The Best of Stories Pearls from Surat Yusuf - Part 4 (Corrected)

Ya'qub's Firaasa

Okay? So now that they have eliminated all excuses, Ya'qub could have said, okay. But still there's something in his heart. This is instinct. And in Arabic the word is (فِرَاسَة - firaasa)

And (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) is a very deep concept. And we're gonna come over this again and again in Surah Yusuf. The meaning of (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said,

(Tirmidhi 3127)

"Beware of the believer's insight, for he sees with Allah's light."

There's a hadith, Beware of the (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) of the believer because it is true. What is (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) We can translate in English as a gut instinct. It's a gut instinct. It's something that you sense, right? For the kids here, it's spider sense. Some tingling goes off.

You know something is wrong. Okay? This is a type of (فِرَاسَة - firaasa). And the more iman that you have, the more you will have this (فِرَاسَة - firaasa)

Somebody comes and makes you a business proposition. And it's so sweet and it's beautiful. Everything looks good. But something inside of you, your bells are going off, man, this doesn't look right. And there's nothing you can see. But you say, look, I'll pass out. I mean, (بَارَكَ اللهُ فِيكَ - barakAllahu feek) thanks, but no thanks.

Now (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) cannot be used in a court of law, right? (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) cannot be used to say something. It's an instinct. So you keep it internal. You cannot say it to anybody. You cannot base your judgment, oh, I think this. No, it's internal. So (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) is an internal thing. You don't mention it to other people.

So Yaqub has this (فِرَاسَة - firaasa) because he's a prophet. Yaqub has this (فِرَاسَة - firaasa). He knows something is not right.

Ya'qub's Reluctance

So he could have said after this beautiful (مقدمة - muqaddima), this beautiful introduction of the children, that come on, what excuse do you have? He still makes another attempt. And this really shows his concern. Never has he handed Yusuf over to them, not once.

And never has he allowed Yusuf to be alone with them without his supervision. But now that they've laid it this way, he tries one more thing.

"[Jacob] said, 'Indeed, it saddens me that you should take him.'"

And this is an emphasis here again, surely it will make me very sad. It's going to make me very sad that you should take him away. And this shows us how correct the brothers were when they said their father is completely in love with Yusuf. He cannot bear to be away from Yusuf for one day.

Says, I will be sad if you take him away. And subhanAllah, there is a deeper meaning here that aren't I going to be even more sad if you take him away permanently. The point is they wanted to take him away for one day, but there's a subtle message here.

Because they will take him away for a long time, not permanently, but 30-40 years they take him away. They take him away for a long time. And he's telling them, I will go into grief if you take him away.

And that's exactly what happens, that he goes into grief until he loses his eyesight. And he's telling them, these are the warning signals beforehand. I will be very grieved if you take him away.

And they don't heed this advice. It goes past deaf ears.

"and I fear that a wolf would eat him while you are of him unaware."

And I'm worried and I'm scared that a wolf might eat him.

Now the scholars say that, firstly Ya'qub was in the land of Canaan, Canaan. Where is Canaan? Canaan is the ancient name of Palestine and Sham and this area. This was called the land of Canaan, the Canaanites and the Canaans.

This is what Palestine was originally called, and that whole land. So Ya'qub is living there. And they said that they're going out into the desert, the wilderness, and it is possible there will be wolves and coyotes and other such animals that will attack.

Now, scholars differ here, did he really say this meaning that he's scared of a wolf or was it just an excuse to get them off his back? Was he really scared of a wolf? I mean after all how rare is it that a wolf will come and eat, even if it's a child. But how rare is it that the wolf will come and eat.

So some scholars have said that what he meant was, he is scared of you and you are wolves. Some scholars said this. In other words, he's calling his own sons wolves, that the wolves are going to devour him. This seems to be a bit far-fetched.

Another opinion says that the wolves here, there was a genuine fear of wolves. And this was a land, now this might very well be true, it was a land full of animals, wild beasts and animals, and it might have been a dangerous thing for a young child to be alone in the desert or the wilderness.

But most scholars say, and this seems to be the strongest opinion, Ya'qub is not seriously worried about wolves. He's not genuinely worried about wolves, but he's trying to find an excuse to somehow prevent. And he says one thing that is completely factual, I'll be very grieved if you take him away. And then he adds another thing, which is not a lie, but it's not the full truth.

And this is something that we have mentioned previously, is permissible in Islam. It's called (تورية - tawriya), it's called double meaning, it's called saying one thing which is understood other than what you intended.

His intention is, well, there is a one chance in a million that the wolf will eat him, it's not a big probability, but I just don't want you to take him. That's what he's intending to say, but he cannot say those wordings. So he uses a very flimsy excuse which is factual, it's not a lie.

I mean after all, anything could happen, if he said an earthquake will come, if he said a tidal wave will come, isn't there a minuscule probability? So he mentions a probability that is not very strong, but he simply wants them to stop persisting.

Now, this is a back and forth, there's an emotional struggle going on. The brothers are persistent, the brothers have laid out the plot to get Yusuf. Yaqub could have said yes, but he tries one more attempt.

And they refute that attempt as well. Now before we move on, notice Yaqub gave them the very excuse that they would use five ayat away. He gave, or three ayat away, he gave them the very excuse.

And this, it shows us that these young adults, we should say old children, these young adults, these young brothers of Yusuf, they were not that mature to plan out the whole plot. They were so short- sighted, let's just get rid of Yusuf. But what are they gonna say? They haven't thought of this.

So when Yaqub gives this line, and he says, I'm worried the wolf will eat him. خلاص they have their plan now. This is what you're worried about? Okay, we have now a plan that we can scheme.

What are we gonna tell our fathers? The very excuse that he was worried about. And this shows us that the brothers of Yusuf, like most criminals, like most people who do any sin, they don't think three steps ahead, right? It's just one step. I want this money, I'm gonna take it now.

I want this, I'm gonna do this. They don't think ahead. And this plot of theirs fell back in their faces.

The Brothers' Response

"They said, 'If a wolf should eat him while we are a [strong] group, indeed, we would then be losers.'"

They said, if a wolf eats him, (وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ - wa nahnu 'usba) - while we are a large group, (عُصْبَةُ - 'usba) we said means a group of 10 or more, and they were exactly 10. In English, the only word is like a gang, but a gang has a negative meaning, right? We are a group of people, (نَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ - nahnu 'usba)

Then (إِنَّا إِذَا لَّخَاسِرُونَ - inna idha lakhasirun) - We're a bunch of losers, we have no good in us, right? How could a wolf take our little brother when we are 10? I mean, if you say this, and of course realize, Ya'qub is already an elderly

man, we don't know his age, but we can imagine, he's already a grandfather, he's already elderly, he cannot take care of his own needs, so he's relying on his sons to do all of the housework, the chores.

Remember, they're living in a wilderness, and this is all, there are no children of Israel now, there are no large tribes, this is it, this is the genesis, this is the beginning of the large tribes of Israel.

There are no allies, there are no friends, all of the housework, all of the taking care of the goats, the sheep, all of the building, it's done by these brothers, by the 10, because Yusuf and his brother are too young right now, they are young. So these 10 are the ones taking care of Ya'qub's needs.

So they're saying, we take care of everything, you think a wolf is gonna be able to do this? We're a whole group of people, we're constructing, we're building, we're taking care of the goats and sheep, and now you think that a wolf will do this? Come on.

So it's clear that Ya'qub's excuse is not strong, and they know it. As for the first, they don't say anything, because they know this is true. The first meaning, I'll be sad.

They know this is true, they can't say anything about this, they let this go. But the second point is, how is this possible when we are an (عُصْبَة - 'usba) So, he gave up them, he relented. And in this emotional struggle, the brothers of Yusuf won over, and Ya'qub allowed Yusuf to go with them.

The Plot Unfolds

"So when they took him..."

So, when they took him away, Allah does not finish this portion. And the missing sentence is basically, they did what they did. (فَلَمَّا ذَهَبُوا بِهِ - falamma dhahabu bihi) - So, when they took him away, dot, dot, dot.

The sentence is not finished in Arabic. And this is of the (بلاغة - balagha) or the eloquence of the Arabic language, that many times, details are not mentioned. And the Quran is full of such, it's called ellipsis in English, means missing phrases, missing words.

This is one of the problems of translation. When we translate, the ellipsis of the Arabic, when you translate it, it goes completely blank. How do you translate this? And the point being here, that Allah did not mention the details because number one, it is understood.

And that is that they did what they did, and they harmed him. Number two, these details are very painful. And Allah does not mention these painful details.

So, when they took him, dot, dot, dot. And then Allah says:

"And they unanimously agreed to put him into the bottom of the well."

There's ijma, they all agreed. (أَجْمَعُوا - ajma'u) - To put him into the recesses, or the darknesses of the well. And this shows us that there was not one merciful heart amongst them.

Because Allah used the verb (أَجْمَعُوا - ajma'u) - There's not one heart of pity, not one heart of mercy amongst them. Their heart had become so hard, that there's now unanimity, that we're going to throw him into the well.

And some accounts in the books of tafsir mention that when they finally got away and far away from the house, they began joking harshly with him, sarcastically. They began beating him up, they began mocking him and the love that his father had for him.

And when they got to the well, they tied him up, they took his shirt off, and he begged and pleaded with each of them, that, oh my brother, why are you doing this? Oh my brother. And he begged and pleaded with all ten of them, one by one.

But there was not one heart of mercy. (أَجْمَعُوا - ajma'u) - And this is something, Allah, it's amazing for us to think about. They're his blood brothers, and they're the children of a Prophet.

But their heart became so hard because of jealousy, because of greed, of something that was halal. As we said over and over again, subhanAllah, imagine jealousy and greed for something that is haram. Something that was halal they wanted, but their hearts became blind.

And the begging and the pleading and the crying of a little boy who is their brother. And the heart of their father, the apple of his eye, completely rejected this. And they took his shirt off, because this is the plan that they had done.

And they threw him into the well. Wallahi, we cannot even imagine how this little boy, abandoned, tortured, mocked, ridiculed, and harmed by his own brothers would have felt. He is so young, he is not even (بالغ - baligh).

He doesn't understand why this is happening. He thought that they're gonna have a fun time. He's such an excited kid going out to have fun with his older brothers.

We're gonna race, we're gonna do this and that. And instead, they do this to him.

The Wisdom of Allah's Silence

Now, one point that is really powerful about this whole story, and to me this is wallahi a point that, really we need to think about. The beauty of the Quran, is that the evil actions of the brothers, they are never described in detail. Nor does Allah ever explicitly criticize them directly.

Despite the fact that, wallahi, this is such a cruel thing that they did. I mean, when we think about it, and we are not even a fraction of the level of the sons of these Prophets eventually. Our hearts shudder, and

our souls tremble, that how could you have done this?

Yet Allah عز وجل does not choose one negative adjective. In the whole surah, describing them as ظَالِمُونَ (wrongdoers) فاسقون (transgressors) any type of adjective at all.

And one wonders, what is the reason for this? Surely they're worthy of criticism. Surely they're worthy that, these details should have been mentioned, these pitiful details that would make our hearts cry. That Yusuf begged and pleaded, did this and that.

But Allah عز وجل is silent. Why? What's the wisdom behind this? And it's not that the Quran doesn't criticize other people. I mean, the mushrikun are criticized, the Yahud and Nasara are criticized.

Why aren't these people criticized when they're doing such a dastardly and evil deed? Well, firstly, of the reasons why Allah عز وجل does not mention this, is that, and this is generally a Quranic message, it is not appropriate to mention evil in detail. It's not appropriate to mention any type of evil, whether it's lewdness and fahisha, whether even it is something that is not respectful.

So for example, Allah says in the Quran, if one of you comes from the restroom, Allah doesn't say if one of you urinates or excretes. Allah says in the Quran, if you touch women, Allah doesn't say if you are intimate with women. So the wordings of the Quran are extremely noble.

And Allah does not, and this is something that is not just halal, but everybody does it. We go to the bathroom, Allah doesn't say if you use the restroom. So if you come from the restroom

- If you come from the restroom.

Why? Because Allah عز وجلthere's no need to be, even it's not, I don't even want to use the word vulgar, there's no need to mention these details in the language of the Quran.

And this is a general rule that we don't mention evil in detail. And we learn this from so many other instances. It's not of the etiquettes of the Muslims to go into detail about fahisha, or about evil, or about a sin that occurred.

"Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment"

Allah says in Surah An-Nur, those who love to spread the gossip of evil amongst the people, these are the people Allah says, they're open door of punishment.

And this shows us the difference between an Islamic model and the model that we live in of the world today. In the world today, any crime, any vulgarity, any murder, any rape, anything that happens, the news reports it in the most extreme vivid detail.

And in fact, Hollywood movies are made out of it, best-selling books are done. And what happens? Mankind is desensitized. The fitrah of man becomes used to listening to this evil.

And it becomes something that, that's why one of the reasons, and we say this clearly, one of the reasons why crime spreads is because the news of crime spreads. And the reality is in an Islamic, in a very good Islamic environment, you wouldn't hear of these details.

Let the police go do it, right? Let the people who are finding out, find out. But to spread it amongst the people, there's no فائدة. Human nature becomes accustomed to listening to it, to spreading it. And when it becomes accustomed to listening and thinking and spreading, this is the stepping stone to actually doing it.

This is the stepping stone to actually doing it. Therefore, the first reason why Allah does not mention this is because it is not befitting of the majesty of Allah عز وجل. But there's a second reason as well.

And that second reason is perhaps the key point in this surah. And that is that, these people, the brothers of Yusuf Allah عز وجل accepted their repentance. They repented, they acknowledged their sin.

And notice in the Quran, the only time their sin is mentioned is from their own tongues.

"They said, 'O our father, ask forgiveness for us of our sins; indeed, we have been sinners.'"

And they go to Yusuf and they say, forgive us, O Yusuf, we have done wrong. And they go to their father, they say, O our father, ask Allah to forgive us, we have done wrong.

And wallahi, this is so powerful of a message. Why? When Allah has forgiven them, why mention their faults? This is the perfection of Allah's مَغْفِرَة (maghfira). When Allah has forgiven them, why should Allah go into detail about what they did? Leave it.

And this shows us the majesty of Allah عز وجل that we learn from, that we should learn from. True forgiveness, and true turning the other cheek, it means that, we don't go reminding people of what they had done. We don't go mentioning the faults even if they have done it.

And I want you to think about this point, that how cruel they have been, and yet how merciful is Allah in describing their cruelty. It's amazing. Allah doesn't even finish the sentence, when they went with him, dot, dot, dot.

Doesn't even finish, because this is the perfection of Allah's مَغْفِرَة . Allah forgave them, why should then Allah criticize them and mention this? And this really shows us that, when we forgive, we should try our best, we can never forget, we should try our best to overlook.

"So pardon and overlook"

Allah says, forgive and overlook. اصفَحُوا means, turn another page, صفحة just turn another page, ignore what happened in the past. And we learn from this, this type of methodology.

Allah's Promise to Yusuf

So Allah سبحانه وتعالى says after this, that they threw him into the well, and

'And We inspired to him, 'You will surely inform them [someday] about this affair of theirs while they do not perceive [your identity].'"

We inspired him that لَتُنَبِّتَنَّهُم بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَذَا - Of a surety, you will inform them of this very deed that they have done. You will tell them of this very deed.

وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ - And they will have no idea that you will be telling them.

Now, some very small group of Mufassirun, they say, Allah inspired Yaqub. وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ - Meaning Ya'qub. That you will tell your children what they have done. But this doesn't seem to make any sense.

The vast majority say that وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ - We inspired Yusuf. Of course, the reason why that minority said this is problematic, is because Yusuf is a young child. And young children are not generally speaking prophets, unless there are exceptions.

So Isa is an exception that he was made a prophet as a baby. But otherwise, generally speaking, the rule is, you don't become a prophet until you are an adult. So how can Yusuf be receiving وَحْي (wahyi)? So some people found this problematic.

Others said, this is when he became a prophet. Others said, and this is the majority opinion, that وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ - This wahyi is not the type of wahyi that makes people prophets. Because there are different types of wahyi in the Quran.

And as Ibn Qayyim says, we don't want to go into too much detail, but there are six types of wahyi. One of them is the natural order of things, what we call mother nature. In other words, the structure of the creation.

Allah says in the Quran, then we وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهَا - We inspired the bee. Wahyi was given to the bee, that you take the flowers and eat them and give forth the عسل (honey). So this is a wahyi that doesn't make the bees prophets.

- and then also, Allah gave wahyi to the heavens. The wahyi here is basically the order of things. There's another type of wahyi, and this wahyi is one level below that of being a prophet.

And it is possible that people get this type of wahyi, but the sharia generally doesn't call it wahyi, it calls it إلهام (ilham). Ilham means an inner voice or an inner thought comes that you feel and you know it's from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And this is given to those who are one level beneath the prophets. And the most famous case of ilham in the Quran is the mother of Musa.

"And We inspired to the mother of Moses, 'Suckle him'"

But the wahyi was not to make her a prophet. We inspired her that you suckle her, you feed him, you suckle him, and then you make a basket and you put him in the river.

Now what mother would possibly do this, right? Any mother would do this, we think she's a mad woman. But this was a type of wahyi which is called ilham.

And ilham is one level below being a prophet. So it is possible that Yusuf got this ilham before actually becoming a prophet. In any case, it's quite clear that this is coming to Yusuf.

وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ - That as soon as the darkness of the well overtook him, Allah's نُور (light) and Allah's wahyi came down, immediately to console him. What was this consolation?

لَتُنَيِّنَنَّهُم بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَذَا - Surely, once again there's tawkeed, emphasis, and there's a double here, the laam and the noon. لَتُنَبِّتَنَّهُم - That surely, you will inform them of this very deed, while they have no clue who you are.

Now this simple pronunciation of a statement, a fact of the future prediction, it tells us many benefits. The first benefit, O Yusuf, you're not gonna die. You're not gonna die in this well.

You're not gonna be left alone and die a miserable death because you will live. O Yusuf, number two, you will go and be reunited with your family. Yes, they left you and they turned your backs to you, but eventually you will be reunited with your family.

Number three, that you will tell them, when they don't know who you are, this means that you will have the upper hand, and they will have the lower hand. So right now they have the upper hand and you have the lower hand. But the time will come, when you will be saved from this well, you will meet them again, and you will remind them of what they did, and because you are unknown to them, you will have the upper hand.

So this simple phrase has in it powerful messages of optimism. And from this, we can also gain a little bit of optimism ourselves, because remember why was this surah revealed? It was revealed to cheer our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم up. It was revealed to make him feel the consolation, the comfort, and Allah

عز وجل is reminding him through the story of Yusuf, that just like your family has abandoned you, Allah عز وجل will cause you to go back to them, and you will have the upper hand.

And Allah عز وجل says in the Quran, that this city that you are leaving

- you will go back to it, you will be given back to it, and you will be sent back to it. And that's exactly the message of Yusuf.

Another point of comfort we can take, knowing the ultimate end of anything, brings about some comfort. Knowing the ultimate end, brings about comfort.

So Yusuf is told of the ultimate end in this world, that only a Prophet can be told. For us believers, the ultimate end of the Akhirah, can be known to us, meaning the continual belief, that if I am righteous and if I am pious, then

The ultimate end will be for the righteous. So no matter what is happening in this world, no matter how tough life is, no matter how difficult, we are suffering from problems, always remind myself of the end.

وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ . The end result will be for the righteous.

So Yusuf is calmed down by the end result in this dunya. Well in this dunya, only the Prophets are told the end results. But in the Akhirah we know, that the righteous shall be saved.

And so we continue to hope, and we console ourselves. Anytime a مصيبة calamity) happens, we console ourselves إن شاء الله the Akhirah, our place is the Akhirah. That is where we will get our rest.

And that is why Imam Ahmad was asked, O Imam Ahmad, when will you rest? When will you finally rest? He said, when my first foot enters Jannah. When my right foot goes into Jannah, that is when the rest is. Otherwise, there is no rest before this.

So the sweetness of worshipping Allah عزوجل, has its own reward.

The Brothers Return with False Tears

Getting back to the story

"And they came to their father at night, weeping."

Beautiful Arabic here, three مَفْعُولٌ over here. They came to their father, when? At the time of night. What was their حال (state)? Crying. There's three مَفْعُولٌ over here. So they came at night.

They came back at night. They weren't supposed to stay that late. Nobody picnics in the darkness, right? They're supposed to come back مغرب. They're supposed to come back when the light is finishing. But they purposely delay to add to the plot, to pretend they were searching, they were doing this, they were doing that. They didn't know what to do.

So they came at night, way after they should have come. They came back to their father (يَبْكُونَ - crying) And in order to carry out their cruel act, they plot together a story.

And in order to embellish the story, they show these false emotions. And this is something that we all know human nature. It is easy to show these false emotions when you have an evil heart.

Emotions is not the basis of pronouncing judgment on anything. Simply because somebody is crying, or somebody is emotional, doesn't mean that they are innocent, or doesn't mean that they are scot-free. And this is something that we all know from human experience.

But yet unfortunately, still we fall into this. There's a famous incident of Shureyh Al-Qadi. Shureyh Al-Qadi is the most famous judge that Islamic history has ever seen.

The early Islamic literature. He's not a sahabi, he's a (تابعي - tabi'i). And he was a very wise judge, and lots of stories are mentioned about him.

So it is mentioned that once a plaintiff was a woman, she was accused of something, came to him, and the woman was sobbing, a hysterical sobbing, emotional. You know, when women cry, men get very worried, right? Because it's human nature that the manliness of a man comes out to calm her down, to help her.

So she's sobbing, she's crying, and Shureyh was dead emotionless. Not one thing moved in him. His own students were embarrassed and ashamed at the woman. And what can we do to help you? Shureyh was dead, silent, complete.

When the woman left, they said, Oh, Shaykh, I mean, at least you could have shown some sympathy. Maybe, you know (ظُلْم - injustice) was done to her, something was done. She's sobbing, she's weeping.

Why not the sympathy? Shureyh said, Verily, the brothers of Yusuf also were sobbing and crying. And they were (ظالمة and فاسقة) They were (ظَالِمَة and فاسقة)

So, I don't care how much people are crying or not, we base our ruling on facts and not on emotion. And subhanallah, in that particular case, it turned out the woman was lying. And those sobs and tears were fake.

And this shows that a Muslim, a wise man does not judge based upon these emotions.

The Fabricated Story

"They said, 'O our father, indeed we went racing each other and left Joseph with our possessions, and a wolf ate him."

O our father (إِنَّا ذَهَبْنَا نَسْتَبِقُ) - We went racing one another. we left Yusuf with our belongings, the food, the vessels, the containers, the meat, all that we came to have a picnic with, because he's the youngest, because he's only 8-9 years old.

We're the elders, we're the ones playing some type of hide-and-seek, some type of race that we're going miles or whatnot. We had to leave the youngest one. And we left Yusuf with our belongings.

(فَأَكَلَهُ الذِّنْبُ) - O our father, you gave us the excuse. We didn't have this plot in mind basically. You told us what to tell you, right? We didn't know what else to tell you.

Our minds are not that developed, we're not that imaginative. You're the wise man, and you gave us what we needed. So they use it now. This is what you're worried about, O father, well, this is what happened.

"But you would not believe us, even if we were truthful."

But we know you're never gonna believe the story. (وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ لَّنَا) - We know you're never gonna have iman in us. Iman means to believe in something that is unknown, unseen. Iman means you're believing something that you cannot prove.

That's why it's called faith. So they're saying, you will never have iman in us, even if we are telling the truth. Now what they're trying to say is that, we know the story is so preposterous.

We know it's so far-fetched. And even if we're telling the truth, you wouldn't believe us, so why should we lie? Why should we lie then? We know it sounds strange. We know it sounds preposterous.

So why would we possibly lie? So they're trying to make their father believe, because it is a preposterous story. You know, sometimes something is so unbelievable, when the guy says it, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. You don't know whether to believe or not.

That's one of those points. And they're saying, Oh our father, we know you wouldn't believe us, even if we are telling the truth. And of course here, they only add one more imaginative deal, and that is why would Yusuf be left alone? What is the excuse here? This is the lie that they invent, that we went racing one another.

(إِنَّا ذَهَبْنَا نَسْتَبِقُ) - We're having a race, a (سباق). And we left Yusuf all alone.

"And they brought upon his shirt false blood."

And they brought forth his shirt, with (دَم كَذِب). It's a very beautiful Arabic بلاغة here. With a lying blood. Now the blood does not lie.

But Allah ascribe the lying to the blood, to show how evil and false it was. It should be (دَمٍ مَكْذُوب) a false blood. But Allah said (دم كذب)

This is a lying blood. And of course in English, it's not quite clear to understand. But technically you shouldn't phrase it like this.

But Allah ascribe the lying to the blood, to show what a bold faced evil lie. This is not the blood of Yusuf. It is as if the blood itself is lying.

(وَجَاءُوا عَلَى قَمِيصِهِ بِدَمٍ كَذِبِ) - And so they brought forth his shirt, and it had blood all over it. They either sacrificed a rabbit or a goat or something, and they splattered it with blood. And they handed this to him and said, this is his shirt.

Ya'qub's Response

"[Jacob] said, 'Rather, your souls have enticed you to something."

He said, no (بَلْ). (بَلْ) in the Arabic language is (حرف الإضراب) which means, what has gone before, you negate it completely. Anytime the word (بَلْ) occurs take this as a rule.

Anytime Allah uses the word (بَلْ), it is a negation of what comes before, and an affirmation of what will come after. So the word (بَلْ), there is no English equivalent for it. Anytime Allah says (بَلْ) it means whatever has preceded is wrong, it's not true.

And what will come after is the truth. So, (بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا) - Your souls have made some matter, (أَمْرًا). You don't know what it is. Ya'qub doesn't know what it is.

Some matter. He doesn't know the story. So he's saying, something you have, your souls have made this matter appeasing to you.

He doesn't know the details, so he leaves it open. Now why didn't Ya'qub believe them? Why couldn't he believe the story? Well remember, he was suspicious of them from even before the story began. When Yusuf told him the dream, he's suspicious.

I know something is wrong, they're gonna do something to you. And when they come to him, he says no, try to push them away. Also, another reason, scholars say that he remembers the dream of Yusuf.

And the dream of Yusuf has to be fulfilled. How can Yusuf be dead, when I know for a fact that all of us are gonna prostrate to him. How can he be dead?

Also they say, that the shirt itself was an evidence. In that they handed him the shirt, but in their haste, they handed him the full shirt. And it is said that Ya'qub responded, what a merciful wolf this is, that ate

up Yusuf without having one scratch in the shirt.

You see, and this is what even modern criminologists say, that there is no such thing as the perfect murder. There is no such thing. Every murderer, every criminal makes mistakes. Because either they over plot or they under plot.

And in this case, they're so worried about what they're gonna do, they forgot to tear the shirt up. And they handed him a full shirt. So Ya'qub knows this is just not right.

Something is wrong here. Another beautiful point of this verse is that Ya'qub understands that the brothers made a plot. And in order to plot this plot, in order to enact this plot, they need to justify it in their conscience.

Notice, what I'm trying to say, Ya'qub didn't say, you have done wrong. Ya'qub said, your souls have convinced you that this doing wrong is good. You see the difference between the two, right? To say you have done wrong, this is a factual statement.

But he is psychoanalyzing. He's going deeper. And he's saying, your own souls, your own conscience has been corrupted.

And this is a much deeper critique. Instead of just criticizing the action, he criticizes the (نِيَّة - intention) behind the action. He criticizes the frame of mind behind the action.

And this is striking the guilt deep inside. That not only have you done wrong, but your souls have managed to concoct some type of justification. And you know that justification is wrong.

And of course, this is a plot of (شَيْطَان - Satan). Anytime we do a wrong, subhanAllah, shaitan comes and gives us a million and one excuses. Every one of us, myself and you, when we do a sin, shaitan comes and makes an excuse.

Okay, we do this sin to avoid a bigger sin. Or we do this to do that. Or we do that. This is (سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا) - Shaitan is making this pleasing to us.

Ya'qub's Beautiful Patience

"So patience is most fitting. And Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe."

(فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ) - Again, this is a phrasing in Arabic that cannot be translated into English. There's an ellipsis. There's a missing phrase here. Either the full English would be, I shall have a beautiful patience. Or it is that, there is nothing for me to do better than having a beautiful patience.

Or some type of missing because this is not a full sentence. This is not a full sentence. And the ellipsis here simply indicates that Ya'qub is submitting to the will of Allah and saying, I will have a beautiful patience.

Now, this shows us two things. Number one, or number of things actually. Number one, the blessings and the beauty of patience.

And there is much to be said here which this is not the time and place to mention. But if you read any book of (كِتَابٌب الصبر) of (رياض الصَّالِحِينَ) of (صحيح البخاري), any book that mentions the beauties of patience where Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us in the Quran that,

"Indeed, Allah is with the patient."

Allah is with those who are patient. And there are only a handful of nouns that Allah said He is with. A handful of people. (إنّ اللهَ مَعَ) - There's only a few. Probably some scholars say 12 exactly, I have to look it up.

But less than, or a dozen, or less than a dozen. And of them (إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ - Quran 2:194), (إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصادقين - Quran 9:119). Right? Of them (إِنَّ اللهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ) - Allah is with those who are patient.

And Allah says that those who are patient will get their reward without any (حساب - accounting).

"Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account."

And (بِغَيْرِ حِساب) is hardly ever mentioned, and (بِغَيْرِ حِساب) is the highest level of reward. And that is because every good deed is rewarded between 10 to 700 times.

Every good deed is rewarded between 10 to 700 times. The max is 700. So, a person gives a dollar, depending on who he is and how much that dollar means and what he gave it to, he will get back the reward of 10 dollars, sometimes even up to 700, but not more than 700.

There are a few deeds that Allah says (بِغَيْرِ حِساب) - I'm not gonna count 700, 7 million. And when Allah does not count, it's infinity. When Allah does not count, there is no counting to it.

And of them we know, is the one who fasts. He shall get back his reward (الصَّوْمُ لِي وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بهِ بِغَيْرِ حِساب).

(Sahih Bukhari 1894)

And of them is to be patient. To be patient gives you that elite status, and there's hardly anything else in the Quran and Sunnah that is يغير حساب

And Allah says in the Quran (ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِمَا صَبَرْتُمْ)

- Enter Jannah because you have been patient. (فَنِعْمَ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ) - What a beautiful reward and what a beautiful place for those who are patient.

And the hadith and the ayahs go on and on about patience. The second thing that this shows is (جَمِيلٌ - A beautiful patience).

This shows us that (صبر - sabr) has many categories. You can have a patience that it isn't quite beautiful, but it is patience. So there are levels of sabr.

And Ya'qub will go to the highest level of sabr. So sabr isn't just one category. It's not a black and white, on and off switch. Sabr is spectrum. And the highest level of sabr is what Ya'qub has said. (فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ - A جَمِيلٌ beautiful, a beautiful patience).

What is a beautiful patience? Scholars say, a beautiful patience is one in which there is no complaining to the creation. There's no complaining to the creation. You don't seek their sympathy.

You don't go and want people to pat you on the shoulder, Oh, it's alright, it's alright, things will be good for you. You don't want that from the people. You take it directly to Allah (عز وجل)

As later on in the surah:

I'm not complaining to you. I'm complaining to Allah.

What does it mean to complain to Allah? We'll come to when we get to that verse. What does it mean to complain to Allah? (صَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ) means, you don't want the sympathy of the others. There are types of patience which are, okay, good, but you need some help, you need some uplifting.

Most of us, we are patient, but we also want some worldly benefit. We want some worldly patting on the back and say, Oh, it's alright, (إن شاء الله) it'll be good. And our hearts get consolation (صَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ) is the highest level.

I don't need any of your sympathy. I'm getting my reward from Allah. And of course, (صَبَرَ) we didn't talk about what (صَبَرَ) means, because we talked about in a lot of detail in the (حَلّقات) that we were doing after (عشاء).

But for those who didn't attend, (صَبَرَ) means to restrain, to withhold. The actual meaning of (صَبَرَ) is to hold back. It's the actual meaning of (صَبْرٌ).

And that is why an animal that is reigned, you know the reign that you put an animal, is called (مَصْبُورٌ). It is called an animal that is restrained, is called an animal that is (مَحْسُورٌ) or you have pushed it or held it back.

And the reason why (صبر) is called (صبر) is because you're supposed to hold yourself back, you're supposed to restrain yourself.

And the reason why (صبر) is so difficult is because it is inaction in the face of wanted action. You want to do something, your blood is boiling, you want to let it out, you want to let your tongue, you want to let your fist, you want to show it, but you hold back, you hold back.

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us, the strong person is not the one who can beat up other people. The strong person is the one who can restrain himself. (صَبْرٌ) Who can restrain himself when he's angry. This is the true test of strength.

And not just angry, but there are (صبر) also in response to calamities, and there are (صبر) in response to worship. There's different types of (صبر). And this (صبر) is a very difficult one when you have lost a loved one.

And Ya'qub knows something is wrong. People can say, why doesn't he do more? Why didn't he do more with the brothers of Yusuf? The response, some scholars say, that Allah had inspired him not to do that. This is a guess, we'll never know.

Others have said that in his old age, he needed these very sons to take care of the rest of the livelihood, to take care of his own, as you know, he had multiple wives, he has other things to take care of, he himself is an old man.

So he needed them for his own livelihood, and also for their children and grandchildren. He's not just, these 11 or 10 aren't the only one, they have children, and no doubt as a grandfather, he is attached to them and what not.

And in the end of the day, they are his sons. In the end of the day, no matter what they have done, they are his sons. And it is unquestionable that he has some type of love for them.

"And Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe."

And Allah is the one who I will turn to for help. I'm not turning to you for help, I'm not turning to anybody else. (وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ) - You've described something that surely did not take place. No wolf ate up my son Yusuf. I will turn to Allah to help me against what you have described.

So Yaqub feels helpless, but in the end of the day, what can he do? These are his sons, he loves them, and in the end of the day, they take care of him and the extended family. And all that he can do is to turn to Allah, and ask Allah to help him in finding Yusuf.

And this shows us that the believer is never alone, the believer is never without help. Allah Azza wa Jalla is always the help of the believer. And the phrase (وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ) is a phrase that we should also memorize, we should also use frequently that Allah is the one who we will turn to for help.

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that, whoever turns to Allah for help, Allah will be sufficient for him. Whoever asks Allah Azza wa Jalla for protection, it will be sufficient for that person. And therefore, when we are faced with a calamity, with a (مُصِيبَة), we turn to Allah immediately and effectively, and إن شاء الله تعالى that is the most effective way in getting our goal.

The Caravan Finds Yusuf

I think we can do one more ayah إن شاء الله and then we will open the floor for question.

"And there came a caravan, and they sent their water-drawer, and he let down his bucket. He said, 'Good news! Here is a boy.' And they concealed him, [taking him] as merchandise; but Allah was knowing of what they did."

And a (سَيَّارَة) came. (سَيّارة) here for modern Arabs, I think it's a car, right? (سَيّارة) comes from (سار يسير) which means travelers, right? So (سَيّارة), those who are accustomed to traveling. This is the meaning of (سَيّارة) that the caravan, the people who are accustomed to traveling.

(وَجَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةٌ فَأَرْسَلُوا وَارِدَهُمْ) - A caravan came. They sent their water man, the man who would get their water. So there's one person assigned for the water.

(فَأَدْلَى دَلْوَهُ) - He put his bucket down. Now this shows us, as we mentioned two weeks ago, that Yusuf was put in a very primitive well. Because the word that Allah used is what? (جُبّ - jubb) and not (بنر - bir).

In this case, the word (بر) was not used, (جُبّ). And (جُبّ) is an unconstructed well. And the fact that the man has to lower his own bucket, really shows you how primitive.

Now why does that benefit the story? Because they're not going to a well that is inside the city. They're not going to a well that is frequented. Any well that a city dwellers would use, would be a constructed well.

It would have a pulley, it would have a rope, what not. But this is a well that is abandoned. It's not used by inhabitants. It's used by (سَيّارة). It's used by people who are going in the way.

So they have crafted a plan to put Yusuf in a well that is not in the city. It's not close to where anybody lives. It is in a far away location, which only the passing caravan will find.

So, this person comes, he lowers his well. And of course, Allah doesn't tell us the details, it's understood, you don't need any imagination. Yusuf held on to the well. And when that well comes up, and he thinks it's water, it is none other than a child, it is a boy.

So, (قَالَ يَا بُشْرَى) in another qira'ah (يا بشري) good news for me, or what good luck. Great, excellent. (يا بُشْرَى، هُذَا غُلَامٌ)

This is a boy. Self-evident, it's a boy. Why is he so happy? Because one of the most precious and prized possessions is a slave.

A human life in those days, slavery is allowed. Right, and so one of the most expensive items and commodities is a slave. Now, many of us, now this whole issue, opens up a whole issue of slavery.

We don't need to talk about it in modern times. This is a past. And it's talking about in the past, where people operated upon slavery.

And slaves, by the way, were very expensive. A lot of people think, oh, they daydream, oh, I wish we had slaves now (أستغفر الله) or something like this, you know. If we had slaves, they do this (أستغفر الله).

Some people make jokes like this. Fact to the matter is, slaves always were expensive. It was a very expensive commodity.

And only the elite and the rich could afford it. And even though our religion has a different understanding of slavery, الحمد لله, slavery is now finished, it is now abolished. And it is true to say, without any apologetics, that our shari'a made it easy to abolish slavery.

Our shari'a made those types of rulings, and made those types of issues, where if you fall into a sin, you free a slave. If you break fast in Ramadan, you free a slave. If you have a (كَفَّارَة), you free a slave.

If you made a mistake, you free a slave. So many of the expiations are to free a slave. And we're allowed to give (زكاة) to free slaves.

And we're doing this, we're doing that. So, so many rulings of Islam, it is as if, it is one step less than actually abolishing slavery. And that is why, now that الحمد لله slavery is abolished, no Muslim in the entire world is calling for the re-establishment of slavery, because our religion is complete, الحمد لله without slavery.

And that's the... Anytime somebody criticizes you, all your religion allowed slavery, you say, every culture, every society did. But now in our time, nobody is calling for it anymore. And الحمد لله no issue there.

So he brings out this boy, and he says, what good news. This is a boy. (وَأَسَرُّوهُ بِضَاعَةً) - And they hid him.

How did they hide him? As merchandise. So this means that they took him out of the well, and they put him in their belongings, they covered him up, they hid him. They didn't put him on the horse, they put him in the cart.

And they put sacks and bags on top of him. And they hid him as another piece of merchandise. Why did they hide him? Because they didn't want to tell the local people that they found a boy.

Because they didn't know that this boy is from far away or near. They didn't know he could have been from the closest village. And if he's from the closest village, then people are gonna come and say, we have a missing child, we have a person who's lost.

No, they didn't want any of this. They wanted to take him and sell him. (وَأَسَرُّوهُ بِضَاعَةً وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ) - And Allah Azza wa Jal is fully aware of what they were doing.

Now they knew what they're doing was wrong. Even in their culture and their shari'a. Of course in our shari'a we have other rulings which are even stricter.

In their shari'a it is not allowed to capture a free man and sell him. In our shari'a, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, of the people who will be punished the most on the Day of Judgment are those who did this. You know, when you say slavery, in Islam it's a very different concept.

And one of the biggest differences, slavery in this part of the world was to basically go to Africa and literally throw nets onto free people, capture them and then sell them in Boston and in New England and other places. This is slavery.

In our shari'a, you are not, you were not, we're not talking about modern times. No, there's no slavery. You were not allowed to (استغفر الله) take free people like these people did. Rather, the only legitimate means of acquiring slaves are prisoners of war who are not ransomed by the state, other state.

Prisoners of war. There's a legitimate battle and people are now prisoners. What do you do with them when the enemy has not purchased them, hasn't paid their ransom? In the old days, before Islam, they were executed.

In our religion, Allah gave the allowance that, okay, they can become slaves. This is the only, not just one of only, this is the only way to acquire slaves in classical Islamic law. Of course, nowadays we don't have to worry about that.

The point is they knew what they were doing is wrong. Why? They hid him. Only guilty people hide things.

They hid him as merchandise and Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is all aware of what they had done. Now, the Bible mentions, and we're gonna mention the Bible once in a while, rarely. And as we said before, that it is permissible to quote from the Bible when we clarify it is from the Bible and we know that we leave it blank.

We don't believe in it and we don't deny it. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, do not believe what the Jews and Christians tell you about these stories and don't reject it. Because you don't know it might be true.

Unless it goes against your book. Unless it contradicts what we know. So, the Bible says that this were Ishmaelites.

In other words, these caravans were children of Ismail. Now (الله أعلم), but this seems very strange because Ismail is their uncle. And to say that there's already caravans of the children of Ismail coming through.

Conclusion

So, in any case, (إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ - in sha'a Allah) with this, we will open the floor for question and conclude by saying that the story now, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - subhanahu wa ta'ala) is setting it up. And a new phase is about to begin where He's leaving the land of Canaan. He's leaving the land of Palestine.

And He's leaving it because His brothers have plotted and planned against their father. And He's leaving it basically being carried with sacks of other merchandise hidden in other types of items. And We thank Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - subhanahu wa ta'ala)

By the way, this is one point that I want to mention. We thank Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - subhanahu wa ta'ala) that the times that we live in is so different from those barbaric times. Because subhanAllah, look in those days, there is no government, there is no police force, there is no interpol, there is no nothing of this nature.

And I say this in all frankness, wallahi, it is a blessing from Allah that we live at times where there's civilized society in many respects. Of course, there's a lot of problems with that society, but look at the positives, right?

Allah (عز وجل - azza wa jal) tells us in the Quran that the two biggest blessings that He gives any society are what? What are the two biggest blessings? Society, security. In which surah?

"Who has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe from fear"

These are the two biggest blessings of any society. To have full stomachs and to be in security, right? And wallahi, it is a blessing that we live at a time where it is almost unprecedented the type of security overall.

In those days, khalas Yusuf is gone, nothing can be done. There is no government, there is no agency, there is no police force, there is no Interpol that's gonna do this and that.

In our days, (الحمد لله - alhamdulillah), there's a little bit of this that on a worldwide level, of course it has its negatives, but there are also positives here. And the truth should be said, and the praise should be given where it is due.

And we thank Allah (عز وجل - azza wa jal) for having caused us to be born and live in a society where generally speaking, (الحمد لله - alhamdulillah), we are provided for in terms of food, and we are living in very safe and humane settlements.

(إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ تَعَالَى - in sha'a Allah ta'ala) we will resume next Wednesday ، (وَإِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ - wa in sha'a Allah)

Closing Dua