Guidance from Surah Yusuf
By Omar Suleiman | 2026-01-06T20:51:56.053513+00:00 | Topic: Quran
Guidance from Surah Yusuf
By Sheikh Omar Suleiman - Singapore 2015
Opening
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon His noble Messenger and upon his family and companions.
The topic that I have is not a very funny topic. It's not very interactive. So I want you guys to forgive me for now. But it deals with a subject that I think hits home for all of us. And that's the subject of grief.
Why Surah Yusuf is Read During Sadness
When you talk about Yusuf alayhis salam, how many of you have ever heard that you should read Surah Yusuf when you're sad? How many of you have heard that before? Do you know where we get that from? I actually believe that it is a sunnah to read Surah Yusuf when you're sad. Even though the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not tell us when you're sad, there isn't necessarily a hadith where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam explicitly says, when you're sad, read Surah Yusuf.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed Surah Yusuf to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the worst year of his life عَامُ الْحُزْنِ - the year of grief. And I want you to think about this. He's boycotted. He's been run out. He's a fugitive. His wife is dead. His uncle is dead. And not only that, he's being told sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that he is the reason why they're dead. That it was this message that you brought, this thing that was not known to the Arabs before that you brought to us, that killed your wife and killed your uncle.
You know that emotional guilt, subhanAllah, is far greater than any sort of pain that you could actually experience by losing someone. Being told that you did it, that you are the cause of their deaths. He goes out sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to Ta'if and he's rejected in Ta'if with the worst rejection that he has ever faced. And he faces the worst day of his life when he is completely turned away. So he is facing dead ends in every single aspect of life. And Allah reveals to him surah Yusuf to comfort him.
And so it's a sunnah for us as well to go to this magnificent surah when we find ourselves in huzn, when we find ourselves in grief and to reflect.
Parallels Between Yusuf and the Prophet
Now with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, one of the things about him and Yusuf alayhis salam. And the reason why Allah decided, or one of the reasons, the wisdoms of Allah telling the entire story of Yusuf in one shot, as opposed to the way that he tells the stories of the other Prophets sallallahu alayhim wa sallam, is that the story of Yusuf alayhis salam directly parallels the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
He was beloved to his people in the hands of his family members. And his family members told the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that we are with you no matter what you do. Beloved by everyone. And then suddenly he is thrown out by his family members. And suddenly the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now Yusuf alayhis salam was thrown into a well, and turned into a slave in a strange home.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam doesn't go to a prison, but the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam lives in the boycotts. In Wadi, in Shi'ab Abi Talib. Which was basically a ghetto. The true definition of a ghetto. A people that are holed up in a location. And they are cut off from economic resources.
No one is allowed to sit with them. No one is allowed to marry from them. They have special identification. Like Donald Trump suggests that the Muslims do in America now. They had special identification for the Muslims. No one was able to send food towards the Muslims.
It was truly a prison. It was a situation. They had nothing to eat. People were dying out of hunger. Every single night when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam went to sleep. And I want you to think about this.
Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu said that we would not sleep at night from the cries of children who were hungry. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is being told, you did this. You put these people in this situation.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is not taken into the house of Al-Aziz. Into the house of a powerful person. But he's taken in by people that are strange to him in Medina. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has to migrate and go to a strange place. And he's at the mercy of these people. And like Yusuf alayhis salam. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would one day return to glory.
And his name would be cleared. And the same people that subjected him to torture would be at his mercy sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he would deal with them the way that Yusuf alayhis salam dealt with them. So the entire story of Yusuf alayhis salam parallels the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in some way, shape or form.
And so it is of extreme comfort to the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to hear this story about Yusuf alayhis salam.
The Human Side of Yusuf
One of the things as well that's amazing about the story of Yusuf is that Allah makes it a point to point out his internal grief in every single one of these situations. Yes, Yusuf will maintain an extraordinary, exemplary state of tawakkul in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. His character shines in every single one of these instances. He does exactly what you would expect of a Prophet of God.
Everything that he does is befitting of a Prophet and a man who believes in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But even with that, Yusuf gets hurt on the inside. When his brothers make those comments about him in his face, what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
He swallowed it. It pains him on the inside to hear his brothers speak about him in that fashion. He swallowed it on the inside.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about a beautiful woman jumping on Yusuf alayhis salam, throwing herself at Yusuf alayhis salam, locking the doors, what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
She desired him and he desired her. He was a man. He had desires as well. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the raw emotion of Yusuf alayhis salam throughout this entire ordeal so that we can understand this is a human being. A man suffered through all of this.
The Envy and Hatred Yusuf Faced
Almost one person's life included all of this. And it all started off with the envy towards him because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had favored him. As Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah says, when Ya'qub alayhis salam said to Yusuf alayhis salam:
Do not tell this dream of yours to your brothers because they will plot against you.
Had Yusuf alayhis salam told them the dream, they would have killed him. They wouldn't have even spared him. They would have killed him. It's the wisdom of Ya'qub because you might think to yourself, well, he didn't tell them the dream that he had, and they still throw him into the well. But had they known that dream, they would have killed him.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has a more severe situation than Yusuf alayhis salam. He has no choice but to share with the people that hate him that he has been sent as a prophet to them.
A deeply tribalistic society. A society that only cares about the names of their tribes and their ancestors. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has to come to these opposing tribes and say, I have been sent as a rasool to you to save you from jahannam.
And Abu Jahl from Banu Mahzum is not going to accept that. Abu Jahl and Banu Mahzum who have been at war with Banu Hashim or have been the rival tribe of Banu Hashim all these years, what are they going to say? Abu Jahl says, look, we know he's on the truth. But when Banu Hashim provides food, or they sponsor the hijjaj with food, we can bring more food.
When they show hospitality, we can show more hospitality. But where are we going to get a prophet from? If we acknowledge that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam from Banu Hashim is a prophet of Allah, then what are we going to do? We have nothing to rival them.
So the Prophet's situation is more difficult than Yusuf alayhis salam in that he has to stand up in front of these people and say, I am the prophet of Allah. And you from the opposing tribes, you have to obey me. Your only salvation will now come through me. And he has to obviously say it in a very gentle way. But he has to nevertheless deliver the message that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded him to deliver.
The Du'as of Yusuf: At His Lowest Point
The other thing we see about Yusuf alayhis salam is that Allah gives us two du'as. And by the way, the du'as of Yusuf alayhis salam are plentiful.
One of the most beautiful things we find is that when Yusuf alayhis salam was thrown into the well, you'll find unanimously across all the narrations that Jibril taught him how to make du'a. And some of those du'as are actually narrated in the books of tafsir. So he was taught to make du'a even in the bottom of the well.
But where do we see Yusuf's du'as most prominent? Interestingly enough, Allah gives us, and I'll talk about these two du'as, the du'a of Yusuf alayhis salam at the lowest point of his life. Where not only is he neglected, not only has he been abandoned by his family, not only is he in a strange land, not only is he living life like a slave, not only is he now slandered, but he's even going to prison. Allah gives us his du'a at that moment.
And then later on in the surah, Allah gives us Yusuf's du'a at the highest point in his life. When he's ascended the throne and his family has been reunited with him, and he has achieved every single standard of success from a worldly perspective and from a religious perspective. Allah gives us both the lowest point and the highest point.
His highest point is very simple. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam once said, that there is no person that is more noble than Yusuf alayhis salam. Nabi, Ibn Nabi, Ibn Nabi, Ibn Nabi. He's a prophet, the son of a prophet, the son of a prophet, the son of a prophet.
So from a nobility perspective, this is the most noble man in regards to lineage that has ever walked the face of the earth. From a beauty perspective, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, Yusuf alayhis salam was given half of the beauty of the children of Adam alayhis salam. Half of it was given to Yusuf alayhis salam.
From a child's perspective, out of 12 children, he is the one that is most beloved to his father. He is the one that his father, who is a great prophet of Allah, favors the most and loves the most. From a wealth perspective, if you read historically, they were also a well-off family. So he has everything, honor, privilege, looks, status, everything that you can imagine.
At the lowest point in his life, he has no family. He has no reputation. He has no money. He has no protection. And he has no future. Because when you're in a prison cell, you don't see the end, you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You're being thrown into a prison cell where you will reside for the rest of your life.
SubhanAllah, I mean this man has gone through everything that you can possibly imagine. And that's why al-Imam ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah ta'ala says, there is no man in the history of the world that has had more tahawwul al-ni'mah, that has had more fluctuation in regards to his blessings in life than Yusuf alayhis salam. He has lived every single portion of life.
I mean he's been in every single position. He said the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we also find with him that he has lived in every situation. He knows what it's like to be in poverty, alayhis salatu was- salam.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has lived in utter poverty. Then he knew what it was like to live in a state of wealth. Okay.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala found you poor, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made you rich. He marries Khadijah radiallahu anha, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam experiences what it's like to be wealthy. He knows what it's like to barely make it, al-kathaf.
What's called al-kathaf, which means just making it, to eat just enough, to have just enough to get by. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam knows what it's like to live an obscure lifestyle. He was a shepherd on the outskirts of Mecca for many years of his life.
He knows what it's like sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to be respected without having any money, to achieve a position of integrity and respect in society, not using any of the traditional means of money and so on and so forth. He knows what it's like to be respected and be wealthy. He knows what it's like to be slandered sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
He's been through it all. He knows what it's like to be a follower. He knows what it's like to be in charge of his own followers. He knows what it's like to have his own enemies at his mercy. I mean you talk about a fluctuation in life, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has lived through it all. And so has Yusuf alayhis salam.
Sabr and Shukr: The Two Essential Qualities
And that's why al-Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah ta'ala says something very profound. He says the two essential qualities of a Muslim's character are sabr and shukr, patience and gratitude. Patience and gratitude.
And he said all that sabr is, the only thing patience is, is gratitude in times of hardship. Sabr is to still be shakir, to still have shukr, when you're going through hard times. Why? Because what is patience? To be able to look at what you still have and say alhamdulillah.
Something has been taken away from you, you've been afflicted with a major tragedy, whether it's the loss of a person or the loss of wealth or whatever it may be, and you're able to still keep things in perspective and say, you know what, I'm still okay. You're able to still be grateful and see what you still do have that Allah has not taken away from you. So it's shukr in times of hardship.
Whereas he says shukr is sabr in times of ease. Gratitude just means to be patient in times of ease. What does that mean? Whenever you reach a position of privilege and your lifestyle is great, to still be patient with the things that you will never be able to attain except in the hereafter.
To not crave even more than what you do have. So to be patient with the restrictions that this life inherently contains. So sabr and shukr are really one quality in the same.
It's the consistent character of the believer that no matter what happens to his circumstances, he still turns back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at all times and he still expresses a sense of gratitude and an ability and a willingness to take it as it comes. Whatever is going to come in my direction, I will maintain what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded me to maintain and my character will not change for worse as a result of circumstances that change for worse.
Character Consistency Through Changing Circumstances
And you know a lot of times, subhanAllah, in this regard, one of the most phenomenal things about both Yusuf alayhis salam and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is that usually when people make it, when people have lived in difficult circumstances and then they make it, they become rich, they become famous, they have authority, usually they feel like they have to overcompensate for the time that they had in this world where they were low.
So their arrogance, they change, right? They'll act with a sense of entitlement even though they once lived in a state of poverty. Do you see the Prophet's character change? Do you see Aisha radiallahu anha saying, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was amazing but then after Fath Makkah, he started to get a little bit more like this and a little bit more like that? No.
Did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stop sitting with Bilal radiallahu anhu and Khabab ibn al-Arat, sitting on the ground with the same clothes, demonstrating the same graceful personality?
(Hadith)
As Abdullah ibn Abi Aufa says, I have never seen the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam around with orphans and widows and carrying out their needs for them, fulfilling their needs.
He didn't change. His circumstances changed dramatically but he was the same person. You know how many times I've had married couples in front of me? And, you know, mashaAllah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave them great things and they used to live in a state of poverty and they used to barely be making it in an apartment.
Now they're living in a big house. And the wife says, I wish we were still poor. I miss the poor you. I miss you when you were humble because you changed. You became arrogant. You became prideful.
It's natural that when circumstances change, our character and our behavior changes as well. One of the most beautiful things about Yusuf alayhis salam when he was in prison, the prisoners saw him in prison at the lowest point in his life and you know what they said? They said:
We see you to be a person of excellence, of ihsan. We can tell by your behavior. We can tell by your prayer and your devotion. We can tell by your character that you're not like everyone else. You're a muhsin.
We don't know your story. We don't know why you're here. But we can tell that you have something special. The grace that Yusuf carried himself with alayhis salam in prison made the other prisoners aware that this man is special.
They said, we see you to be amongst those who excel. A few ayat later, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that when Yusuf is sitting on the throne and his brothers see him for the first time not knowing who he was, they say to him:
We can tell that you're a person who just has all of this good, who has this character, this quality of excellence and ihsan.
The same words were said to him at the lowest point in his life and the highest point in his life. To show you that his circumstances did not change him.
You know, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiallahu anhu, after he became khalifa, he was seen carrying the bags of goods in the marketplace, buying and selling just like everyone else, like a poor man.
And Ali radiallahu anhu sees him and says (يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ) or he says to him, (يَا خَلِيفَةً رَسُولِ الله) Look, you're the khalifa of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, you don't need to be doing this anymore.
You know what Abu Bakr said to him? He said that I don't want a good quality that I had before being khalifa to change because I became a khalifa of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. That doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense that because Allah gave me a position, something good that I used to do, I no longer do.
So what was Abu Bakr doing? He was still serving the poor the way that he always used to serve them. He was still doing the things that made him a good person before he reached that position of affluence. Abu Bakr maintained those good qualities because your circumstances should not change you.
Yusuf's Du'a at His Lowest Point
So let's get to the ayahs. The first ayah, ayah number 33, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us about Yusuf alayhis salam responding to the threat of the wife of Al-Aziz to put him in prison.
She says to him that if he doesn't respond to my request of zina, of committing adultery, that he will be put in prison and he will be from the humiliated in society.
That I'm going to make sure that he loses every shred of dignity that he has. He's a slave and he's going to prison and he will be slandered and all types of things will be said about him. Yusuf alayhis salam responds to this threat and he calls upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He said, O Allah, prison is more beloved to me than that which they're calling me to.
Now to give you the full context of this, it's not just the wife of Al-Aziz that was calling Yusuf to commit zina. All of the women in that society, all of her friends are gathering around Yusuf alayhis salam and they're saying, go ahead and fulfill her need, go ahead and do what she wants you to do.
This woman, she's serious. She is haqool. This is a woman who holds grudges. If you don't respond to her request, she's going to do this to you, and she's going to do that to you. The men and the women of the society are telling Yusuf alayhis salam, go ahead, look, you have a need. You're in fear.
You have a special permission to commit this act that you don't really believe in to get yourself out of the situation. Go ahead and do it. It's just like Imam Ahmad rahimahullah, when he stood up against the oppressor of his time, he stood up for a principle that he believed in, a foundation of our creed.
The other scholars came to him and told him, Ya Imam (لَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ). Don't kill yourselves. Just go ahead and let it go. It's okay, let it go.
So you don't just have the waswas of shaytan, the whispers of shaytan, telling you go ahead and commit that act. You don't just have your own natural human weakness. You have people around you telling you, it's okay, and we know that human devils are more convincing than the jinn of the devils, aren't they? When you have a person in front of you telling you it's okay, that advisor of evil, that person is far worse than a jinni shaytan.
That's why when they plotted to kill the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, shaytan went to dar al- nadwa, he went to the assembly in the form of a person. Because if they see a man like them suggesting something so evil, it changes the game.
So Yusuf is facing waswas in every way. He's facing the whispers of shaytan, the whispers of the people, the whispers of his own self because he desired the woman anyway. The whisper of fear, of consequences, if I don't respond to this.
All of this is in Yusuf alayhis salam and that's equivalent to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when everything was against him. And they told the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, look, what do you want? We'll give you anything that you want. Just worship our idols for one day of the year.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, even if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I will not give up this mission until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes it victorious or I die therein. And Allah reveals:
Until the end of the surah. Look, we're not going to compromise on this. This is our religion, this is our deen, it is what it is. And I have to stay firm on this and take the consequences as they come. So this is happening to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
And who are they sending to convince the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to give up this message? Abu Talib, his uncle who's about to die because of the circumstances that have been brought upon the family because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam brought a message that the Arabs did not like.
And Abu Talib is coming to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and he's saying, look, they're saying, if you just compromise on a little bit, everything will be okay, everything will be fine, they'll give you anything that you want. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has to hold firm like Yusuf alayhis salam held firm and calls upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And he says, رَبِّي my Lord. And this is something that some of the scholars pointed out. That he says, ربّي and not إلهي. Not my God, he says, my sustainer. He's appealing to the Rabbi, he's appealing to Ar-Rab, the sustainer. Showing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he trusts Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with everything that's happening right now.
I understand the wisdom, or I understand that there is wisdom that is unknown to me. I trust you in everything that is happening right now. And essentially when he says to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I'd rather go to prison than commit adultery.
Which I naturally desire in this situation. He is saying to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:
To be tested and tried in this world is more beloved to me than disobeying you. Because disobedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala entails a punishment in the hereafter.
Whereas الابتلاء being tested for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala means pain in this world followed by relief in the hereafter. So سَلامَةُ الدِّينِ to be safe in my religion is better than being safe in regards to my worldly life. I'd rather feel a sense of pain here than feel it in the hereafter.
I'd rather be tested than to feel that pleasure for a temporary period and then be punished in the hereafter for it. And seizing here, it's very important to understand Yusuf alayhis salam when he appeals to Allah and says, I'd rather be in prison. What Yusuf alayhis salam is doing by the way is he's saying to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I know what it's like to be abandoned and to be put away from society.
He's been in a well before. He's been neglected. He's been scared. He's been in fear. And subhanAllah, even though he's been traumatized by that experience of being thrown into the well and being neglected by the people, he still would rather go to that miserable situation than do something that's displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he also understood hardship in life. He also understood what it was like to be an orphan and to have nothing around you. He also understands what it's like to be neglected by society. But what does the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say?
(Hadith)
Oh Allah, so long as you are not angry with me, I don't care.
Meaning what? I'm willing to face any form of punishment, any form of pain, so long as that does not mean that you're angry with me, oh Allah. It's the same type of rhetoric that the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is using.
Now you know what's interesting? The next ayah, when Yusufalayhis salam says that prison is more beloved to me, the next ayahAllahsubhanahu wa ta'ala says:
That his Lord responded to him.
And the scholars say, Yusufalayhis salam could have just asked Allah to save him from the situation. He didn't need to ask Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala to say to Allah السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيْهِ that I'd rather go to prison. He could have asked Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala for الْعَافِيَةَ which is to be freed.
To be freed from the entire situation, to help him in the entire situation. And the fact that Allah responded with فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ that Allah answered him shows you that anything Yusuf would have asked at that moment would have been honored by Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Imam al-Qurtubi rahimahullah ta'ala, he says:
That Allah said to Yusuf, Oh Yusuf, you put yourself in prison when you called out and said, prison is more beloved to me.
And if you would have said that to be pardoned and freed from the situation was more beloved to you, then I would have granted that to you.
And that's why the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam, this is a very powerful lesson for us to learn here.
The Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he once heard Mu'adh say:
(Hadith)
Oh Allah, I ask you for patience. Don't we always say that? May Allah grant them patience. May Allah grant you patience.
You know what the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam said when he heard Mu'adh asking for patience? The Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam says:
(Hadith)
You've asked Allah for difficulty and hardship.
(Hadith)
Ask Him instead for pardon and freedom. Ask Him to get you out of the situation.
When you ask Allah for patience, then you're acknowledging that the hardship is going to stay. Instead, patience should be your response if the hardship remains. But when you ask Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, ask Allah to get you out of the difficult situation.
Have that حُسْنُ الظَّنِّ that good expectation of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, that even if He doesn't deliver you out of that situation, that there's a wisdom behind that, and you will be patient. But don't ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for a trial and hardship.
And so He says, He says:
That prison is more beloved to me than that which they are calling me to. And if you don't do away with their evil plans, their evil deception, then I will long for them, and I will be amongst the ignorant.
Now I want to focus here, something very interesting now. يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ, that which they are calling me to. يَدْعُونَنِي is both male and female. Okay, so it's مُذَكَّرٌ مُجَمَّعٌ . It refers to both men and women calling me towards something that's evil. كَيْدَهُنَّ their evil plan is مُؤَنَّتْ مُجَمَّع . It refers to women plotting against him in particular. Okay, or their evil plan.
So when Yusufalayhis salam says يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ he's acknowledging that it is both men and women that there are a bunch of people that are telling him, just go ahead and do it. Okay, so it wasn't just the women, it's an entire group of people, an entire community telling Yusufalayhis salam, just go ahead, go ahead and respond to her call. The plot is multifaceted, it's throughout society, and they are all calling him.
Now why does Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala say that Yusufalayhis salam said كَيْدَهُنَّ all of those women as opposed to كَيْدَها her evil call? Because again, this is a group of women and not only that, you know what they're telling Yusufalayhis salam? They're telling him go ahead and respond to her call and then they take Yusuf to the side and they say, listen, if you came with me, I would be even better than her.
He's facing that. Ibn Abbas says that each woman pulled him to the side privately and said, come with me instead.
He is facing a fitna that is absolutely unmatched. And he says, if you don't do away with all of their evil plans, all of it, then أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ that I will desire some of them, that I'll fall to all of their plans.
And you know what's interesting here? Yusufalayhis salam also recognizes that not all of them are equally evil. They could be that a lot of people are plotting against you and something and some of them
are just more evil than others. Why? Because even with the brothers of Yusufalayhis salam:
You know, they all plotted against him but one of them said, don't kill Yusufalayhis salam, just throw him into the well. That's the nicest brother amongst them.
Talk about a really bad set of brothers. No, no, don't kill him, it's okay. Just throw him into the well. Just throw him into the well. That's literally what he was saying. But the Prophetalayhis salam, even he recognized that with his enemies.
And that's why on the day of Badr, the Prophetalayhis salam did something very interesting. He looked at the army of Quraysh as they were coming, and he says:
(Hadith)
Prophetalayhis salam said, if there's any good left in these people, it's on that guy that's riding the red camel. Who was he talking about? Utbah ibn Abi Rabi'ah.
Who was an enemy of the Prophetalayhis salam. Utbah ibn Abi Rabi'ah was an enemy of the Prophet alayhis salam. But the Prophetalayhis salam looked at his face and he saw something interesting. And he was right. Utbah ibn Abi Rabi'ah was trying to convince Abu Jahl that we shouldn't go forth with this battle.
So the Prophetalayhis salam saw in his face that he didn't have that same arrogance that Abu Jahl had in those moments. And what happened before, truly, is that Utbah said to Abu Jahl, let's forget about this, we don't need to go forth with this, we don't need to fight them. We can continue to sanction them economically and do what we do, but a battle is not in our best interest.
Abu Jahl called him a coward. And Abu Jahl, you know, verbally abused him to a point that he was ashamed in front of his people. And he finally went out with hesitation. And he died in Badr just like Abu Jahl did. But the Prophetalayhis salam recognizes that when people plot against you, not all of them are going to be equally evil.
Nevertheless, there's going to be evil found amongst them. And even, subhanAllah, the scholars say here, that there's an evil even in the silence of people that were not necessarily plotting against Yusufalayhis salam. Why?
Because Al-Aziz, the guy whose wife is clearly throwing herself at Yusufalayhis salam, what does he do? Does he punish his wife? Does he punish Yusufalayhis salam? He says, Yusuf, just leave this alone. (وَاسْتَغْفِرِي لِذَنْبِكِ - wastaghfiri lizanbik) and he tells her, go seek forgiveness from Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.
So you know what it is? They say as well, that because he lacked ghira, he lacked the sense of honor, because he's sitting by and he's letting this happen, he knows his wife is like this, and he's not doing anything about it to prevent it. Then he's also taking part in the plot against Yusufalayhis salam even if he doesn't intend to do so.
Those who are silent, when evil is taking place, when someone is being slandered and plotted against, and don't do anything about it, are equally evil. They also share the responsibility. So Yusufalayhis salam says, if you don't do away with all of the things they're calling me towards, their evil plans:
I will incline towards them. I'm a human being. I'm a man.
And Yusufalayhis salam is doing something that's very interesting. He's acknowledging his weakness to Allah, and in that he's finding strength. Strength in the sight of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala is not challenging Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala to send you bad conditions, and say, I'm going to pull through and watch what I do.
Strength is acknowledging your weakness to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says:
(Hadith)
O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining, by Your mercy I seek relief. Set right my religion for me and do not leave me to myself for the blink of an eye. I'm weak. I have my flaws. I have my imperfections.
The Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, that do not wish for fitna. Don't wish for fitna. Don't wish for hardship in your life. Allah tests you. You don't test Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. Don't ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for test.
And the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, if Dajjal came out, don't think to yourself, mashallah, I'm a strong Muslim, I'm a strong believer, I'm going to go face Dajjal, and tell him in his face he's Dajjal. What did the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam say do? He told the companions, if you hear that Dajjal is out, and he's in a land, go to another land, run. Don't think that you're going to be able to face him, and argue with him, and debate with him.
Don't ask for hardship and trial in your life. Acknowledge your weakness to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. This is an integral part of dua, whether it's physical weakness or spiritual weakness. Who can give me an example of physical weakness from the Quran? Acknowledging your physical weakness.
How about Zakariyaalayhis salam or Ayubalayhis salam. When Zakariya says:
I'm weak on the inside, my bones are decaying, I'm an old man, my head is full of gray hair.
That's a form of dua, acknowledging your weakness to Allah physically. What about spiritually, acknowledging your weakness to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. How about the very first dua that was taught to man?
If you don't forgive us and have mercy on us, then we will be from the losers.
So acknowledge your weakness to Allah, cry to Allah and acknowledge your weakness to Allah, and that is actually a form of strength, admitting that to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. Even saying to Allah, look Allah, I can't even repent without you. I can't even properly repent without you. I need you O Allah, free yourself from yourself.
And that's why Yusufalayhis salam is the first on the day of judgment that is shaded by Allah's throne in a particular category. He's already a prophet, so he's already amongst those that are shaded by the throne of Allah. But he will arrive in a category that the Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, a young person.
And by the way, the hadith of the seven shaded applies to men and women. Someone that was called to zina by someone of hasab and jamal, of status and beauty. Status means they can cover you as far as your worldly consequences are concerned.
You'll be okay if you do this from a worldly perspective. And they're beautiful, so you actually do desire them.
(Hadith)
But that person says, no, but I'm afraid of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Prophetsallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentions that as a category of people shaded by the throne of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. Yusufalayhis salam will be the chief of them.
Why? Because Yusuf has everything working against him. He's single. Alright? He's single, he's really handsome, and he's in a desperate situation. She on the other hand, she's beautiful. Look, Al-Aziz is not going to marry a woman that's not beautiful. Alright? The woman is beautiful.
And there are many things that are said about her as far as athar and narrations are concerned about the beauty of this woman. She's beautiful. She's in power. She's threatening him with consequences if he doesn't answer her call. So both the internal and the external factors are against Yusufalayhis salam. And he still calls upon Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.
You know they say psychologically, we're motivated by three things. Everything we do in life comes out of three things. Fear, pain, pleasure. Any of you heard that before? We're motivated by fear, pain, or
pleasure. All of these three things are against Yusuf alayhis salam. Okay? So he fears the consequences, but he fears Allah more.
Alright? He knows that he's going to be beaten, he's going to face pain in this world for not answering her call. But the pain of the hereafter is more important to him. He desires the woman. This is pleasure. He desires the woman. But the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is more important than his own pleasure.
So he's able to master all three of these things that psychologically motivate a person in the first place. And instead direct them to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says in the Hadith Qudsi that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has said after describing the stages at which a person arrives at the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:
(Hadith Qudsi)
If I love someone, when Allah loves you, he becomes the hearing by which you hear, the sight by which you see, the hand by which you strike, the foot by which you walk.
What that means is, you will get to a point where you only hear those things that are pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Things that you used to listen to because they pleased you, you now actually dislike them because you know that they're displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It is natural, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created you in a way that looking at someone from the opposite gender that's attractive is pleasing to you. But because you know that it's not pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you actually want to lower your gaze. You actually don't want to look because you know that it's not pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You find an aversion to things that you naturally incline towards. Why? Because Allah is more precious to you than even yourself.
And those who believe, their love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is greater than anyone's love for anything else. That's a love that cannot be quantified. And so Yusuf alayhis salam is able to put that away.
Why? He says, not only will I incline towards them:
I will end up being from amongst the ignorant.
Now why didn't Yusuf alayhis salam say:
I would be from the disbelievers أَكُونَ مِنَ الْفَاسِقِينَ I would be from the major sinners.
Does does ignorance really seem like the word that fits the situation? Does it? Like I'll be from the ignorant. Like if I do this terrible thing, then I'll be considered amongst the ignorant. What is Yusuf alayhis salam talking about? What ignorance is he talking about?
He's talking about being placed in a situation of being جَاهِلٌ بِاللهِ ignorant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because sin dims the light in your heart. Sin dims the light in your heart and your ability to have a meaningful relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Your ability to be عارف بالله someone who knows Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a meaningful way. Someone who connects with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Sin is the direct barrier between your heart and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's why the Imam Al-Shafi'i rahimahullah ta'ala authored a very famous poem. And it was after he saw the ankle of a woman. We hear that and we're like, are you serious? Where does that leave me?
He saw the ankle of a woman and he says:
I complained to Waqi' that I was no longer able to memorize properly. He told me to stop sinning.
He considered, why he said:
The knowledge of Allah is light and the light of Allah won't be given to a disobedient person.
And Imam Al-Shafi'i attributed weakness in memory and his dimming in his relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he saw something that was inappropriate at the time. Now let's not look at that and say, okay, we're done.
If that's the case, then we have absolutely no chance. But let's consider in our own circumstances. If I'm sitting at home and if I'm watching things that I'm not supposed to be watching and I'm constantly engaging in activity that's displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that hinders my ability to have khushu in my salah, to taste the sweetness of my prayer, to have a meaningful relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because I'm leading my heart to other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I can't expect it to be filled except by other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you have to be able to cut those things out.
And the greatest consequence of sin is that it moves you away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The greatest consequence is that it hinders that relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Yusuf alayhis salam is once again affirming that the ultimate loss is the loss of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That I'm
willing to face everything else so long as it still means that I can have that relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Trial of Slander
Now Yusuf is thrown into prison. And you know something very powerful that the scholars say? Slander is more difficult than anything else that a person will face in life. Even if you go to prison, but you still have your dignity.
There are political prisoners all around the world that are unjustly prisons. Not because of justice. They are unjustly imprisoned by tyrants and dictators and whatever you may have. Half of them, if not more, are in the Muslim world. Okay? Unjustly imprisoned political prisoners. But you know what? They have their dignity.
They have their izzah. They know that they were in prison for something good. For something that was true. For standing for justice. But whenever you are slandered, you would rather be in prison than have your reputation taken away from you. Some people would rather die.
And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says that An-Nammam, the slanderer, will not enter Jannah. One of the most powerful explanations. Actually my teacher, Shaykh Raja Hafidahullah, was one of the most slandered people that I've ever met in my life.
He said something and he started to cry. And I'll never forget this. It was the first time I actually heard a sharh of the hadith:
(Hadith)
That a slanderer will not enter paradise. He said, the people that have robbed others of their peace of mind in this world, don't deserve to have peace of mind in the hereafter. Don't expect to have Jannah if you made someone's life hell by slandering them.
It's difficult. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) saying, the one who slanders will not enter paradise. When Yusuf alayhis salam is in prison, his reputation has also been tarnished. He's been accused of certain things. And that's more difficult on Yusuf alayhis salam than anything else he's facing.
Many of you may have heard, and this is a very common story, a common view, that Yusuf alayhis salam, remember he interpreted the dreams of those two men. And he told one of the men what?
Mention me to the king. And what are we taught? And look, I'm going to very respectfully disagree with the common view.
We're taught that Allah punished Yusuf alayhis salam and left him in the prison cell. Because Yusuf alayhis salam asked that man to mention him in front of the king. And all of these erroneous narrations, none of them authentic, that Allah told Yusuf alayhis salam, you've lost tawakkul in me, you've lost trust in me, because you told him to mention me in the presence of the king.
And that's why Allah says:
That the shaitan caused him to forget his lord. We'll say that that's talking about Yusuf alayhis salam. All of those narrations are not only inauthentic, but they're inconsistent with the character of Yusuf alayhis salam. And so it is more likely:
That the shaitan caused him to forget his lord is not talking about Yusuf alayhis salam, but talking about the other man that he forgot to mention Yusuf alayhis salam in the presence of that king.
And so Yusuf spends all of these years in prison. And you know what's even further proof that Yusuf did not lose his tawakkul? When the man remembers after years that he forgot to get Yusuf alayhis salam out of prison and mentioned him to the king. And the king has a dream that he wants interpreted.
When he comes to Yusuf alayhis salam and Yusuf interprets the dream, the man offers Yusuf alayhis salam to grant him his freedom. The king offers him the opportunity to be free. But what does Yusuf alayhis salam say? Yusuf alayhis salam says, ask him about the women that slandered me.
My lord knows about their plot and their deception. What is Yusuf alayhis salam saying? No, I don't wanna leave prison unless I have my dignity. I'm not gonna be free because I did the king a favor.
I'm going to be free because I was innocent. Because it was not true what they said about me. That's a man of tawakkul, that's a man of integrity and trust.
It doesn't make sense to say that man lost tawakkul in Allah at any point in his life. After all those years rotting in a prison cell saying, I'm not coming out until my innocence is clarified. And subhanAllah what we find, remember the woman told him:
She said, that he will be put in prison and he will be from the humiliated ones. He will be from the humiliated people. What did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala do?
They plan and Allah plans. Not only did Allah return him and put him in a place of authority, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put him in the highest position, the position that her husband once had.
Allahu Akbar. Talk about being taken from a position of so-called humiliation to a great position. She's telling him, you will be humiliated. Allah gave him her husband's job after this process.
Likewise, Abu Jahl took his camels and his horses to the day of Badr. And Abu Jahl was شامخًا كَانَ . He was singing songs about how the Arabs will sing our tales, about how we massacred this group of filth.
They had extra camels and horses to bring to Badr to celebrate over the corpses of the Muslims. And Abu Jahl says, the Arabs will brag about us all the time, this mighty army of Abu Jahl. And we will take out of everyone's memory Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his people.
What ends up happening instead? They are humiliated. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) comes back to Mecca only as an authority over them. Allah puts the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in a position where all of them are now at the mercy of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) like Yusuf alayhis salam, what does he do? He forgives them. And he says, I will say to you all what my brother Yusuf said to his brothers:
There is no blame upon you today.
You killed my uncle. You caused my family members to die. You caused me to be exiled and humiliated from my homeland for a decade. I'm not going to treat you with any form of vengeance. You're free to go. Wow, what a heart of gold.
Not only that, al-Abbas comes to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he says, listen, Abu Sufyan is a proud man. He says, if you could announce, if you could make Abu Sufyan, the man who fought against the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) for a decade, if you could make his house one of the safe havens. Like if you could mention him in some way.
When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) comes into Mecca, he says:
(Hadith)
Whoever enters into the house of Abu Sufyan is safe. He still cares about their sensitivities and feelings even though they hurt the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Abu Sufyan's wife was the one who cut Hamza's chest open, radiallahu anhu, and chewed his liver.
And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) forgave her. She came to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and she said, I was the one that killed your uncle. And now I've come to accept Islam.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says, أَهْلاً welcome. What? But that's what Yusuf alayhis salam did. My brother Yusuf, that's what he said to his brothers when his brothers wronged him.
Yusuf's Du'a at His Highest Point
Now we move on to the du'a in the time of glory. Ayah 101, where Yusuf alayhis salam says:
"My Lord, You have given me [something] of sovereignty and taught me of the interpretation of dreams. Creator of the heavens and earth, You are my protector in this world and in the Hereafter."