Surah Yusuf #13

He said, “It makes me sad that you should take him, and I fear that some wolf might eat him up when you are heedless of him.”

Surah Yusuf #13

TAFSEER

He said (and this is an emphasis here again), “Surely it will make me very sad that you should take him away.” This shows us how correct the brothers were when they said that their father was completely in love with Yusuf. He cannot bear to be away from Yusuf for one day.

He said, “I will be sad if you take him away.” SubhanAllah there is a deeper meaning here: “Aren’t I going to be even more sad if you take him away permanently?”

The point is that they wanted to take him away for one day, but there is a subtle message here because they will take him away for a long time, not permanently but for 30-40 years.

He is telling them, “I will go into grief if you take him away.” That is exactly what happens that he goes into grief until he loses his eyesight. He is telling them, and these are the warning signals beforehand, that “I will be very grieved if you take him away.” They don’t heed this advice, and they have deaf ears.

And I am worried and I am scared that a wolf might eat him.

Most scholars say, and this seems to be the strongest opinion, He is not genuinely worried about wolves, but he is trying to find an excuse to somehow prevent. He says one thing that is completely factual: “I will be very grieved if you take him away”, and then he adds another thing, which is not a lie but it’s not the full truth, and this is something that is permissible in Islam and is called tawriyah (double meaning). It is saying one thing, which is understood other than what you intended. His intention is that there is one chance in a million that a wolf would eat him; it’s not a big probability. He is intending to say, “I just don’t want you to take him,” but he cannot say that wording, so he uses a very flimsy excuse, which is factual and not a lie.

There is a back and forth and there is an emotional struggle going on. The brothers are persistent and have laid out the plot to get Yusuf. Ya‘qub could have said yes, but he tries one more attempt, and they refute that attempt as well.

AUTHENTIC TAUHEED

A proper father is aware of the psychological and mental state of his children

  • Examine your kids, if they have a tawheed of jinn problem, you’ll sort it out
  • A proper father knows how his children think
  • A proper father knows his children’s

LESSON

Sometimes you know when someone is lying, but you shouldn’t say it without proof.

It is important to recognize that our parents have knowledge and judgment which should be respected because what you are experiencing as a child or teen, your parents have experienced as well. The same is true for parents. See them as professionals at life, and it will help you to develop a different level of respect for them. Because they have been through what you are going through in your life so they can help and guide you.

  1. Some children are trials for their parents and parents must learn how to deal with them. We cannot expect our family to be perfect. More often then not they will do things to annoy us or irritate us. We should not express our anger and our hatred towards them. We should not cut our relationships with them. This is what Shaitan wants us to do. Every time Shaitan puts some negative thought in your minds about one of your family members, then you must immediately remember Allah is not pleased with you having such hatred for members of your family.
  2. Your parents do know what’s right and what’s wrong for you, let your opinion be known, but never disrespect their decision. As you keep reading this story you will understand how costly it can be not to listen to your father. And parents, there is a message for you too here: Don’t treat your children differently on the basis of gender or age, you will see the potential consequences of that in the next few Verses.

Beware of emotional blackmail

Internally Ya’qub sensed that they might do something bad to Yusuf but the brothers kept trying to make the father look bad by insisting that they were his well-wishers and blaming their father for not trusting them. This is similar to kids nowadays who want to go to clubs and blame their parents for not trusting them and that they are going there to give dawah while in fact they are going there to just party.

Surah Yusuf #12

Send him with us tomorrow, that he may eat and play, and of course, we will remain as guards for him.

Surah Yusuf #12

TAFSEER

They are saying, “Why don’t you trust us while we have so much love for him?

Tomorrow we are going on a picnic and on a time to have fun, so send him with us tomorrow.” In another qira’a: “Either we will [or he will] have fun, play, and we will eat.” The reason they say this is they mean that they are going to enjoy a bountiful, luscious meal.

They are going to play. This shows us that playing and having a good time is something that is halal in our religion if it doesn’t go to an extreme. La‘ib means to play, and lahu means pastime and amusement. La‘ib is something that you do which is not as serious and not as noble as other things but is permissible in moderate quantities. Lahu is a complete waste of time, and there is no benefit whatsoever in it.

These are the children of a prophet, grandchildren of a prophet, and great-grandchildren of a prophet, and they are saying that they are going to play. Some people make Islam way stricter than it is and say, ‘you should not be playing’ or ‘the masjid should not organize a play event’ or ‘if you are an adult, then you have to have a very serious mannerism and cannot have fun with the children.’

They are adults and children of a prophet and eventually become prophets. They are saying that they want to go play. This clearly shows that a little bit of moderate quantity of playing is something that is healthy and a requirement of life. You cannot live without a little bit of playing.

They say, “Send him with us tomorrow. We will eat lots of food, and we will play.”

The reason they are telling this to their father is: “Don’t you want Yusuf to enjoy as well? We are going to have a fun time. If you really love Yusuf…” This is emotional blackmail and turning the tables. First, they make him feel guilty by saying, “Why don’t you trust us? We are his brothers. What is your problem? Now they add the icing on the cake. “We are having a good time, why don’t you want to send Yusuf? We are going to have good food, and he is going to play. Don’t you want him to be happy?” Then to emphasize that point: “Of course, surely we will protect him.

The highest possible way of emphasis in Arabic called tawkeed. Tawkeed is to emphasize. We don’t emphasize in English anymore, but in Arabic there is still emphasis. You can have single emphasis, double emphasis, or triple emphasis. Generally the highest is triple emphasis.

This is triple emphasis: inna, laam, and laam with the dhameer [and the reason the ‘la‘-hu here is emphatic is it is munfasil muqaddim, so we could say innaa nahfadhuhu ‘we will protect him’ where it is mutassil (connected), and when we take this dhameer and separate it, putting it before we are adding emphasis and now the meaning reads ‘of a surety, him we will protect / we will make extra protection of him.’

If you don’t understand any Arabic, you will understand one thing. When Allah mentions that He will protect the Qur’an, He uses the exact same wording: inna nahnu nazzalnaa’l-dhikra wa inna lahu lahafidhoon [15:9]. This is the exact same wording that the brothers of Yusuf are saying, meaning they couldn’t have said it more powerfully.

Notice the previous verse says ‘inna lahu lanaasihoon,’ and this verse says ‘inna lahu lahaafidhoon.’ Naasihoon means ‘we want good for him’ and hafidhoonmeans ‘we will protect him from other evil.’ They have shot down all excuses of Ya‘qub, and there are no excuses left. “We want good for him and will protect him from external evil.” There is no evil internal because we are naasihoon, and there is no evil external because we are haafidhoon.

Now that they have eliminated all excuses, Ya‘qub could have said, ‘Okay, khalasgo,’ but there is still something in this heart, which is instinct, and in Arabic the word is firasah. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Beware of the firasah of the believer because it is true.” What does firasah mean? We can translate it in English as a gut instinct or something that you sense – for the kids here, it is ‘spider sense’; some tingling goes off. You know something is wrong. This is a type of firasah.

The more iman that you have, the more you will have this firasah. It is an instinct, so you keep it internal. You cannot say it to anybody. You cannot base your judgment that ‘I think this.’ Firasah is an internal thing and you do not mention it to other people.

Ya‘qub has this firasah because he is a prophet, and he knows that something is not right. He could have said after this beautiful introduction of the children, “What excuse do you have?” He still makes another attempt, and this really shows his concern. Not once has he ever handed Yusuf over to them, and never has he allowed Yusuf to be alone with them without his supervision. Now that they have laid it this way, he tries one more thing.

LESSON:

the believer’s firāsa is true. Firāsa means intuition and a gut instinct. We believe that a gut instinct is something Allāh sometimes blesses you with. The more righteous you are, the more your moral compass and gut instinct will be rightly guided. Ya‘qūb knew something was wrong. There was no solid evidence, but his heart is telling him, “My kids are up to no good, and something is wrong. You cannot use this to charge anybody with a crime and cannot use it in a court of law. If something doesn’t feel right and if this is from Allāh ‘azza wa jall, then there is a reality to it. As we said, the closer you are to Allāh, the more true your intuition is going to be. This is a blessing of being close to Allāh that your intuition will then be rightly guided

Surah Yusuf #11

They said (to Yaqoob), “Our father, why is it that you do not trust us about Yusuf, while we are his well-wishers Indeed.

Surah Yusuf #11

TAFSEER

We had reached the story of Yusuf where the brothers of Yusuf were trying to convince their father to hand over Yusuf to them.

They said, “Oh our father, why don’t you trust us with Yusuf? Why don’t you give us the protection of Yusuf? And indeed surely, we are those who want good for him.

From this wording when they say “Oh our father, why don’t you give us Yusuf?”

it shows that before this time, Yusuf was not being given to them. Before this time, the brothers had never had the opportunity to take care of Yusuf. This means the father was taking precautions from before and not allowing the brothers to take Yusuf. They know that there is a problem, and they know that their father does not trust them.

They go to their father and make him feel guilty. They say, “Oh our father, why don’t you hand over our brother to us? How can you doubt our intention? We only want to enjoy his company. We want his good. (wa inna lahu la naasihoon).” They say, “What is the matter? What is the issue? Is there any problem?” By doing this, they take on an offensive and are not pacifist in trying to get Yusuf from their father.

LESSON

The importance of being cautious of the evil results of sins, because one sin often leads to many others. For the brothers of Yusuf tried varying plots when they wanted to separate him from his father; they lied many times, they falsified the blood on the shirt, they came at night pretending to cry, and all of this is as a result of one sin, one thing leading to a next.

Surah Yusuf #10

One amongst them said, “Don’t kill Yusuf, but throw him into the ghayaab (recesses) of the well. Some travelers will find him, and they will take him.”

Surah Yusuf 10

TAFSEER

They said “throw him into the jubb (well),” they know exactly which well they are talking about. There is a well that is well-known and famous which they know. This is a rudimentary well and not the well that they are regularly using. If it was the well that they were regularly using, then it would be the built-up well. This is a faraway well, which some of the travelers would use, and not frequented by the local people, otherwise it would be built up.

Some travelers will find him, and they will take him.

“One of them said…”

Some people say that this was the oldest because he will come again and again in the story. Others say that this was another brother.

Regardless, this is the perfection of Allah’s storytelling in that He does not give us details that are useless. If you read the Old Testament or any book of history, you get bored so fast because there are so many details that are irrelevant. The beauty of Qur’anic stories is that you never get bored because Allah tells you what you need to know and does not tell you what you do not need to know. Who cares which brother it was? How do we benefit? There is no relevance at all. If we were to say, “Simon said this or Rubiyal said that or Raqiem said that” and then in the next story another one and then the next version, we would all get confused who did what. In Allah’s Mercy, He said, “One of them said.” This is perfection.

No doubt, the one who said this is the one who has more intelligence and more piety than the others.

“…if you must do something,…”

This shows that he doesn’t like what is going on, but he does not oppose it. His evil is less than the evil of the other nine. If this is the oldest brother, and this is the strongest opinion, then it appears that he is trying to minimize the evil and make it lesser than what they wanted to do. They want to kill him or exile him alone in the desert while he is saying to put him in the famous well that the travelers and caravans go by which has water, and he will stay there for a day or two and eventually somebody will pull him out. In that day and age, that boy would automatically become a slave, or they would take him to the next stopping post and leave him there. He would be looked after and at least would not die and would not be killed.

POINT TO NOTICE

Notice here that Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) is describing their evils, and their evils are numerous:

  1. They are breaking the ties of kinship. This is their brother.
  2. Yusuf is not just a brother but a young brother and a child. They are breaking the bonds of the young child.
  3. They are going against the rights of their own father because the one they are harming is not just related to them by blood but is also the son of their father. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Whoever does not show mercy to the younger of us and respect the older of us is not one of us.” They don’t have mercy for the younger Yusuf, and they don’t have respect for the older father.
  4. They are also ignoring the love that their father has for that son.

Because Ya‘qub is a prophet, all of these sins are magnified. This is not just any person but a prophet of Allah. Once again, this shows the dangers of hasad and evil. In another hadeeth about hasad, which is very relevant here, is in Tirmidhi; the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “One of the diseases of the people of the past has crawled amongst you as well.” They said, “What is this?” He said, “Being jealous and hating others.” Too much of hasad and jealousy and enviousness will destroy you. And then he said, “I swear by the One in whose Hands is my soul, you will never enter Jannah until you love one another. [This is the opposite of hasad.] Should I not tell you about something that if you do it you will love one another? Spread the salaam amongst you.” The point is once again that jealousy, hasad, and enviousness will destroy the deen.

Some Traditions Concerning Jealousy

1) The Messenger of Allah (S) said:

“Do not be jealous, do not perform acts of hostility, do not back-bite or gossip, stay as Allah’s sheep, and act in a brotherly manner towards each other.”

2) Also, he (S) said:

“The only thing which I am most afraid of about my Ummah is the multiplication of wealth, for people will become jealous and consequently kill each other.”

3) The holy Prophet (S) told his companions one day:

“Beware that the disease of the former nations has afflicted you. That disease is jealousy which does not wipe out the hair, but it can make one lose his religion.”

4) Ali (as) said:

“A jealous person is always in discomfort and pain, even though his body may be healthy.”

5) Ali (as) also said:

“Remove jealousy from your heart for jealousy is an exhausting and exasperating disease.”

6) Amir ul Mu’minin Ali (as) said:

“Jealousy is the worst of diseases.”

7) Ali (as) said:

“Stop being jealous and stop bearing grudges for they disrupt one’s religion and bring man to destruction”.

8) Imam Sadiq (as) said:

“Be in awe of Allah and do not feel jealous of one another.”

9) Ali (as) said:

“Jealousy makes one’s life bitter and dark.”

10) Amir ul Mu’minin Ali (as) in a Tradition said:

“Jealousy is a cureless disease which will not disappear except with the annihilation of the jealous person or when the one of whom others are jealous has passed away.”

11) Ali (as) said:

“The misfortunes of this world and the next is a consequence of one’s jealousy.”

12) Amir ul M’uminin Ali (as) said:

“The faithful will neither do flatter nor is jealous, save when they are seeking knowledge.”

13) Imam Sadiq (as) quoting his father, said:

“A man who has stinginess, jealousy and fear within him is not a faithful believer.”

14) Imam Sadiq (as) has been quoted as saying:

“Jealousy wears away one’s faith the same way as fire consumes wood.”

REFLECTIONS

  • Allah entertains the questions of the kufaar.
  • Yusuf ’s (u) brothers felt neglected and they held Yusuf (u) responsible.
  • Parents must learn how to read their children’s behavior.
  • Children from the same mother feel the sense of belonging when they are together.
  • Enviousness will lead to evil acts.
  • The danger of jealousy will lead to the extreme (such as killing).
  • Pre-meditating sin nullifies the repentance.
  • Evil has different shades.
  • Evil can blind the people.
  • Evil people help one another.
  • Cutting off ties is a great sin.
  • Prophet said, “When you’re crossing the seerat, there are two things come on the right and left: amana and relations (with relatives).”
  • Evil may win over you due to your ties.
  • They claimed that they were looking for his best interest.
  • They dismissed the doubt of their father by saying will bring him back safe and sound.
  • Yusuf ’s (u) shirt is mentioned three times in the Quran.

LESSON

Never be jealous, it can lead you to killing someone.

Shayṭān is very eager to cause problems between believers, especially between family members. He always wants to cause disunity amongst the ummah, especially amongst family members. SubḥānAllāh, it is so true that every single family has its own issues and problems even though they are blood and even though they are family. Every single family has problems either with the siblings, uncles, or aunts. It is human nature, but Shayṭān makes it worse. This story shows us this.

Surah Yusuf #9

“Let us kill Yusuf , or throw his at some place on earth, and thus your fathers’s full attention will be devoted for you alone , and after doing that , you may become a righteous people.”

TAFSEER

They knew that by doing this , they would be committing a grave sin,
But they deceived themselves by the assumption that,
after committing this sin, they would make taubah (repentance ),
And would again become righteous .
DISCUSS WAY TO ERADICATE OR DECREASE JEALOUSY ?

  1. Kill Yusuf 
  2. Throw away
  3. To leave alone

And then
“We Shall Be Righteous People….”
They blame Yusuf for lack of righteousness .
They think that this sin will not ‘Haunt’ them.

It Is Apparent From This Verse……

  1. Brothers are talking about repentance before the crime.
  2. Shaitan convinces  one that is ok to sin.
  3. Sins give rise to more sins.
  4. Anger and jealousy rise to more sin.
  5. The brothers have a twisted concept of love.

EXPLANATION

  1. Dangerous thoughts lead man to perform dangerous acts and jealousy leads man to such great sin that he will even be prepared to commit fratricide.
  2. Man seeks popularity and affection, the lack of which leads to the most dangerous kinds of behaviors and deviations.
  3. Although the holy Qur’an makes the acquisition of popularity and affection upon having faith and righteous conduct, Satan makes it the reward for killing one’s brothers.
  4. The jealous person thinks that if others are killed or removed, all the blessings will be given to him.
  5. Satan, by holding out the probable possibility of future repentance, opens up the gate for man to commit sin in the present.
  6. Being knowledgeable and being aware does not always imply that one has distanced him from deviation.

Despite the fact that Yusuf’s brothers knew and believed that killing their brother was an evil act it did not stop them from committing it.

REFLECTION

  • They didn’t want to get rid of Yusuf, they wanted to earn their father’s love
  • The ends don’t justify the means
  • You must please Allah to also get to a good means of getting there
  • You can’t please Allah by doing something that’s displeasing to him
  • What should have the brothers of Yusuf done?
  • The goal was honorable, they just have to fix the means
  • They should have come closer to Allah
  • If you want to come closer to Allah, take care of your obligations, your acts of worship

LESSON FOR US FROM THIS VERSE

However, As most negative thoughts deplete a person of rationality or wisdom, They did not think that adopting the beautiful character Manners and conduct that Yusuf embodied Would have been the recommended and praiseworthy Route to achieving the same objective . The most effective way of curbing envy and repelling the negative thoughts that if causes, is to

  1. Focus on your own strength , instead of comparing ourselves with our sibling /object of envy
  2. Proactively work hard to polish our talents to achieve success in the niche that Allah us to naturally excel in.