Art Thou Zuleikha? A Mirror for the Self-Deception

When people are corrupt and refuse to acknowledge their own lies and wrongdoing, they do not hide. They never have. Instead, the ego doubles down, rallying a crowd to cheer it on and selecting a scapegoat to bear the burden of its guilt.

When others choose to step away or disengage, they recognize the futility of engaging such individuals. As the saying goes: “Never argue with a pig, you’ll both get dirty, and the pig enjoys it.”

Those who delighted in this conflict—who laughed and found pleasure in the spectacle—have made themselves visible. There is no ambiguity in their intent. Now that their true nature has revealed itself to us, and themselves, the lesson is clear: Do not engage. Not out of fear. Not out of silence. But out of clarity.

Distance is not retreat. It is wisdom.

Within every soul, there rages a quiet battle—echoed in chapter twelve of the Quran, the story of Yusuf and Zuleikha (Surah Yusuf). Zuleikha is more than a character; she is a reflection of self-deception: seductive or charismatic, strategic, and defiant. When the ego practices self-love, self-compassion, and self-forgiveness, yet bypasses remorse and God, it cloaks itself in virtue while feeding on kade, or sinful cunning games.

This behavior mirrors what I’ve come to call the self-love delusion.

The “self-love crowd” often speaks of compassion, healing, and forgiveness. But when challenged, when their narrative is contradicted, what emerges is not love, but malice. Vindictiveness. Dismissal. If you were full of love, why is all this malice coming out of you?

True love honors freedom. Prophet Muhammad (upon him peace and blessings), when facing tensions in his marriage, offered his wives the choice, to stay with him or part ways with dignity and a gift. That is not control. That is prophetic love, rooted in self-restraint and autonomy.

When love is ego-driven, it ends in harm: lies, gossip, slander, scheming, and dehumanization. It reveals a lack of self-control, a longing to manipulate others, even to claim God as “mine,” forgetting His sovereignty entirely.

True love is rooted in self-restraint, accountability, and mercy. It requires us to ask:

Do my relationships draw me closer to God?
Or do they feed my need to be right, admired, or in control?

Yusuf (upon him peace) walked away from performance. He disengaged from Zuleikha’s schemes and became a mirror, not to shame her, but to invite repentance (Qur’an 12:51). Behind bars, he was freer than those bound by their image. He was prepared by God to serve, not for applause, but out of integrity.

And so today, as leaders and influencers hold influence over thousands, the question remains:

Art thou Zuleikha? Obsessed with being right, craving control, needing the crowd to believe what you’ve locked away?

Or art thou Yusuf? Faithful, free, uninterested in proving a point, because you serve a Lord who already knows the truth.

The spirit of Zuleikha can inhabit any of us, whispering through self-deception, the desire to dominate, to manipulate, to be right, or to protect ego at the expense of truth. Yusuf is the soul: steadfast, tested, and rooted in God’s mercy as Al-Wali, the Protecting Friend. The ego locks doors and assembles mobs; the soul walks away, seeking God’s nearness over the world’s applause.

In Surah Yusuf, Zuleikha tempts Yusuf (upon him peace), not just with desire, but with power. When he resists, she locks the doors, both literally and metaphorically, and summons the women of the city to support her narrative. What should have led to reckoning became a spectacle. What should have allowed for reflection and remorse, a migration to God, turned into manipulation.

And that story is not confined to the past.

Today, its echoes are familiar. Tamara Gray, Yasmin Mogahed, Dalia Mogahed, Rania Awaad, Haifaa Younis, and their associates, men and women, long held up as a voice of spiritual piety, invited, patiently and respectfully, to a process of reasoning, cross-examination, and if necessary, graceful withdrawal. Instead, they declined all forms of scrutiny and chose kade, sinful cunning, to preserve their image while evading the truth. Rather than present evidence or allow for cross-examination, they used their platforms to mislead, present unverifiable claims, and manipulate and hype followers against mutual examination of claims.

Like Zuleikha, they refused reflection and rallied a lack-of-faith mob, the flies who prefer trash to honey. they spent not their faith seeking justice, but seeking advantage, reaching for dirt behind others’ backs while locking the doors to honest cross-examination. Truth did not guide them, ego did.

This is not a matter of personality. It is a matter of principle. It is a matter of faith.

Yusuf (upon him peace) did not retaliate. He did not match manipulation with manipulation. He walked away from Zuleikha’s games, and in doing so, became her mirror. A mirror that exposed what the crowd could not see. A mirror that eventually forced Zuleikha to confront herself, not because she was shamed into repentance, but because truth held still long enough for her soul to catch up.

We must ask: Are we willing to be examined? Or do we use sacred language to silence examination and defend ego?

Even the Prophet Muhammad (upon him peace and blessings) welcomed counsel and correction. He never used religion to avoid responsibility. To claim revelation while shutting out due process and cross-examination is not tawakkul—it is Zuleikha dressed in faith.

Yusuf’s freedom was not just from prison. It was from the Zuleikhas’ spirit who needed control and to be right, more than pleasure of God, clarity, and to evolve.

So to those observing this moment, to those hurt by it, and to those tempted to imitate it, this is a mirror.

Art thou Zuleikha? Seduced by ego, not Satan? Seeking power, influence, validation, large mob, and being right, even if it betrays truth and your soul?

Or art thou Yusuf? A soul that walks away, not to win, but to worship God?

And to those who have sealed themselves inside the echo chambers they built, refusing accountability while demanding reverence, I say:

The Prophet Muhammad (upon him peace and blessings) said: A liar has no faith.

Make Hijrah. From performance to faith. From applause to repentance. From curated poses to modesty. From kade behind locked doors to hearts flung open welcoming purification, ready to be cross-examined before God. These souls aren’t chasing status or to rise, they’re seeking for the truth to rise.

Make Hijrah. Before the mirror becomes a verdict from God.