Man by nature is a peeping tom and is always on the lookout of the faults of the others to let others down. As the saying goes, "Others' lawn is always greener," man is always jealous of what his brother, neighbour or friends have. Therefore his eyes keep tracking what others are doing or buying or their relations with others and position in the society.
Mostly women are in the habit of being jealous of others and spying, and looking for faults for others for the purpose of point scoring and let others down. The severing of blood relations is generally due to the jealousy and hating of others by women. In many a hadith, They also have heartburns when they see other women having a better life or riding a better car or living in a posh house happily with their families. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has cautioned women from such heinous acts and warned them of severe consequences on the Day of Judgement.
One such Hadith is mentioned in Sahi al-Bukhārī (Book 78 Good Manners and Form (Al-Adab) / كتاب الأدب / Chapter 57: Jealousy and mutual estrangement are forbidden / باب مَا يُنْهَى عَنِ التَّحَاسُدِ وَالتَّدَابُرِ ) as Hadith 6064, given herein under:
Narrated by Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for the others' faults and do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not desert (cut your relation with) one another, and do not hate one another; and O Allah's worshipers! Be brothers (as Allah has ordered you!")
Jealousy is often rooted in insecurities and fears that a person may not even realize they have. These could include fear of oversimplification, fear of inadequacy, fear of abandonment, fear of being replaced, and fear of being judged.
Jealousy may take any of the following forms:
Situational Jealousy.
Romantic Jealousy.
Creative Jealousy.
Envy Jealousy.
Pathological Jealousy.
Sexual Jealousy.
Attachment Jealousy.
Sibling Rivalry.
Just can over the forms of the jealousies mentioned above. The last one should be on the top as jealousy stems with the siblings for being loved more or given more attention by parents. Even sisters are jealous of the spouse of their sisters and envy their romantic attractions. One may go on and on to discuss this single evil act from which stem many other ills of spying, envy, even hatred. Such actions often end up in having lost former closeness and affection and result in a state of alienation from a previous close or familial relationship. Estrangement can leave one wondering where they belong, and who they belong to. Estrangement can cut lifelong roots, leaving one feeling adrift.
Thus the hadith above says it all about Jealousy and Mutual Estrangement which most of us harbour in our hearts and envy others. It must be remembered that each one of us is given our share by Allah, and it is not taken away from share of others, nor a part of our share is given to others. Let us live a contended life and be thankful to Allah for what He thought best for us. We cannot equate our possessions with others nor can have part or whole of possessions of others, unless we are from the evil and usurp others' rights and possessions.
Let us be brothers as Qur'an advises to be so as to create an aura of tranquility and brotherhood, rather than of enmity and severing of our bondage.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
For more hadiths on varying subjects, refer to our reference page: Sunnah and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to know more about Hadiths and Sunnah of Prophet of Allah. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references as given above. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors. If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.
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Whenever I pick up a Hadith attributed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, I get embarrassed and ashamed for we are only doing a lip service of being a Muslim while our actions are entirely tangent to teaching of Islam and preaching of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The Hadith selected for this post, about jealousy, suspicion and finding faults with others, is yet another warner which was as applicable to the initial times of Islam when the newly inducted Muslims continued to carry with them the habits and culture of the dark days. And today after almost 15 centuries, our habits are exactly the same for which Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had cautioned against.
This Hadith has been mentioned in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Book 78 Good Manners and Form (Al-Adab) كتاب الأدب / Chapter 57: Jealousy and mutual estrangement are forbidden بَابُ مَا يُنْهَى عَنِ التَّحَاسُدِ وَالتَّدَابُرِ) as Hadith 6064
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for the others' faults and do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not desert (cut your relation with) one another, and do not hate one another; and O Allah's worshipers! Be brothers (as Allah has ordered you!")
Now if we look at the Prophetic warning, we would realize that we have not changed since. Many of us are always on the lookout to find some fault with others, even close relatives, to save a point scoring or use it to their nefarious intentions. This post is more applicable to women for it is their habit to talk ill of others, being unnecessarily suspicious of others and always eavesdropping to pick up some "news" to be spread in their circles to belittle the others.
A recent trend is the use of spy cameras installed in hotels and rest houses where people of position stay to make videos of their private lives to blackmail them. I wonder whether such people read these Hadiths or are so indifferent to these sayings and sin by their jealous actions. I wish we become better Muslims someday.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references as given below. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors. If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 |
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Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Qur'ān - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
Sūrat Yūsuf is the twelfth surah with 111 ayahs with two rukus, part of the 12th-13th Juzʼ of the Holy Qur'an. This the fourth post on the exegesis of Sūrat Yūsuf. In the earlier posts, we presented:
An overview of the surah with an enlightening commentary from prominent scholar and teacher Nouman Ali Khan.
In Part I, the exegesis of verses 1-22 was given which gave details of the initial dream by young Yusuf and describing it to his father who takes it as indication of Yusuf being tipped to be a future prophet, and the jealousy of his brothers for him being specially liked by their father and his tacit abandonment by them in a well. His ultimate retrieval from the well by a passing caravan, and adoption by a merchant.
In Part II, exegesis of verses 23-35 was given which mainly centered on the seduction of Yusuf by the lustful wife of the merchant which Yusuf resisted. Although a witness defended innocence of Yusuf, the merchant's wife had him poisoned till he acceded to her dirty desires
Now in the Part III, the details of Prophet Yusuf's imprisonment will be deliberated upon wherein Prophet Yūsuf met two other men and interprets one of the prisoner's dreams. The prisoner is then released and Yūsuf asked the prisoner to mention his talent to the king. One day, the King had a dream, and the prisoner who had been released mention Yūsuf. He interprets the King's dream, which is about Egypt having a seven-year drought. To reward him, the King requests his release from jail and the King also investigates his case. The wife who tried to seduce Yūsuf testifies that he was innocent, and the truth unveils. Yūsuf is given authority in Egypt.
Let us now read the translation and exegesis in English of the Third Part, verses 36-53 (For Arabic Text, please refer to the references given below):
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
When ultimately Prophet Yusuf was prisoned, he found two more prisoners. According to the Bible, one of the two prisoners was the chief of the butlers of the king of Egypt, and the other the chief of the bakers. And according to the Talmud, they were condemned to the prison because during a feast stone grits were found in the bread and a fly in the wine.
And there entered the prison with him two young men. One of them said, "Indeed, I have seen myself [in a dream] pressing wine." The other said, "Indeed, I have seen myself carrying upon my head [some] bread, from which the birds were eating. Inform us of its interpretation; indeed, we see you to be of those who do good." (36)
The fact that two prisoners attested his righteousness shows that Prophet Joseph was held in high esteem in the prison. Otherwise there was no reason why the two should have requested him alone to interpret the dreams and paid their homage like this: We have seen that you are a righteous man. It clearly means that the events narrated in the preceding verses had reached all and sundry and the people, inside the prison and outside it, knew that he had not been guilty of any crime or sin. On the other hand, he had proved himself to be a noble soul who had come out successful in the hardest test of his piety. So much so that there was not the like of him in piety, not even among their own religious leaders in the whole country. That is why not only the prisoners but also the officers and officials of the prison looked upon him as an honorable man and had full confidence in him. The Bible confirms this: And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand. (Gen. 39: 22-23).
He said, "You will not receive food that is provided to you except that I will inform you of its interpretation before it comes to you. That is from what my Lord has taught me. Indeed, I have left the religion of a people who do not believe in Allah, and they, in the Hereafter, are disbelievers. (37) And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And it was not for us to associate anything with Allah. That is from the favor of Allah upon us and upon the people, but most of the people are not grateful. (38) O [my] two companions of prison, are separate lords better or Allah, the One, the Prevailing? (39) You worship not besides Him except [mere] names you have named them, you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. Legislation is not but for Allah. He has commanded that you worship not except Him. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know. (40) O two companions of prison, as for one of you, he will give drink to his master of wine; but as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. The matter has been decreed about which you both inquire." (41)
The verse 41 is the soul of this story, and is one of the best on the doctrine of Tawhid in the Quran itself, finds no place at all in the Bible and the Talmud. This is because they regard him merely as a wise and pious man and not as a Prophet. That is why Rev. Rodwell has, in regard to this passage, accused Muhammad (peace be upon him) of putting his own doctrine and conviction into the mouth of Yusuf (peace be upon him). But the Quran not only puts forward and presents these two aspects of his life in a much better and clearer way but also presents Yusuf as a Prophet, who had started propagating the message even in the prison.
As this discourse suggests several very important things, it will be worthwhile to consider these one by one:
This is the first occasion on which Prophet Yusuf appears to have begun the preaching of the true faith. For before this, the Quran reveals him in the different stages of his life as a man of high morality but does not say anything to show that he conveyed the message also. From this it is clear that those stages were of a preparatory nature and the mission of Prophethood was entrusted to him at the stage of his imprisonment and this was his first discourse as a Prophet.
Moreover, this was the first occasion when he revealed his identity to others. Before this, we find him bearing patiently everything that happened to him without revealing anything about his relationships with Prophet Ibraheem (Abraham, peace be upon him) and others. He kept silent when the caravan made him a slave and carried him to Egypt, when Al-Aziz bought him and when he was sent to prison. As Prophet Ibraheem, Ishaq(Isaac) and Ya'qub (Jacob, peace be upon them all) were quite well known, he might have used their names to his advantage. The members of the caravan, both the Ishmaelites and the Midianites, were closely related to his family, and the Egyptians were, at least, familiar with the name of Prophet Ibraheem. Nay, the way in which Prophet Joseph mentioned their names in this discourse, shows that the fame of his father, grandfather and great grandfather had reached Egypt. But in spite of this, Prophet Yusuf did not use their names on any of the critical occasions to save himself from the plight in which he was placed. This shows that probably he himself knew that these things were inevitable for his training for the mission for which Allah had chosen him. Now it was absolutely necessary for him, for the sake of his mission, to reveal this fact in order to show that he was not presenting any new faith but the same faith that was preached by Prophets Ibraheem, Ishaq(Isaac) and Ya'qub (Jacob, peace be upon them all). This was necessary because the message demanded that it should not be presented with the claim that it was a new and novel thing but that it was the same universal and eternal truth that has always been presented by its bearers.
This teaches us that one can, like Prophet Yusuf, carve out a way for the propagation of the message, if one has the intention and the required wisdom. The two men pay their homage to him and request him to interpret their dreams. In answer to this he says: I will tell their interpretations but let me first inform you about the source of my knowledge that enables me to understand dreams. Thus he takes advantage of their request and preaches his own faith to them. We learn from this that if a person is imbued with the true and strong desire for propagating the truth, he can very gracefully turn the direction of the conversation towards the message he desires to convey. On the contrary, if a person has no strong desire for the propagation of the message, he never finds any opportunity for it, even though hundred and one such opportunities might have come his way which could have been utilized for this purpose. But one must be on his guard to discriminate between the right use of an opportunity by a wise man from the crude propagation of a foolish and uncultured person, who tries to thrust the message into the ears of unwilling hearers and succeeds only in creating aversion for it in their minds because of his crude way of presentation.
This also teaches the right procedure that should be followed in presenting the message. Prophet Yusuf does not present, at the very start, the details of the creed and regulations of the faith but the most fundamental thing that distinguishes a believer from a non-believer, that is, the distinction between Tawhid and shirk. Then he presents it in such a rational manner as cannot fail to convince any man of common sense. And his argument must have impressed deeply on the minds of the two slaves. Which is better, various gods or One Omnipotent Allah? They knew it from their personal experience that it was much better to serve one master than a number of them. Therefore it was far better to serve the Lord of the universe than His servants. Moreover, he does not invite them directly to accept his faith and discard their own faith, but he very wisely draws their attention to this fact; This is Allah’s bounty upon us and upon all mankind that He has not made us the servants of any other than Himself, yet most of the people are not grateful to Him. Instead of serving Him alone, they invent gods for themselves and worship them. Then it is also noteworthy that his criterion of the faith of his addressees is based on wisdom and has no tinge of bitterness in it. He says: The gods whom you call, the god of wealth or the god of health or the god of prosperity or the god of rain etc. are mere names you have given them without any reality behind them. The real Owner of everything is the Supreme Allah Whom you also acknowledge as the Creator and the Lord of the whole universe. He has sent no authority and given no sanction to anyone for Godhead and worship, but has reserved all the powers, all the rights and all the authorities for Himself, and commanded, “Serve and worship none but Me.”
It may also be inferred from this discourse that Prophet Yusuf must have made full use of this opportunity of a decade for the propagation of the message. Some people think that that was the only time when he extended the invitation to the message. This is wrong for two reasons. First, it is absurd to imagine that a Prophet could have been neglectful of his mission for a long period. Second, it cannot be imagined that the person who availed himself of the opportunity when two men approached him for the interpretation of their dreams, could ever have passed a decade of imprisonment without propagating the message entrusted to him by his Lord.
And he said to the one whom he knew would go free, "Mention me before your master." But Satan made him forget the mention [to] his master, and Joseph remained in prison several years. (42)
As regards verse 42, some commentators have interpreted it like this: Satan made Prophet Yusuf neglectful of his Lord, Allah, so he placed his confidence in a man rather than Allah and desired him to mention him to his lord, the king, for his release. So Allah punished him by letting him languish several years in the dungeon. In fact, such an interpretation is absolutely erroneous for as Allamah Ibn Kathir and some early commentators like Mujahid, Muhammad-bin- Ishaq and some others say, the pronoun him refers to that person who he thought would be released. Therefore it will mean: Satan made him (the would be free man) so neglectful that he forgot to mention him (Prophet Yusuf) to his lord (the king). They also cite a tradition in support of their interpretation to this effect. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: If Prophet Yusuf had not said that what he said, he would not have remained in imprisonment for several years. But Allamah Ibn Kathir says: This Hadith cannot be accepted because all the ways in which it has been reported are weak. Moreover, two of the reporters, Sufyan-bin-Wakii and Ibrahim-bin-Yazid, are not trustworthy. Besides being weak on technical grounds, it is also against the dictates of common sense: if a wronged person adopted some measures for his release, he cannot be considered to be neglectful of God and guilty of the lack of trust in Allah.
Now in the subsequent verses, the dream of the King of Egypt and its interpretation by Prophet Yusuf has been given in some detail. The man who was freed after the interpretation of his dream by Prophet Ysusf in fact had forgotten to mention Prophet yusuf's ability to interpret dreams and to request the king to release him being a pious and wronged man. However when he came to know that king had been seeing dreams that worry him, he suddenly remembered of Prophet Yusuf and asked him of the interpretation of dreams seen by the king (verse 46):
And [subsequently] the king said, "Indeed, I have seen [in a dream] seven fat cows being eaten by seven [that were] lean, and seven green spikes [of grain] and others [that were] dry. O eminent ones, explain to me my vision, if you should interpret visions." (43) They said, "[It is but] a mixture of false dreams, and we are not learned in the interpretation of dreams." (44) But the one who was freed and remembered after a time said, "I will inform you of its interpretation, so send me forth." (45) [He said], "Joseph, O man of truth, explain to us about seven fat cows eaten by seven [that were] lean, and seven green spikes [of grain] and others [that were] dry - that I may return to the people; perhaps they will know [about you]." (46)
The Arabic word Siddiq (O man of truth above) is used for the one who is an embodiment of truth and righteousness. Thus it shows that the butler had been so deeply impressed with the pure character of Prophet Joseph that even years had failed to blot it from his heart. The meaning of Siddiq is best explained in Surah An-Nisa: Siddiq denotes someone who is utterly honest, someone whose devotion to truth has reached a very high point. Such a person is always upright and straightforward in his dealings. He supports nothing but right and justice and does so with sincerity. He opposes whatever is contrary to truth, and does not waver in his opposition to falsehood. His life is so unblemished and selfless that even enemies, let alone friends, expect of him unadulterated probity and justice.
That is, they might understand your true worth and realize their own error in keeping you in prison without any just cause. And in a way I may get the opportunity of fulfilling the promise I made with you during my imprisonment.
[Joseph] said, "You will plant for seven years consecutively; and what you harvest leave in its spikes, except a little from which you will eat. (47) Then will come after that seven difficult [years] which will consume what you saved for them, except a little from which you will store. (48)
The literal meaning of yasiroon (last word of verse 49) is: “they will press.” Here it has been used to denote that state of verdure which was going to prevail after the famine years because of rainfall and flood in the Nile. For, when the land will be watered, there will be abundance of seed to press oil, and abundance of fruit to press juice and abundance of fodder for cattle to press milk out of them. It should be noted that Prophet Joseph not only interpreted the king’s dream but also told them how to preserve and reserve grain during the first seven years of prosperity for the subsequent seven years of famine. Moreover he foretold the good news of prosperity after the seven years of famine, though there was no hint of this in the dream of the king.
Then will come after that a year in which the people will be given rain and in which they will press [olives and grapes]." (49)
The verses 50-53 should be read i conjunction with the incident of seduction of Prophet Yusuf described in Part II already published. Allah finally tells that righteous people and His chosen messengers can never be wronged and one day truth always prevails to absolve them of any bad experience or ill-framed false charges to debase them.
And the king said, "Bring him to me." But when the messenger came to him, [Joseph] said, "Return to your master and ask him what is the case of the women who cut their hands. Indeed, my Lord is Knowing of their plan." (50)
There is no mention in the Bible and the Talmud of this most important part of the story that Prophet Yusuf declined to quit the prison till his character was cleared (verse 50). On the other hand, according to the Bible: Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. And the Talmud depicts even a more degrading picture of the event. It says: The king ordered that Joseph should be brought before him. But he commanded his officers to be careful not to frighten the lad, lest through fear he should be unable to interpret correctly. And the servant of the king brought Joseph forth from his dungeon, and shaved him and clothed him in new garments, and carried him before the king. The king was seated upon his throne, and the glare and glitter of the jewels which ornamented the throne dazzled and astonished the eyes of Joseph. Now the throne of the king was reached by seven steps, and it was the custom of Egypt for a prince or noble who held audience with the king, to ascend to the sixth step; but when an inferior or a private citizen of the land was called into his presence, the king descended to the third step and from there spoke with him. (The Talmud, H. Polano, pp. 87-88).
A comparison of the degrading picture in the Talmud with this self respecting grand, and noble picture depicted in the Quran will convince every unbiased critic that the one in the Quran is worthy of a Prophet of Allah. Moreover the picture in the Talmud is open to a grave objection: Had Prophet Yusuf behaved like a frightened and cringing lad who was so dazzled by the glitter and glare of the jewels of the throne that he bowed to the ground, how was it that the king and the courtiers were so impressed by him that they declared, “......the Hebrew has proved himself wise and skillful and through his wisdom shall our country be saved the pangs of want”? So much so that the king appointed him, without demur as governor over the land, second only to himself. All this shows that by that time he had proved his moral and mental superiority and had enhanced it by his refusal to quit the prison without proving his innocence. Otherwise, they would have never raised him to the highest rank in such a civilized and advanced country as Egypt.
He demanded an inquiry into the matter not because he himself had any doubt of his innocence, but because he was perfectly confident of this: My Lord has full knowledge of my innocence and of their cunning. But your lord should also make a thorough inquiry as to why I had been sent to prison, for I do not want to go before the public with any blemish or blot on my reputation. Therefore a public inquiry should be held to prove that I was an innocent victim of the injustice of the chiefs and nobles of the country, who had cast me into prison in order to cover up the guilt of their own ladies.
The words in which the demand was made clearly show that the king was already fully acquainted with the details of the incident that had happened at the banquet of the wife of Al-Aziz. That is why a mere reference to it was enough. Another noteworthy thing in this demand was that Prophet Yusuf did not in any way hint at the part the wife of Al- Aziz had played in the event. This is another proof of his noble character that he did not like to involve and entangle the wife of his benefactor in the matter, even though she had done him her worst.
Said [the king to the women], "What was your condition when you sought to seduce Joseph?" They said, "Perfect is Allah! We know about him no evil." The wife of al-'Azeez said, "Now the truth has become evident. It was I who sought to seduce him, and indeed, he is of the truthful. (51)
The inquiry and the evidences must have helped to pave the way for Prophet Joseph’s rise in the land by concentrating the public attention on him, especially under the circumstances when the inquiry had been demanded by him. He had interpreted the dream of the king, when all the wise men, sooth sayers and the magicians had failed. Then he had refused to quit prison even though the king himself had ordered that he should be brought before him, and, instead of this, demanded an inquiry of the matter which had been the cause of his imprisonment. Naturally this thing would have filled the people with wonder and they would have been looking eagerly for the result of the inquiry. Thus it can be imagined how the evidences and the result of the inquiry raised his prestige so high that the king and his courtiers declared that he was the only fit person to save the country from the coming calamity. It is no wonder, then, that Prophet Joseph proposed that all the resources of the land should be placed in his hands, and the king accepted this proposal as soon as it was made. For, had it been merely the matter of the interpretation of a dream, the most he would have deserved was some reward and his release from prison. But he could not have said: Place the resources of the land in my hands, and the king would not have readily acceded to his proposal and given him all the powers in the land, as is contained in (Ayats 55-56), and confirmed by the Bible and the Talmud.
That is so al-'Azeez will know that I did not betray him in [his] absence and that Allah does not guide the plan of betrayers. (52)
Prophet Yusuf might have said these words in the prison when he came to know the result of the inquiry. But some commentators, including great scholars like Ibn Taimiyyah and Ibn Kathir, regard this sentence to be a continuation of the preceding speech of the wife of Al-Aziz. They argue that this sentence has been placed contiguous to her preceding speech without any dividing word between them to indicate that her speech had ended at “indeed, he is surely of the truthful”, and that the succeeding words were spoken by Prophet Yusuf. They construe that if two speeches made by two different persons are placed in contiguity, they must be separated by means of some definite word, or there must be some definite clue to it. As neither of these two things exists in this case, it may rightly be construed that the words contained in (Ayat 52) are the continuation of her preceding speech in (Ayat 51). I (Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi), however, am surprised how a great scholar of Ibn Taimiyyah’s insight has missed this point that the characteristic of a speech is in itself a clear and self sufficient clue. Her confession in (Ayat 51) fits in with her low character, but obviously the succeeding dignified and grand speech in (Ayat 52) is too high for her. That fits in only with the noble character of Prophet Joseph. It is obvious that this must have been uttered by one, who was righteous, generous, humble and God fearing. It is by itself a clear evidence that it could not have come out of the mouth of the one, who said: Come here, and what punishment does the one deserve, who shows evil intentions towards your wife? And if he will not yield to my bidding, he shall be cast into prison. On the other hand, such a pure speech fitted in with the one who said: May Allah protect me. My Lord has shown so much kindness towards me. Should I, then, misbehave like this? And my Lord, I prefer imprisonment to that to which they invite me. If Thou dost not ward off their cunning devices from me, I might be caught in their snares. Therefore one cannot ascribe such a pure speech to the wife of Al-Aziz unless there is a clear clue showing that by that time she had repented and believed and mended her ways, but there is no such clue. Thus it is clear that this speech must have been made by Prophet Joseph (peace be upon him).
And I do not acquit myself. Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except those upon which my Lord has mercy. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and Merciful." (53) The king said: "Bring him to me. I will select him exclusively for my own service." So when Joseph spoke to him the king said: "You are now one of established position, fully-trusted by us. (54)
So Prophet Yusuf was asked to be brought in front of the king who having been satisfied about his innocence and truthfulness wanted to reward him with some elevated position in his court as his trustworthy minister. The last verse 54 and the remaining part of the surah will continue in the Part IV of our series of posts shortly.
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Sūrat Yūsuf with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Part backwards for chapters in 30th Part are shorter and easier to understand).
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | An effort has been made to gather explanation of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic souses and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. However, those wanting detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to sites the references of which are given above.
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Sūrat Yūsuf is the twelfth surah with 111 ayahs with two rukus, part of the 12th-13th Juzʼ of the Holy Qur'an.
The first part of the segmented posts on the exegesis of Surah Yusuf contained verses 1-22 which dealt with the dreaming of the Prophet Yusuf and its interpretation by his father Prophet Ya'yah (Jacob, peace be upon them both). the plot of his ten brothers and throwing him in a well by deceit and Yusuf's retrieval by a passing convoy and his selling away to a rich merchant. The merchant, sensing the little boy to be from a good family, took him home and raised him like his own son or as a trusted slave. When the Prophet Yusuf grew up, he grew up to be a handsome young man with captivating beauty. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is believed to have once said, "One half of all the beauty God apportioned for mankind went to Prophet Yusuf and his mother; the other one half went to the rest of mankind." This beauty of Prophet Yusuf attracted the merchant's lustful wife, Zuleikha, which put the Prophet Yusuf in an awkward situation despite the fact that he remained steadfast to her advances. This second part of the Surah Yusuf (verses 23-35) explains in detail this particular incident.
Let us now read the translation and exegesis in English of the second part (For Arabic Text, please refer to the references given below):
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
(23) And it so happened that the lady in whose house Yusuf was living, sought to tempt him to herself, and one day bolting the doors she said: "Come on now!" Yusuf answered: "May Allah grant me refuge! My Lord has provided an honourable abode for me (so how can I do something so evil)? Such wrong-doers never prosper. (24) And she advanced towards him, and had Yusuf not perceived a sign from his Lord he too would have advanced towards her. Thus was Yusuf shown a sign from his Lord that We might avert from him all evil and indecency, for indeed he was one of Our chosen servants.
“Evidence of his Lord (verse 24: Yusuf not perceived a sign from his Lord)” means inspiration from Allah to rouse his conscience to the fact that it was not worthy of him to yield to the temptation by the woman. As regards to the question, “What was that evidence”, it has been stated in the preceding verse, that is: My Lord has shown much kindness towards me. Should I, then, misbehave like this? Such workers of iniquity never fare well. This was the divine evidence that saved Prophet Yusuf in the prime of youth from that great temptation. The significance of “And he would have desired her, if it had not been that he saw the evidence (sign) of his Lord” is this: “Even a Prophet like Yusuf could not have been able to save himself from sin, had not Allah guided him rightly with His evidence. Incidentally, this verse makes plain the nature of the immunity of Prophets from sin. It does not mean that a Prophet is infallible and incapable of committing any error, offense or sin or doing wrong or making a mistake. What it means is this: though a Prophet possesses passions, emotions, and carnal desires like other human beings, and is capable of committing a sin, he is so virtuous and God fearing that he never deliberately cherishes any evil intentions, for he is endowed with such great arguments from his Lord as do not allow the lusts of the flesh overpower the voice of his conscience. And if ever he succumbs inadvertently to any of the human weaknesses, Allah at once sends a revelation to him to set him on the right path. For the consequences of his error do not remain confined to his own person but react on the whole mankind, for even his slightest error might mislead the world to the most horrible sins. This incident took place in the life of Yusuf because this was essential for his spiritual training: "It was Our will to pass him through this hard test so that he should become immune from indecency and immodesty, for he would have to apply all his powers of piety to withstand such a great temptation, and thus become really so strong as not to yield to such things in future as well." The importance and the need of such a hard training becomes quite obvious, if we keep in view the moral conditions of the Egyptian society of that period. We can have a glimpse of this from (Ayats 30-32). It appears that the women in general and those of high society in particular, enjoyed almost the same sexual freedom as is rampant today in the civilized West and in the Westernized East. Allah made arrangements for the special training of Prophet Yusuf in the house of his master because he had to perform his divine mission in a perverted society, and that too as a ruler and not as a common man. It is thus obvious from the behavior of those women of high rank, who did not feel any shame nor modesty in openly admiring the beauty of the young slave and from that of the lady of the house who was not ashamed of confessing openly that she did her best to tempt him and would continue to do so, that they would have done all they could to allure the young handsome ruler. Thus Allah not only made Prophet Yusuf strong enough to resist such temptations in future by passing him through the hard test, but also filled the ladies with despair of gaining any success in this matter. The next few verses explain the event when the woman chased Yusuf and in trying to get hold of him, she pulled his shirt from behind which tore away. While this drama was on, the man of the house along with a visitor walked in and saw Yusuf with his shirt torn from the back. Seeing Yusuf in an awkward situation, the woman straightaway blamed Yusuf for making advances on her and demanded her husband to imprison him.
(25) Then both of them rushed to the door, each seeking to get ahead of the other, and she tore Yusuf's shirt from behind. Then both of them found the husband of the lady at the door. Seeing him she said: "What should be the punishment of him who has foul designs on your wife except that he should be imprisoned or subjected to painful chastisement?"
When her husband heard the story of the incident, he made this proposal: As each of them accuses the other and there is no eye witness of what happened between the two, the matter should be decided by the help of the circumstantial evidence, by examining the condition of Yusuf’s shirt. Obviously this was a very reasonable way of deciding the matter, and there was, therefore, no need to resort to a miracle. According to some traditions this witness was an infant, lying in the cradle, whom Allah had given the power of speech for giving this evidence. As this story is not supported by any authority, there is no reason why the obvious, plain and reasonable thing should not be accepted that the witness was a wise and experienced member of the family of the wife, instead of having resort to a miracle based on an unauthentic tradition.
(26) Yusuf said: "It is she who was trying to tempt me to herself." And a witness belonging to her own household testified (on grounds of circumstantial evidence): "If his shirt is torn from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is a liar.(27) But if his shirt is torn from behind, then she has lied, and he is truthful."
This is what was implied in the evidence: If Yusuf’s shirt is torn from the front, it means that Yusuf is the aggressor and she has struggled to defend her honor. But if the shirt is rent from the back, it is obvious that he must have been running away from her and she must have been tugging from behind. The circumstantial evidence implied another thing. As the witness invited the master’s attention to Prophet Yusuf’s shirt only, it meant that there was no sign at all of violence on the garments of the woman, for had he been the aggressor, there must have been some signs of violence on her garments.
(28) So when the husband saw Yusuf's shirt torn from behind he exclaimed: "Surely, this is one of the tricks of you women; your tricks are indeed great.(29) Yusuf, disregard this. And you - woman - ask forgiveness for your sin, for indeed it is you who has been at fault."
Here it may be of interest to note that in the Bible and Talmud, the incident is described differently:
And she caught him by his garment, saying: Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand and fled, and got himself out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying: See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got himself out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home...And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying: After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound. (Gen. 39: 12-16, 19-20).
In Talmud it says: ....hearing the accusation, Potiphar commanded at once that the lad should be whipped severely. Then he carried Joseph before the judges............They ordered that the torn garment should be brought to them and upon an examination of the same, they pronounced Joseph not guilty. (The Talmud Selections, H. Polano, pp. 81-82). Obviously this version is also faulty, for it cannot be imagined that a person of such a high rank would himself take the case to a court that his own slave had tried to assault his wife criminally.
Incidentally, this Quranic version of the story is a clear proof of the fact that it has no copied stories from the Israelite traditions as the pseudo-orientalists allege, but has, on the other hand, corrected them and told the real facts to the world.
In verses 30-31, the incident during assembly of Zulikeha's friends is mentioned, who had started to ridicule her for having fell for a slave.
(30) And some ladies in the city began to say: "The chief's wife, violently in love with her houseboy, is out to tempt him. We think she is clearly mistaken."
(31) Hearing of their sly talk the chief's wife sent for those ladies, and arranged for them a banquet, and got ready couches, and gave each guest a knife. Then, while they were cutting and eating the fruit, she signaled Yusuf: "Come out to them." When the ladies saw him they were so struck with admiration that they cut their hands, exclaiming: "Allah preserve us. This is no mortal human. This is nothing but a noble angel!"
(32) She said: "So now you see! This is the one regarding whom you reproached me. Indeed I tried to tempt him to myself but he held back, although if he were not to follow my order, he would certainly be imprisoned and humiliated."
The incident quoted above is an open declaration of woman of the house's immoral designs and show that the moral condition of the higher class of the Egyptian society had declined to the lowest ebb. It is quite obvious that the women whom she had invited must have been ladies belonging to the upper most stratum of the society. The very fact that she presented her beloved before them without any hesitation, in order to convince them of his beauty and youth that had urged her to fall in love with him, shows that there was nothing uncommon in this demonstration. Then these ladies did not reproach her but themselves practically demonstrated that, in those circumstances, they themselves would have done the same that she did. Above all, the hostess did not feel that it was immodest to declare openly: No doubt, I sought to seduce him and he succeeded in escaping from me. Yet I am not going to give him up. If he will not do as I bid him, he shall be cast into prison and humbled and disgraced. Surrounded by lust of the society that were homing on to him due to his beauty that attracted lustful feelings of women to him, Yusuf thus very humbly invokes his Lord to protect him from those traps of sin, for he is afraid of the common human weaknesses and cries out: My Lord, I am weak. I fear lest these temptations should overpower me, I would rather prefer imprisonment to doing such an evil thing into which they are tempting to ensnare me.
(33) Yusuf said: "My Lord! I prefer imprisonment to what they ask me to do. And if You do not avert from me the guile of these women, I will succumb to their attraction and lapse into ignorance." (34) Thereupon his Lord granted his prayer, and averted their guile from him. Surely He alone is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (35) Then it occurred to them to cast Yusuf into prison for a while even though they had seen clear signs (of Yusuf's innocence and of the evil ways of their ladies).
At this juncture, thus Allah listened to His chosen prophet and helped in being imprisoned so that he may be saved of any harm that may come to him. In fact the chain of events right from the first verse is a continuous training and hardening of Yusuf by Allah by putting him to various tests and his landing into prison still had a meaningful impact on the life of the people of Egypt which was saved due to correct and timely interpretation of the King's dream by imprisoned Yusuf. We will dwell on the time Yusuf spent in the prison in the Third Part in detail. The mention of the women of Egypt that labelled charges on Prophet Yusuf will again be made in verses 50-53.
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Sūrat Yūsuf with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Part backwards for chapters in 30th Part are shorter and easier to understand).
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | An effort has been made to gather explanation of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic souses and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. However, those wanting detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to sites the references of which are given above.
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook Follow @IslamUltimate
Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
Sūrat Yūsuf is the twelfth surah with 111 ayahs with two rukus, part of the 12th-13th Juzʼ of the Holy Qur'an. Since this surah is based on the life story of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph, peace be upon him) and chronologically describes the events of his life, we have divided the exegesis of the surah in four parts as already described in the Overview posted earlier. In this post, we will deliberated first 22 ayahs / ayats of the surah which deal with the early life of young Yusuf, his dream and its interpretation by his father, Ya'ya (Biblical Jacob) who himself was a prophet of Allah. And later the jealousy f his brothers towards him and throwing him into a well with the intention of murdering him and telling their father that Yusuf had been eaten away by a wolf. However, Allah saved Yusuf by a passing caravan and adopted by a rich merchant, in whose house he grew u to be a young handsome young man that put him in great trouble. Before the exegesis of the verses 1-22 is deliberated upon, here some information about the Prophet Ya'qub (Jacob, peace be upon him) and his family as found in the earlier scriptures:
Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel (the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin), lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister. He was Rachel's firstborn and Jacob's eleventh son. Of all the sons, Joseph was preferred by his father, and this is represented by a "long coat of many colors (In the Hebrew Bible, the coat of many colors is the name for the garment that Joseph owned, which was given to him by his father, Jacob.)".
Canaan was a Semitic-speaking region in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. The name Canaan appears throughout the Bible, where it corresponds to the Levant, in particular to the areas of the Southern Levant that provide the main setting of the narrative of the Bible: i.e., the area of Phoenicia, Philistia, Israel, and other nations.
The composition of the story can be dated to the period between the 7th century BCE and the third quarter of the 5th century BCE, which is roughly the period to which scholars date the Book of Genesis.
Let us now read the translation and exegesis in English of the first part (For Arabic Text, please refer to the references given below):
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" الٓر تِلْكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ ٱلْمُبِينِ *Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the clear Book. (1)
*The Muqaṭṭaʿāt (Arabic: حُرُوف مُقَطَّعَات ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt, "mysterious letters") are combinations of between one and five Arabic letters figuring at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 chapters (surahs) of the Quran just after the opening Bismillāh, thus also called the or occasionally called Fawatih (openers). Alif, Lam, Ra here in this surah are also part of these letters, the meaning of which is not known.
We have revealed it as a Recitation in Arabic that you may fully understand (2)
In verse 2 above, the Arabic word Quran “to read” is originally the infinitive form of the verb qara. When the infinitive form of a verb in Arabic is used as a name, it implies that that thing or person possesses the characteristics in their perfection. This Book has been named Quran to indicate that it is meant to be read by all and sundry and is to be read often and over and over again. As for the second part of the ayat above, this does not mean that this Book has been sent down exclusively for the Arabs. What it means is only this: "Of all the people, O Arabs, you should understand the excellences of the Qur'an, which are a sure proof of its being Divine Revelation, for it is in your own language and you have no excuse to put forward that it is in a foreign language which you do not understand. "
We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware. (3)
The verse 3 above is important to understand: This verse specifically revealed to impress indirectly on the unbelievers of Makkah the fact that the Messenger (ﷺ) did not know anything about the story of the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt, but was being informed of this by revelation from Allah. This introduction was necessary because the disbelievers had put an abrupt question concerning this matter in order to expose the Prophet (ﷺ) by this test. The answer is to this effect: Tell them, O Muhammad (ﷺ), that, though you did not know anything about the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt before this, you have now received a revelation about this from Us.
[Of these stories mention] when Joseph said to his father, "O my father, indeed I have seen [in a dream] eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me." (4) He said, "O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers or they will contrive against you a plan. Indeed Satan, to man, is a manifest enemy. (5)
Verse 5: As the meanings of the dream were quite obvious, Prophet Ya'qub (Jacob, peace be upon him) had a genuine fear that Yusuf’s ten step brothers would become all the more envious of him when they would hear this. So he warned his righteous son not to mention his dream to his brothers, for he knew that those sons of his did not bear the moral character worthy of the sons of a Prophet, and, therefore they were up to any evil design against him out of mere envy. As regards to the dream, the sun in it was Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him), the moon his wife, Prophet Yusuf’s step mother, and the eleven stars were his eleven brothers.
(As you have seen in the dream), so will your Lord choose you (for His task) and will impart to you the comprehension of the deeper meaning of things and will bestow the full measure of His favour upon you and upon the house of Ya'qub even as He earlier bestowed it in full measure upon your forefathers, Ibraheem (Abraham) and Ishaq (Isaac). Surely your Lord is All- Knowing, All-Wise. (6)
The Choosing by the Lord here means “Blessing him with Prophethood.” The Arabic words of the text do not mean merely “the interpretation of dreams”, as has been generally understood. These are comprehensive and imply also this: Allah will bless you with the full understanding of the problems of life and their solutions and will give you the insight to reach at the reality of every matter. Here it should be noted that the response of Prophet Ya'qub to the dream of Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon them), according to the Bible and the Talmud, are quite different from this: “And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (Gen. 37: 10). Even a little thinking will help one to arrive at the conclusion that his reaction as narrated in the Qur'an is worthy of the high character of Prophet Ya'qub and not the one found in the Bible and the Talmud. For Prophet Yusuf had not expressed any personal ambition of his but merely narrated his dream. If the dream was a true one, and it is obvious that Prophet Ya'qub interpreted it, believing it to be true, there was no reason why he should rebuke his own son, for it meant that it was the will of Allah and no his own ambition that he should one day rise to a high rank. Can then one expect from any reasonable person, not to mention a Prophet, that he would take it ill and rebuke the one who dreamed such a dream? And can there ever be such a noble father who would say bitter and stinging things to his own son for the sin of telling him a true dream, prophesying his future greatness?
Certainly were there in Joseph and his brothers signs for those who ask, (7) When they said, "Yusuf and his brother are more beloved to our father than we, while we are a clan. Indeed, our father is in clear error. (8)
Yusuf's brother mentioned in verse 8 refers to Benjamin. He was the real younger brother of Prophet Yusuf, and was his junior by many years. Their mother had died at the birth of Benjamin. That is why Prophet Ya'qub paid special attention to these two motherless children. Besides, Yusuf was the only son, in whom he had discerned signs of righteousness and capabilities. Accordingly, when Prophet Yusuf narrated his dream to him, he was all the more convinced of his future greatness, and was perturbed at the idea lest his brothers conspired against him out of envy, if they came to know of his dream, which was self explanatory. For Prophet Ya'qub knew that his other ten sons were not of the right type, and this was proved by the subsequent events. Therefore, naturally he was not happy with them. It is, however, strange that the Bible gives a different reason for the envy his brothers bore against Prophet Yusuf. They were filled with envy against him because Yusuf gave unto his father their evil report. In order to grasp the full significance of the grievance the ten sons had against their father for neglecting them, we should keep in view the conditions of the clannish life. As there was no established state, each clan led its own independent life side by side with other clans. It is obvious that the power of the head of the clan depended entirely on the number of sons and grandsons, and brothers and nephews he had to defend the life, honor and property of the family. Therefore, the one leading the clannish life naturally paid more attention to his own grown up sons, etc., than to children and women of the family. As Prophet Ya'qub was leading clannish life, these sons of his expected a preferential treatment from him, but the Prophet thought otherwise. So they remarked: Truly our father seems to have lost his balance of mind; otherwise he could not have neglected us, and loved our two younger brothers more than us, for we are strong young men and can stand him in good stead at the time of need while these youngsters are useless as they themselves stand in need of protection.
‘Jubb Yussef’ - said to be the Well of Prophet Yusuf: Located near Kibbutz Amiad in the Galilee. It consists of a dug-out pit with a diameter of one meter and depth of about four meters, roofed by a cupola supported by four pillars, and surrounded by ancient graves.[Photo/Source]
Thus the ten brothers plotted to kill Prophet Yusuf as as to gain chieftain. However, one of them was not in favour of killing and proposed to throw Prophet Yusuf in some well, from where he may be picked up by passing caravans and thus they would get rid of him.
Kill Joseph or cast him out to [another] land; the countenance of your father will [then] be only for you, and you will be after that a righteous people." (9) Said a speaker among them, "Do not kill Joseph but throw him into the bottom of the well; some travelers will pick him up - if you would do [something]." (10)
So they approached their father and to send Prophet Yusuf with them to stand guard to them while they played around:
They said, "O our father, why do you not entrust us with Joseph while indeed, we are to him sincere counselors? (11) Send him with us tomorrow that he may eat well and play. And indeed, we will be his guardians. (12)
In the verse 12, the Quran differs from the Bible and the Talmud, according to which it was not the brothers, who requested their father to send Joseph with them but Prophet Jacob himself sent him with an errand to Shechem, where they were feeding their father’s flocks. Obviously the version of the Quran is more realistic, for Prophet Jacob could never have thought of sending his beloved son with them because he knew it well that they were envious of him, and sending him there would have been sending Joseph deliberately into the jaws of death.
[Jacob] said, "Indeed, it saddens me that you should take him, and I fear that a wolf would eat him while you are of him unaware." (13) They said, "If a wolf should eat him while we are a [strong] clan, indeed, we would then be losers." (14) So when they took him [out] and agreed to put him into the bottom of the well... But We inspired to him, "You will surely inform them [someday] about this affair of theirs while they do not perceive [your identity]." (15)
Skeptical of his te4n sens' hidden desires to harm Yusuf, the father was very reluctant to let Yusuf go, but ultimately gave in to his sons. When his brothers threw up in the well, he received a Divine revelation of him being saved and meeting his brothers again one day when they will not be able to recognise him. There is no mention of this in the Bible and the Talmud that Allah sent a revelation to comfort Prophet Joseph at that time of his affliction. On the contrary, the Talmud says that when he was thrown into the well, Prophet Joseph wept and cried aloud and implored his brothers for mercy, as if he was no better than any other lad of the desert, who would weep and cry if he were to be thrown into a well. But the picture the Quran depicts is that of a young man, who is destined to play the part of a great personality in history.
And they came to their father at night, weeping. (16) They said, "O our father, indeed we went racing each other and left Joseph with our possessions, and a wolf ate him. But you would not believe us, even if we were truthful." (17)
As feared to lose his son at the hands of his brothers, the band of evil minded brothers came lamenting that Yusuf had been attacked by a wolf and killed. As a "proof" they had brought back Yusuf's shirt with blood stains on it.
And they brought Yusuf's shirt, stained with false blood. Seeing this their father exclaimed: "Nay (this is not true); rather your evil souls have made it easy for you to commit a heinous act. So I will bear this patiently, and in good grace.13 It is Allah's help alone that I seek against your fabrication. (18)
In the verse 18, not satisfied with the cooked up story of his ten sons, Prophet Ya'yah sad that he well bear the news with "Patience in grace.". The literal meaning of “patience in grace” which implies a patience that enables one to endure all kinds of troubles and afflictions in a calm, self possessed and unemotional manner, without complaining or crying or weeping, as is worthy of great minds. Even today when someone is in distress, he is comforted by saying" May Allah bless you to bear the grief in grace." Here again, the Prophet Ya'yah’s reaction to the news of Joseph’s death, as depicted in the Quran, differs from that given in the Bible and the Talmud. According to them he was upset by the sad news and behaved like an ordinary father. The Bible says: And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins. And mourned for his son many days. (Gen. 37: 34). And the Talmud says that at the sad news Jacob gave himself up to the abandonment of grief, and lay with his face to the ground and refused to be comforted, and cried: Some wild beast has devoured Joseph and I shall never see him more; and he mourned for Joseph for many years. (The Talmud, H. Polano, pp. 78, 79). When we contrast this picture with the one depicted in the Quran, we clearly see that the Quranic picture is that of a dignified and great personality. He is not upset in the least at hearing the sad news of his beloved son but at once gets to the bottom of the matter, and tells the envious brothers: Your tale is false and fabricated. Then he shows good patience as a Prophet should and puts his trust in the help of Allah.
And there came a company of travelers; then they sent their water drawer, and he let down his bucket. He said, "Good news! Here is a boy." And they concealed him, [taking him] as merchandise; and Allah was knowing of what they did. (19) And they sold him for a reduced price - a few dirhams - and they were, concerning him, of those content with little. (20)
In the verses 19-20 above, the retrieval of Prophet Yusuf from the well and his being sold for a paltry amount is mentioned. Though the matter of the disposal of Prophet Joseph by his brothers was simple, the Bible has made this very complicated. It is obvious that the brothers threw Joseph into the well and went away. Afterwards a caravan came there and pulled him out and carried him to Egypt where they sold him. But the Bible says that the brothers cast him into a pit: then a company of Ishmaelites came there and they agreed to sell him to them. But in the meantime the Midianite merchantmen had drawn and lifted up Joseph and sold him to the Ishmaelites who brought him into Egypt. (Gen. 37: 25-28). But the authors of the Bible forget this sale transaction and further on in v. 36 say that Prophet Joseph was sold in Egypt by the Midianites and not by the Ishmaelites as stated in v. 28. But the Talmudic version of the matter is a little different from this. It says that the Midianites drew Joseph up from the pit and carried him along with them. As they passed by, the sons of Jacob saw Joseph with them and accused them of stealing their slave. At this a furious quarrel arose and they were ready to enter upon a bloody fray. But a bargain was concluded and the sons of Jacob sold their brother to the Midianites for twenty pieces of silver, who afterwards sold him to the Ishmaelites for the same amount. Then the Ishmaelites took him into Egypt and sold him there. Incidentally, it is this Talmudic version that has given rise to the tradition among some Muslims that the brothers of Joseph had sold him. But it should be noted that the Quran does not confirm this tradition.
And the one from Egypt who bought him said to his wife, "Make his residence comfortable. Perhaps he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son." And thus, We established Yusuf in the land that We might teach him the interpretation of events. And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know. (21) And when Joseph reached maturity, We gave him judgment and knowledge. And thus We reward the doers of good. (22)
Now we come to the last two verses of the Part I. Here again there are some differences between the earlier scriptures and the Islamic traditions.
According to the Bible te man who purchased Yusuf, his name Potiphar. But the Quran mentions him merely by the title (Al-Aziz). As the Quran uses the same title for Prophet Yusuf, when he rose to a high rank, it appears that the person held a high office or rank in Egypt, for the word Aziz stands for a powerful person who cannot be opposed and disobeyed. The Bible and the Talmud say that he was an officer of Pharaoh’s body guards and captain of the guard. And according to a tradition from Ibn Abbas, related by Ibn Jarir, he was the officer of the royal treasury.
According to the Talmud the name of his wife was Zuleikha and she is known by the same name in the Muslim traditions. As regards to the other tradition among the Muslims that Prophet Yusuf married her afterwards, it is neither based on the Quran nor on the history of the Israelites. And the fact is that it is below the dignity of a Prophet to have married such a woman about whom he had personal knowledge that she was of a bad character. And this opinion is confirmed by this general statement of the Quran: Women of bad character are for men of bad character and men of bad character are for women of bad character. And the women of pure character are for men of pure character, and the men of pure character for the women of pure character. (Surah An-Noor, Ayat 26).
The fact that Potiphar had a very high opinion of Prophet Yusuf from the very beginning is also confirmed by the Talmud and the Bible. The Talmud says that at this time Joseph was about eighteen years of age (and) Potiphar was very favorably impressed with his bearing and appearance. So he came to the conclusion that he belonged to some noble family and had been made a slave by the force of adverse circumstances. When the Midianites carried him before Potiphar, he said: He does not look like a slave and I fear he has been stolen from his country and his home. That is why Potiphar did not treat him like a slave, but put him in charge of his house and all his possessions. Likewise the Bible says: And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. (Gen. 39: 6).
This verse alludes to the special training Prophet Yusuf needed at that time for the performance of the duties of the high rank to which he was destined to rise. Up to that time, he had been brought up in the desert, under the environment of a semi nomadic life of a shepherd. There was neither any settled state in Canaan and Northern Arabia nor had there been any appreciable progress in culture and civilization, for it was inhabited by different independent clans with no settled government. Thus it is obvious that the training that Prophet Joseph had received in Canaan, had equipped him with the good characteristics of nomadic life coupled with the qualities of God worship and high morality of the family of Prophet Abraham. But this was not enough to enable him to direct the affairs of Egypt, which was at that time one of the most cultured and civilized countries of the known world and required a different experience and training for the conduct of its affairs. The All Powerful Allah made arrangements for this training and sent him to the house of an officer of a very high rank in Egypt, who entrusted him with full powers over his house and estate. This enabled him to develop all those latent abilities that were needed to fulfill his destiny, and he gained the experience that was required for the efficient conduct of the affairs of the kingdom of Egypt in the years to come.
The Part II will dwell on the details of lustful desires of Zuleikha over Prophet Yusuf and despite being proven innocent, he landed up in the prison, which will be the Part III of our future posts.
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Sūrat Yūsuf with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Part backwards for chapters in 30th Part are shorter and easier to understand).
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | An effort has been made to gather explanation of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic souses and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. However, those wanting detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to sites the references of which are given above.
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