“Then there came a caravan (of travelers). They sent their water-drawer (for water) and he let down his bucket. He said: ‘O’ good news! This is a youth.’ So they hid him as a merchandise; while Allah is aware of what they do.”
Surah Yusuf 19
Tafseer:
“They sent their water man who put his bucket down.”
There was one person assigned for the water. “He put his bucket down.” This shows us, that Yusuf was put in a very primitive well and the fact that the man has to lower his own bucket really shows you how primitive it was.
Why does that benefit the story?
They are not going to a well that is inside the city or a well that is frequented. This is a well that is abandoned and not used by inhabitants. It is used by people who are going in the way. They have crafted a plan to put Yusuf in a well that is not in the city and is not close to where anybody lives.
The person comes and lowers his bucket, and Allah does not tell us the details, but it is understood that Yusuf held onto the bucket. When the bucket comes up and he thinks it is water, it is none other than a child.
“He said, ‘Good news for me! / What good luck! This is a boy.’”
It was self-evident that it was a boy.
Why was he so happy?
The man was so happy because one of the most precious and prized possessions is a slave. In those days slavery was allowed. One of the most expensive items and commodities is a slave. This is the past and talking about a time when people operated upon slavery. Slaves were very expensive. Only the elite and the rich could afford it. Alhumdhulilah slavery is now finished and abolished.
Our Shari‘ah made those types of rulings and issues where if you fall into a sin, you free a slave. If you break a fast during Ramadan, you free a slave. If you have a kaffarah, you free a slave. If you make a mistake, you free a slave. We are allowed to give zakah to free slaves.
“And they hid him.”
How did they hide him?
As merchandise. This means they took him out of the well and put him in their belongings and covered him up. They hid him as another piece of merchandise because they did not want to tell the local people that they found a boy. They did not know if this boy was from far away or near. He could have been from the closest village, and if he was, then people would come and say that they had a missing child. They wanted to take him and sell him.
“And Allah is fully aware of what they were doing.”
They knew what they were doing was wrong even in their culture and their shari‘ah. In their shari‘ah it was not allowed to capture a free man and sell him. In our Shari‘ah, the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Of the people who will be punished the most on the Day of Judgment are those who did this.”
One of the biggest differences is that slavery in this part of the world was to go to Africa and literally throw nets onto free people and capture them and sell them in New England and other places.
In our Shari‘ah, you were not allowed to take free people. Rather, the only legitimate means of acquiring slaves was prisoners of war who were not ransomed by the other state. If there was a legitimate battle and there were prisoners.
In our religion, Allah gave the allowance that they can become slaves. This is the only way to acquire slaves in classical Islamic law.
They knew what they were doing was wrong. Why? They hid him. Only guilty people hide
We will conclude by saying that Allah is setting the story up, and a new phase is about to begin where he is leaving the land of Canaan and Filisteen because his brothers have plotted and planned against their father. He is being carried with sacks of other merchandise hidden.
We thank Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) – this is one point I want to mention – that the times that we live in are so different from those barbaric . It is a blessing from Allah that we live in times of civilized society in many respects. Of course there are a lot of problems, but look at the positives. Allah ‘azza wa jall tells us in the Qur’an that the two biggest blessings that he gives any society are full stomachs and to be in security [106:4].
I In those days, Yusuf was gone and there was nothing that could be done. There was no government or agency or police force or Interpol that would do this or that.
We thank Allah ‘azza wa jall for having caused us to be born and live in a society where generally speaking alhamdulillah we are provided for in terms of food and living in very safe and humane settlements.
Lesson:
Allah will always take care of his true servants. (Ayah 19)
When you are righteous, help comes from unlikely sources. Yusuf was taken out of the well by travelers. Allah is the protector of those who believe.
Sometimes the people who hurt us the most are from among our family, friends and our loved ones. Just like Yusuf AS, his biggest enemies were from his own family; he suffered most of his life because of them. They were his brothers, the sons of a Prophet yet they did such an evil act.
We learn from this story that just because our parents are very righteous or we come from a very religious family this doesn’t mean that we will automatically be religious and righteous. We all make our own choices, and our surroundings make a big difference. We are influenced by our surroundings but ultimately we will make the decisions that we want to make, and Allah will hold us accountable for our choices and actions. So choose wisely and act wisely.