Surah Yusuf #71


71. “They said, while turning to them: ‘What is it that you have lost?’”

*Tafseer* 
“They said, and they turned towards the crier, ‘What are you missing?’”

In this, there is a huge psychological confession that ‘we cannot be thieves.’  

Thieves would run away and turn.  Thieves would become scared.  Thieves would know what is missing.  

The first thing they did was turn towards the crier.  If you are guilty and somebody says “hey, thief!” 
you run away.  

They weren’t guilty.  They turned around and turned back and said to them calmly, “What are you missing?”

Notice they used the word ‘missing’ 
and not 
‘stolen’ 
because they know they didn’t steal anything and “Perhaps something went missing, and you think we stole it.”  

They didn’t use the word 
‘theft’ or ‘stealing’.  

They used the words ‘what are you missing.’

They turned to them.  They know their innocence, and they haven’t stolen anything.  
They said ,
“What are you missing?” 
because they are so confident that none of them stole anything and something must have misplaced it and they are blaming them.

They are asking, “What is the problem?  What are you missing?”

*Lesson*

Of the benefits of this sūrah is wisdom in *planning*.  Yūsuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) has planted the cup in the sack of his brother, and now he wants to open up those sacks.  

He begins with the sacks of the older brothers and works his way to the younger one.  

This shows us the believer, once again, is not naïve.  He knows that if he were to go straight to the sack of Binyamin, people are going to say, “Wait, hold on a second.  

How did you know it was in that sack?  He is planning things through and has foresight.  These days we have a whole science called management.  

Yūsuf demonstrates that and thinks things through.  In our times, the chess player thinks ten steps ahead.  

Yūsuf is thinking.  This is a sign of īmān.  The mu’min is not foolish.  The mu’min is a wise person.  Yūsuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) demonstrates this.

Surah Yusuf #70

“Then, when he provided them with their provisions, he put the drinking cup into his brother’s saddle-bag. Then a herald shouted: ‘O you men of the caravan! You are certainly thieves!’”

Tafseer

“When he prepared their provisions…”

Allah ‘azza wa jall mentions this, and we understand that another transaction has taken place.  

They brought forth more goods.  This is the second time they are coming to Egypt, and there will be a third time.  

This is the second time they are coming for more goods.  They purchased grain, and they purchased eleven camel loads.  For every man, they get one camel.

“…he put the siqaayah…”( Bowl)

What is a siqaayah?  There are many interpretations of what the siqaayah is.  

One interpretation says that it is the bowl of the king.  A more accurate interpretation is that this was the bowl that was used to weight the grain, 

and it was a precious bowl that the king had given, and it was a symbolic bowl that shows the power of the king that ‘we are giving the grain to the people.’  

This is the measuring bowl how the grain is measured when you put it into the sack, and so they are seeing something very expensive in front of them.  

It is the easy thing for them to hide because the sacks are being filled with this bowl.  

This seems to be the stronger interpretation.

All the scholars agree that it is an expensive bowl. , and that is why it was a big deal that was raised when it was stolen.  

It is also a symbolic bowl; it was the bowl that shows Egypt has grain and the rest of the nations don’t have grain.  

This is the bowl that is used to put the grain when any merchant and any visitor come.  

You can imagine that it must be a bowl that will carry a lot of grain, and it has emblems, decorations, and symbols on it.  It is, if you like, a national icon.

“He put the siqaayah.”  

It is in the singular form.  Yusuf did this, and he is the one doing the plan because he doesn’t want to tell.  

Even his servants don’t know the full plan.  He put the bowl or the measuring cup in the portion of his brother.

Oh yah, I did not even thought of that

One interpretation is that Yusuf told the crier to accuse them of being thieves because they had stolen Yusuf from Ya‘qub and they are kidnappers.  

They are thieves because they had taken a property that was not theirs – and that was Yusuf – and they had taken him away from the one whom he belongs to, and that is his father.  

And that is exactly what a thief does, so there is no lying at all.  They are all thieves.

Another interpretation is that Yusuf used a language that is appropriate, so he said, “The bowl has gone missing, and the last people to do a transaction are that caravan of the Canaanites.”  

Canaan is the ancient name of  Filitine 
It is factual.  It is missing because nobody can see it, and the last group is this group.  By the time it reaches down the chain of command and the crier comes out, in his mind these are the thieves.

*Reflection *

When they load up the provision on the camel, Yusuf takes the goblet of the king (something that’s very valuable) and put it in the load of Ben Yamin

‣ They’re about to leave and are headed towards the gate

‣ All 11 brothers are about to return to Palestine, and then it’s found out that the goblet of
the king is lost

‣ The only people who have been in the area are the brothers of Prophet Yusuf

‣ A caller is sent out and said “O people of the caravan, indeed you guys are thieves.”

‣ If they were truly thieves, they would take off
• They don’t do that because they know they didn’t steal anything.

*Lesson*;
1. Sometimes deception is needed to achieve good and to protect yourself from an enemy. 

This whole scenario of hiding the drinking cup in Binyamin’s bag and then accusing him of theft was deception. 

But as we see from the ayah it was needed in order to keep Binyamin in Egypt. 

It was needed in order to achieve the good of taking Binyamin away from the brothers who were oppressing him, and also for the greater good of bringing the children of Israil to Egypt. 

Remember that all of this was eventually a part of Allah’s plan.

2)If one does not want another person to be aware of something one has or something one intends to do, 

one should use a subtle means of distraction that does not contain any lies. 

As Yusuf did when he put the golden bowl into his brother’s bag, and he then took the golden bowl out of his brother’s bag leading them think that their brother is the one who stole it. 

After which he said, “Allah forbid, that we should take anyone but him with whom we found our property.” 

Notice he did not say, “We found our property with him”, or “He stole our property.” 

Rather, he made a general statement that can apply to this situation as well as others, and there is not wrong with what he did. 

For all he did was made them think that their brother stole the golden bowl, so that his youngest brother can remain with him, as was objective.

Surah Yusuf #69

“And, when they entered unto Yusuf, he lodged his (own) brother (Benyamin) with himself, saying: ‘I am your brother; so do not grieve at what they were doing’.”

TAFSEER

According to the narrations, when Ya‘qub’s (as) sons arrived in Egypt, Yusuf hosted them and ordered a table full of various foods for every couple of them.

Benjamin remained seated alone, so Yusuf seated him near himself, then he allocated every two persons for one room and made Benjamin his roommate.

While together, Benjamin talked about the infidelities of the brothers and the crimes which they had committed the years before against their brother, Yusuf.

At this moment Yusuf, who had become impatient, exclaimed:

“Stop worrying! I am that very Yusuf!”
He uttered these words so emphatically “Indeed, I am your brother!” that it left no possibility of doubt in the truth of his words.

He said, ‘I am your brother…’”

There is a double emphasis:  inni ana, meaning “I am your only brother.  

I am the one that you know.”  Binyamin was probably three or four years old, and he has never met Yusuf in a sense to remember him, or if he has, he has some very vague memories of Yusuf, but he knows, of course, the story.  

He knows that he has an older brother who went missing, and he knows that something happened and most likely his brothers did it.

The scholars say that the other ten were mistreating Binyamin, and the reference to this is in the next verse when Yusuf says

, “So do not feel sad at the actions that they do.”  

From this phrase ‘don’t be sad at what they are doing to you,’ 

we get the interpretation that the other ten were mistreating Binyamin, but they couldn’t do to Binyamin what they did to Yusuf because they have already done one crime, so how many crimes are they going to do?

They couldn’t get rid of Binyamin, and they couldn’t throw him into a well, but for his entire life, 

Binyamin is being ridiculed and treated in a harsh manner and treated very crudely by all of the elder brothers.  

He is the youngest of them, and he is the full brother of Yusuf, so Yusuf is saying, “Now your days of tyranny are over.  

Don’t worry about what they do to you, you have now come to me.  

I am your brother, and I will take care of you.”

He informs his brother of the plot.  

He informs his brother of what he is going to do, and again, we get the question over and over again:  Why is Yusuf doing this?  

We don’t have a response other than Allah would have told him to do so.  We don’t know why he is going to do this plot.  

He is telling his brother, “Don’t worry about what they have done, and don’t be worried about what is going to happen.  Put your trust in me.  I will arrange a plan for you to stay here.”

Why would he want Binyamin to stay and deprive Ya‘qub of the second favorite son?  

All we can say is Allah knows best.  

Most likely Allah had a plot and a plan, and Allah gave him wahy, or another interpretation is that Binyamin was under some type of threat,

,maybe not a mortal or fatal threat, but the threat of always being persecuted and ridiculed and being treated harshly.  

Binyamin is now safe in the palace of Yusuf, and he is not going to be harmed by the brothers.

*Reflection* 

‣ Yusuf takes care of them as he usually does, but when he has time and see his brother alone, he reveals his identity

‣ The first person to realize that the minister of finance in Egypt is prophet Yusuf is Ben Yamin

‣ Yusuf says don’t grieve for what they used to do

• Some scholars said “don’t grieve for what they did to me. I’m okay.”

• Others said “don’t grieve for what they did to you. It’s not 
going to happen anymore.” 

• Others said “don’t grieve what’s going to happen right now.”

– So if you see something strange happening, just stay calm and don’t overreact

‣ This is about thirty years since they have already passed

• So now people have families and there are grandchildren to prophet Ya‘qub as well

‣ Yusuf wants to keep Ben Yamin in Egypt

*Explanations*

1. The brothers who boasted of their power the previous day, claiming that they were a powerful group, had to undergo a significant amount of humiliation in order to secure their food supplies.
They practically had to kiss Yusuf’s threshold in a humiliating manner.

2. When a blessing is obtain, the concerning former afflictions should be renounced

(Yusuf and Benjamin had a face to face meeting then they forgot their past sorrows.)

3. Before the execution of any plan and project, the innocent must be spiritually ready and must clearly know the justification for the action. Benjamin was told that he would be kept in Egypt under the pretext of being discovered as a thief to which he agreed

*Lesson*

1. Sometimes deception is needed to achieve good and to protect yourself from an enemy. 

This whole scenario of hiding the drinking cup in Binyamin’s bag and then accusing him of theft was deception. 

But as we see from the ayah it was needed in order to keep Binyamin in Egypt. 

It was needed in order to achieve the good of taking Binyamin away from the brothers who were oppressing him, and also for the greater good of bringing the children of Israil to Egypt. 

Remember that all of this was eventually a part of Allah’s plan.

*Point of Guidance *

A question Aries here that Yusuf made efforts to call his younger brother, even insisted on it.

And when he came , he even disclosed his identity before him.
But , he neither thought of calling his father,
Nor took any steps to inform him about his well- being while in Egypt.

There is no doubt that he did have many opportunities during those forty yrs when he could have sent a message to his father about him self.

But, whatever happened in this matter was Divine decree communicated through the medium of Wahy (revelation ) .

Allah would have not give him the permission to tell his father about himself.

Because he was yet to be tested once again through his separation from his son,Benyamin .

It was to complete this divine arrangement that all these situation were created.

Surah Yusuf #68

“And when they entered in the manner their father had enjoined them, it availed them nothing against Allah; but (it was) a need in Yaqoob s soul which he so satisfied; and verily he was possessed of a knowledge for that We had taught him, but most people do not know.”

Tafseer 

Last week, we had begun the second portion of the story of Ya‘qub’s re-entering into the scene, and the brothers tell Ya‘qub they have to bring Binyamin into Egypt into Memphis in order to get more grain.  Ya‘qub has them make a solemn oath to Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) that they will take care of him, and they give him their oath.

Ya‘qub tells them to enter from different gates because he wanted to protect them from two things:  
1) a natural jealousy 
2)a natural fear 

He wanted to protect them from the evil eye, from the ‘ayn.  Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) then said,

“And when they entered how their father told them to enter…”

This means that the sons obeyed their father.  

Even though their father is far away, they have a sense of iman and oath.  

It shows that they have good in them, and they are not completely evil.  

Their father is not there, and now they are coming into the city, and they follow their father’s orders.

**Point for us*
Are we as obey to our parents as them?

They obeyed their father, but Allah comments,

“It didn’t help them against the decree of Allah.”

Allah had decreed that a calamity was going to happen right now, as we are going to find out.  

Allah had decreed something would happen, so Allah is saying, 

“It did not help them against Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) except for a haajah (desire).”  

Except for a will that Ya‘qub had that he felt calm that his children obeyed him.  

It was a psychological desire that did not change the decree of Allah, but Ya‘qub still told them to do it, and Allah approved of the action.

The whole point of all of this is tawakkul in Allah means that you do what you can to get to the end, 

but you realize it is not going to help you in the end result.  

If Allah has willed it, He has willed it, and if Allah has not willed it, it will not happen.

“And indeed, Ya‘qub has the knowledge of what We taught him.”

This phrase has a number of interpretations to it.  

The first of them:  
1) He has knowledge because We taught him the knowledge.”  

This means he has the ‘ilm because Allah gave him the ‘ilm, 

2) Ya‘qub understood the knowledge that Allah taught him, so it’s one thing to have knowledge, 
and it is another to understand it.  
Allah is praising Ya‘qub that he understood the knowledge.  

3) this is the interpretation of Ibn Abbas, is that Ya‘qub acted upon the knowledge that Allah gave him because having knowledge is one thing, and acting upon it is something else.

4) is that this phrase is relevant to the whole story, and that Ya‘qub understood that he could not protect his sons from the decree of Allah, but he still did what he could to facilitate matters.  

We already mentioned a number of things:  
he took reasonable precautions, 

1)he told the children to enter from different doors, 
2) he took a solemn oath from Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) that they would take care of him.  

He did all the precautions, so he acted upon the knowledge, but he knew that in the end it was up to Allah (subhanahu wata’ala).

“But most of mankind, they do not know.”

They don’t have this knowledge or they don’t act upon this knowledge or they have it and they don’t understand it.  

Depending on the interpretation of the previous phrase, Allah is saying, “Most of mankind don’t have what Ya‘qub had.”

*Explanation*  

1. Bitter experiences educate man, and as a result, he is more inclined to take the words of great men seriously.

2. Even correct calculations and planning are only effective if they are in accordance with the Divine will, once they run contrary to the will of Allah they cannot come into effect.

3. Ya‘qub was aware of some secrets and subjects which he did not deem fit to disclose.

4. The prayers of the men of Allah are always accepted and their needs fulfilled.

5. The knowledge of the prophets has its origin in the Divine knowledge.

6. Most people are only aware of the means and the causes of events and are ignorant of Allah’s authority and the need for putting all their hopes and trust in Him.

*Lesson*
1) If you want to put your trust in someone or something then put your trust on the One with Whom the command lies. 

The One with Whom the decision of every single matter lies. In the end, everything is decided by Allah. 

The final outcome of all things will be decided by Him. So put your trust in Allah and have the greatest of hopes in Him. 

Realize the Majesty and Sublimity of Him (swt). Once you realize this how then will you ever be disappointed? 

So take every precaution. Do your best. But in the end, put your trust in Allah and know that He (swt) is the One for all those who would trust to trust in.

2)There is neither might nor power except with Allah (swt). Do not think that things happen because of the efforts that you put into them. 
Rather know that everything happens because Allah (swt) wills it to happen.

3) Always listen to your parents.

Surah Yusuf #67

“He also said: ‘O’ my sons! Do not enter by one gate, but enter by separate gates. Yet I cannot avail you anything against Allah. Judgment belongs no one but Allah. In Him do I put my trust, and in Him let all that trust put their trust’.”

*Tafseer:*

After winning the approval of their father, the brothers got ready to go to Egypt for the second time taking their younger brother along with them.

Ya‘qub advised them that they should not all enter by one gate to avoid drawing the attention of the jealous minded and those who did not wish them well, instead, they should enter Egypt through different gates, and thus be safer from the evil intentions of people.

those days, cities were surrounded by fortresses and walls – every single city on earth – because wars were common.  Once upon a time, there were no borders, and you could expect an attack at any time.  Life was very difficult back then.  It included Makkah and Madinah.  If you look at photographs of Makkah and Madinah that were taken 100 years ago, you find walls around the whole cities.

He said, “Don’t enter by one gate, but rather, enter by different gates.  

And what I am telling you to do will not help you at all against Allah.  

The decision rests with Allah.  In Him I put my trust, and let everybody who puts there trust put their trust in Allah.”

Now, what is entering one door versus entering different doors all about?  What Ya‘qub (‘alayhi salaam) is trying to protect them from two things:

1.  The first is the legitimate suspicion that would come upon them.  These are eleven men, and eleven is a large number for that . 

These are eleven strangers literally at the mercy of the government that they are walking into, which is the government of the ministry of Yusuf (‘alayhi salaam) and the king at that time.  

He wants to make sure that the people don’t get suspicious of eleven men from a certain town or tribe coming in.  They may think:  Are they spies?  

He has already heard that the king thinks that these are spies.  He is saying, “Don’t all go in together.  You will attract attention. Everyone enters from a different gate, and then you can meet together at your place of residence in your hotel, but don’t draw the attention of the people because it is causing suspicion.”

2.  The second reason is to protect his children from ‘ayn (evil eye).  Ya‘qub (‘alayhi salaam) wanted to protect his children from the evil eye.  This leads us to the issue of the evil eye.  

What is this evil eye?  What is al-‘ayn?  Is it a reality?  

IThe Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) has said in an authentic hadith, “The evil eye is true.”  

This story of Ya‘qub as well proves it.  There is a reason why he does not want his eleven children to enter together.  Why?  All of these are sons.  For one man to have eleven sons is a big blessing and honor, especially at that time when sons are of great value.  
These are all full brothers, and they are all the children of Ya‘qub, and they are all very handsome.  

They are all from a foreign race – the race of Bani Isra‘il which is just starting now.  Isra‘il is Ya‘qub.  

This is a new race that is starting, a new ethnicity.  They are all, masha’Allah, young, powerful, strong men.  

Who is not going to get jealous amongst the people of Egypt when they find this new race and they are all speaking a language and looking differently and dressing differently.  He is worried about ‘ayn.

What is ‘*ayn*?

What exactly is ‘ayn?  There are only five or six ahadith about ‘‘Ayn seems to be very true and real from the Qur’an and from the Sunnah.

As for from the Qur’an, we have a clear verse wa min sharri haasidin idha hasad.  

The very fact that we seek Allah’s refuge from the evil of the haasid when he has hasad shows us that when a person is jealous – hasad means a burning jealousy – there is an evil that will affect.

What is al-‘ayn?  Al-‘ayn is the negative consequences of jealousy.  

The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Jealousy destroys good deeds like a fire destroys twigs or like a specific herb that destroys honey (it makes it corrupt).”  

Jealousy destroys hasanat.  The mu’min will never allow the jealousy to go unchecked because jealousy is a filthy feeling.  Even when you feel jealous, you feel filthy and think, “Why am I feeling like this?”  Jealousy is a filthy feeling, and it is only the evil person who allows jealousy to go unchecked.

What happens when you allow jealousy to go unchecked?  

Somehow it causes an effect on the object of jealousy.  

How?  

One hadith seems to suggest that the jealousy empowers Shaytan.  

It gives some type of fuel to Shaytan, and Shaytan can then use that fuel – because Shaytan wants to harm – to get to the other person.  
This seems to be the most logical, rational, and also hadith-y interpretation

Reflections

‣ They can go back quickly because they still have the merchandise to go back with
‣ This time prophet Ya‘qub orders his sons not to enter from one door but from multiple
doors
• Why?
– Yusuf was handsome, but his brothers are also handsome
– They’re from a different land
– They dress differently, look different, they will stand out as foreigners

– Also, from the land of prophet Ya‘qub, people were monotheists unlike in
Egypt
– Gates in cities back there were surrounded by fortresses
– He advises them to take precautionary measures so you’re not struck by the evil
eye
– Prophet said “the evil eye is true.” – How does the evil eye happen?
– 
– Being extremely angry allows higher chance of possessions
– Not sure how the evil eye actually happens, but it could be a theory – This is all by the will of Allah, but one must take precautions
– When it comes to jealousy, there’s a cure
– Recite the last two surahs of the Quran after each prayer
– Prophet used those two surahs once they were revealed instead of
making dua against evil eye

– We should do that and before we sleep as well

Lesson

What happens when people lose their loved ones, especially parents who lose a child? They begin to question the existence of God and they become very possessive.

Now look at the response of Prophet Yaqub (Peace be upon him) who is being asked by the people who killed his son, to let them take his other son with them. His response was: “The decision rests only with Allah. In him, I put my trust and let all those that trust, put their trust in Him.”

How many of us can say that after losing a loved one?

Remember always that the real test of faith of a Muslim is during times of hardship, not ease

2) There is neither might nor power except with Allah (swt). Do not think that things happen because of the efforts that you put into them. Rather know that everything happens because Allah (swt) wills it to happen.

The true eye is True . Taking precautionary measures is permissible . The Rest is on Allah. Yaqoob( AS) told his son do not enter from one gate but enter from different gates.