They said: “If a wolf devours him, while we are ‘Usbah (a strong group) (to guard him), then surely, we are the losers.”
TAFSEER
Usbah means a large group of ten or more, and they were exactly ten. In English, the only word like this is ‘gang’, but this has a negative meaning.
How could a wolf take their little brother when they were a group of ten?
Realize that Ya‘qub is already an elderly man. We do not know his age, but we can imagine that he is already a grandfather and elderly and cannot take care of his own needs. He is relying on his sons to do all of the housework and chores.
Remember that they are living in a wilderness and there are no children of Isra’il now, and this is the genesis and beginning of the large tribes of Isra’il. There are no allies and no friends. The taking care of the housework and the goats and sheep and buildings are done by the ten brothers because Yusuf and his brother are too young. These ten are the ones taking care of Ya‘qub’s needs.
They are saying, “We take care of everything. Do you think a wolf is going to be able to do this? We are a whole group of people. We are constructing and building, and we are taking care of the goats and sheep, and now you think that a wolf will do this?”
It is clear that Ya‘qub’s excuse is not strong, and they know it. As for the first meaning of Ya‘qub being sad, they do not say anything because they know that it is true, and they cannot say anything about this and let it go. For the second point, they say, “How is this possible when we are an ‘usbah?”
He gave up and relented. In this emotional struggle, the brothers of Yusuf won, and Ya‘qub allowed Yusuf to go with them.
We must guard ourselves against those evil plots which the
LESSON
Don’t keep false promises.
Verse 14 shows the pride and arrogance these brothers had because they thought of themselves strong. They completely forgot that all Might and all Power is only with Allah. From this, we are reminded once again that these are traits that are most displeasing to Allah (swt). So we should try our best never to be like these brothers. We have to save ourselves from their way of thinking. If you ever hope to accomplish anything in the future, then you must always believe that you will accomplish it only with the Help and Support of Allah (swt) and not through your own efforts or not because you are a strong group.
Beware of emotional blackmail Just because a group of people is committing a certain action, this does not make it correct. Shaitan can misguide the group just like he can misguide the individual. Sometimes it is easier to misguide the group because the members of the group will support themselves in their evil. So our loyalty must always be to Allah (swt) and the Prophet (PBUH), and not to any group. We should evaluate everything that the group does and ask ourselves if such is pleasing to Allah (swt) or not. We should not have the thinking that they are correct only because they are all doing it. Sometimes the group can be wrong, so we always have to check ourselves. May Allah (swt) protect us and may He (swt) guide us!