtubî, Beydâwî) toward linguistic and rhetorical analysis; Ibn Kathîr combined narration and linguistic explanation once again. Râzî's theological inquiry approach added a different layer by incorporating theological issues such as the infallibility of prophets into exegesis, yet the fundamental meaning (the principle of not holding the innocent in place of the guilty) remained constant throughout all periods.
Modern connection
This verse reminds us that justice must be based on the principle of individual responsibility; one person should not be wronged because of another person's fault or debt. In family and social relations, a careful moral lesson can be drawn regarding the importance of acting conscientiously and fairly, standing by one's given word, and avoiding holding someone else unjustly responsible.
AI analysis — not a fatwa or ruling, not yet reviewed by a scholar