A Brother of His Stole Before

When they found the cup in the luggage of Binyāmīn, what did the brothers say? In yasriq fa-qad saraqa akhun lahu min qabl — if he steals, a brother of his has stolen before. They were talking about Yūsuf.

The mufassirūn say that what is meant by this — look at how information can be twisted — is that when Yūsuf was young, he did "steal". But what did he steal? They say — and this is a story from tafsīr; it may be valid, or it may not — that his grandmother had a small idol, and Yūsuf took it from her and destroyed it. So they used this and said: he stole before. But that is not really stealing; that is daʿwah — destroying a false god. In any case, they said: if he steals, a brother of his stole before.