“So when they despaired of (moving) him, they conferred in private. The eldest of them said: ‘Don’t you know that your father has taken a solemn covenant from you in Allah’s name, and before that you failed to perform your duty with Yusuf? Therefore, I will never leave this land until my father permits me, or Allah decides for me; and He is the best of judges’.”
Surah Yusuf #80
Tafseer
“So when, So when they despaired of him,…”
Istayasu: It is difficult to talk about Arabic eloquence, but sometimes you have to.
Allah could have said “falamma ya’isu minhu” meaning ‘when they despaired of him’
but He said “falammastayasu” and the sin and the ta are for seeking it more.
It means they tried and they tried and they tried and then they gave up.
Just by adding the sin and the ta, you get the connotation ( meaning) of them having tried repeatedly to get Binyamin out.
Allah does not need to go into detail – just two letters gives us a whole imagery that this isn’t the only tactic that they tried.
They tried another and they tried another and they tried another until finally there was no alternative and they gave up hope after a long period of time.
When they completely despaired of trying to get Binyamin, they continued different tactics and then they despaired.
“They broke away and held a private gathering.”
Khalasu – they broke away. And that is why ikhlaas is ikhlaas because you break away from others to Allah (subhanahu wata’ala).
The word naja means to have it secretly. That is why Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) prohibits to have munaja – don’t have secret talks unless it is for something good.
They broke away and they had a secret gathering, meaning other people are not hearing.
They need to discuss what they should do and what the tactic is.
The eldest amongst them said, ‘Don’t you know that your father took a solemn promise from you [meaning in regards to Binyamin]?
He took from you a covenant with Allah’s Name, and before this, we had already fallen short and committed a mistake with regards to Yusuf.
I will never leave this land until my father gives me permission or Allah judges something else in my case. And Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) is the best of all those who judge.’”
Farratah means ‘to be less than what is required.’
The eldest one is the one who begins to speak, and this shows that he is feeling guilty and righteousness has now begun.
The change has begun, and now the guilt is catching up to him.
This person is the same person, according to most of the scholars, who was the one who said,
“Don’t kill Yusuf.
If you have to do something, throw him into the well.”
When Allah describes him in the beginning of the surah, what does He say?
“One of them said.” It was unspecified. It was assumed that he was the eldest, and that is what the majority say as well. Here, Allah is saying, “The eldest said.” Now Allah specifes.
In the beginning, Allah doesn’t mention who (‘one of them said’). Now Allah is specifying
‘the eldest said.’
Why?
The response: A part of our religion tells us that we hide the faults of others, but we should mention the good.
If somebody does a mistake, we try our best to hide the fault.
Back then, they were doing a crime, and even if the crime of the eldest is a lesser crime than murder, it is nonetheless a crime.
He is not doing something praiseworthy when he is saying, “Go throw him in the well.”
It might be better than killing him, but it is still a crime,
so Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) covers him up, and there is no need to mention.
Now, he is doing something positive, and he is showing his penitence and remorse, so Allah mentions him by name basically –
“the eldest amongst him
This is the Sunnah of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) as well that when someone committed a crime or did something bad, then the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) would say,
“Why do some amongst you do this?” He would never say ‘why do you do this’.
He wouldn’t mention names. He would say, “Why do some people do this?”
When some good would happen, then he would praise the person. This shows us the Islamic methodology that when a sin or mistake occurs, we hide the mistake as much as possible.
We already talked about this before. We hide the mistake as much as possible. We do not mention specifics, and we do not mention names unless there is a strong need to do so.
We gave examples many halaqat ago. When a good occurs, we should praise the person behind his back. We should say, “Do you know so-and-so masha’Allah gave this much / built the masjid…”
We praise people because this encourages good, and when evil happens, we cover it up, and this clearly shows this.
The eldest amongst them said, ‘Don’t you know…’”
This is a rhetorical ( concerned) question. “Don’t your remember? Don’t you know?”
Of course they know. A rhetorical question is used in order to emphasize something that is known.
A rhetorical question is more effective than a statement. Similarly, he is saying, “Don’t you remember? Don’t you know what we have done?
Your father [meaning: all of us] took a strong covenant with Allah’s Name. We have a problem now.
Before this, we have also fallen short when it comes to Yusuf.”
Now he mentions the name after so many years of not mentioning.
Now the guilt is brought up.
“This is going to be devastating. So what is the solution? There is nothing I can do, but I will send a sign to my father that I am innocent of this, and I didn’t do anything wrong.
I shall impose a self-exile upon myself.”
A lot of us don’t understand the connotation here because we are so used to moving and traveling.
The fact of the matter is that leaving your land and culture and going to a different land and culture is actually a type of punishment and type of torture.
His wife and children are back home, and he is alone here, and it is not his culture.
He is being singled out as a foreigner, and he will be treated differently, and there will be discrimination.
This is not like our times when this is now politically incorrect. This was a different time; discrimination was open and clear, and everybody discriminates against other people.
He is going to impose exile upon himself to send a message to his father that
“O father, I’m not doing this to get something. Something happened beyond my control.
Something happened that I didn’t know was going to happen, and I want you to know I feel guilty about this, so until you give me permission to return and until you are content with me, I’m not going to return, or unless Allah judges something.”
What is Allah’s judgment here mean?
Either a revelation comes down to Ya‘qub because he is a prophet or that something else happens that is beyond his control.
He allows one other way out which shows his wisdom. If he said ‘until my father allows me,’ then what if his father passes away or what if he passes away?
He allows one way out: ‘or Allah ‘azza wa jall allows something for me.’
“And He is the best of all those who pass judgment.”
This shows he has accepted the judgment of Allah.
It is as if he is saying, “O Allah, I know I am guilty for what happened with Yusuf, and I know Your Judgment will come.
I put my trust in You, and I know You are forgiving. I know You are the best in judgment. You know my heart. O Allah I put my trust in You.”
Clearly we see the change beginning and the leaf turning over. The first of them to change is of course the eldest because he is the most mature and the wise amongst them.
REFLECTIONS
‣ So they go outside in private to consult on what to do
• Announcer said it loudly so people have crowded
‣ The eldest said “Didn’t we take a solemn oath? And remember what happened to Yusuf ”
• He’s speaking about something good, so he can be mentioned specifically
• People usually don’t want to talk about their crimes, but he feels guilty
• He said “I will not leave Egypt unless my father allows me to go back or until Allah
decrees in this affair.”
– Unless the minister changes his mind
• He’s ashamed and regretful for everything that’s happening
• This is not an easy decision because he’s leaving behind his family
LESSON
We learn from this sūrah is that even evil people have streaks of good in them.
Even the worst sinner can eventually repent if he turns over.
This is learned from the brothers of Yūsuf.
They began by plotting to murder their younger brother.
Yet they ended up like the stars. Even an evil person has good in them.
We see this right now in the part of the story when the brothers realize that Binyamin is not going to come back, they feel so guilty.
The eldest one says, “I am going to stay here. I am going to impose an exile on myself because we made a mistake in Yūsuf and now we made another mistake.
We are in big trouble. I want my father to know that I know I committed a crime and I know I am guilty.”
This shows that there are elements of good. This shows us that even if there is somebody who at one point in their lives wanted to murder their younger brother, it doesn’t mean that they are going to be pure evil.
Allāh says in the Qurʾān: “Repel evil with good and you shall see the one who was your worst enemy becomes a bosom friend.” It is a very common thing.
Always obey your parents.