Part 75

MI'IIfIOI/ offht' Progeny of Ihmltl'l'lII 335

be understood by every rat ional and illl cilige nt person and it

is the 1110st emi nent Boo k sent down frolll the hea ven to the

most eminent of mank ind in an y time or place. Whe ther He

is speaking of past e vents or contemporary on es, it mention s

the bes t of th em a nd th e clearest of thc m and makes the tru th

nppa rent in mattc rs in w hic h people have di ffered. while

refuting. invnl idati llg and rcjcc ting th,lI which is fn lsc. Whcn

it dea ls with commands and prohib itions, it is the most just

of legislati ons, the clcarest of programs, fi ll ed w it h the mos t

obviolls wisdom a nd thc fa irest o f judgments . As A ll ah , Mos t

Hi gh, says, ( And th e Word o f your Lord has been fulfill ed

in truth and in justi ce. ) (Soo r cd1 AI-All 'am 6 : 115) That is,

trut h in the information givcn a nd justi ce in th e commands

and proh ibi ti ons; and thi s is w hy A ll ah, Most High, says , (

We re latc unto you (Mu hnIl11l1nd) the best o f stori es through

Our Revc lati ons unto YOll , of thi s Qur 'a n. And be fore this,

YO ll were a mong those who kncw nothing about it. ) (So01-ah

rooslI! 12: 3) That is, ignorant regarding what was revea lcd to

you therein , as He, Most High, says , ( And thus Wc ha ve sent

to you (0. Muh alllmnd) Roohan (a n Inspi rati on and n Mercy)

of Our Comman d. You knew not what is th e Book, nor what

is Faith. But We hnve made it (thi s Qur ' an) a li ght whe rcwith

We gu ide whosoever of Our slaves We w ill. And veril y, yo u

(0, Muh a mm ~ d ) a re indeed gui ding (mankind) to the Strai ght

Pnth (i .e. AlIah 's re li gion of Islmn ic Monothei sm), the Path of

All ah, to Wh om bel ongs a ll Ihm is in th e heave ns and all th at

is in th e Earth . Veri ly, all th e matters at the end go to A llnh (for

decision). ) (SoOl'ah Ash-Shoom 42 :52,53 )

And He, Most High, says, ( Thu s We re late to yo u (0,

Muhammad) some information rega rd ing wl1m ha ppened

bcrore. And indeed We have give n you from Us a Re minder

(thi s Qur ' an). Whoever turn s away from it (i.e. thi s Qur'a n:

336 AlelllivlI of ,he Progeny vf l!Jmhecm ~

that is. docs not be li eve in it or act on its orders), ver il y. they

will bear a heavy burd en (of sins) on the Day o f Resu rrec tion,

They wil l abi de in that (s tatc in th e Fire ofi-lel l), and ev il indeed

wi ll il be thaI load for Ihcm on the Day of Resu rrec tion. )

(SoOl'al1 UI flo 20:99-10 I) T hat is, whoever rej ects thi s Qur 'an

and foll ows a nother book w ill have thi s th reat fulfill ed upon

hi m, as reported in the hadeeth narrated in Imam Ahmad 's

Musl1ad and in the Slll1al1 of At-Tirm idhi , on the authority of

the Commander of th e Fa ithful, ' Ali ~ , in a mm/oo' [onn and

al so in a mawqoof fOfm : "Whoever look s for gu idance from

some source other than it (i,e. the Qur 'an), A ll ah will cause

him to go (further) astray. " (19)

Imam A hmad narrated on the authori ty of Jabir Ibn ' Abdill ah

~ that 'Ulllar Ibn AIKhatt ab ~ came to the Prophet fi w ilh

a book wh ich he had obta ined fro m one of the People of the

Scripture and he read it to the Prop bet ii. The Prophet ~

beca me angly and said , "0 , Ibn Al-Kh att ab, arc we goin g lO

play in re ligion? By A ll ah, I have come to you with a pure

Re li gion. Do not ask them abou t anythin g, for they may say

somethin g true and you do not be li eve what th ey say or they

may say someth ing false and you believe it. By Allah, IfMoo sa

was ali ve he wo uld not have done anything but follow mc." Its

chain of narrators is aut henti c. (20)

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, « (Rcmcmbo..!r) whe n Yoosufsa icl to

( 19) Narrated by Imam Ahmad (706) and At-Tinnidhi (2906) and its chains of

(20) Narroted by Imam Ahmad (14 736) and declared aUlhentic by Ihe author

(i.e. Ibn Kalheer). Bul I say: In its chain o r narrators is one Mujalid Ibn

S:l'ced (who is weak, accord ing 10 AIl3ukhari , who said in AI-Tal'eekll

As-Sagheer, " Ibn AI-Qal\an said he is weak and Ibn AI-Mahdi would not

narrote from him, while Yahya Ibn Ma 'ccn, Ibn Hibban and Abu Hmilll

said tlmt his !todeelll cannol be cited as evidence :md he is weak .")

Melllioll 01' fhe PI"O{Jellol' Oo( I hrahecm 337

hi s father, " 0, my fath er! Ve rily, I saw (in a dream) e leven stars

and the S UIl and the moon ; I saw them prostra ti ng the mse lves

to me ," I-Ie (hi s fath er) said. "0, Ill y so n! Re late not your

vision to you r brothers, lest th ey arran ge a plot against YO ll .

Veril y! Slwifafl is to man an open enemy ! Thus w ill your Lord

choose you and leach yo u th e interpretat ion of d rea ms (a nd

ot her th ings) and pe rfect Hi s Favor Oil you a nd oOlhc o ffspring

of Ya ' qoob. as He perfec ted it o n your fa th ers, Ibra hccm and

Ishaq aforct imc! Verily. your Lord is A ll -know ing, Most Wise: '

) (SoO/ooil YOOS II! 12 :4-6)

Ya ' qoob i:2iY had twe lve sons and all of th e twe lve tri bes of

the C hildren of Isra ' ee l ascribe the ir ances try to them. The

nobl est, th e most revered and the greatest of the m was Yoosuf

~ . A group of scholars has stated the opinion that none was

a Prophet except him and th at hi s brothers did not rece ive any

reve lat ion. It is apparent fr0111 the ir acti o ns and th eir words

in th is story that thi s view is correct. Those who cl a imed that

they were Proph ets c ited as ev idence the Words of All ah ,

Most Hi gh : ( Say (Muslims), 'olVe beli eve in A ll a h and that

wh ich ha s been sent down to LIS and th at w hich has been sen!

down to Ibraheem, Isma' eel, Ishag. Ya'goob, and to AI-Asbal.

) (SoO/ooil AI-Boqarail 2: 136) They clai m ed that these (th e

brothers ofYa'qoob ~) are AI-Asbat, but the ev idence for this

is not strong, because what is meant by AI-Asbat is th e tribes

of the Children of Isra 'eel and none of th em was Prophet 10

whom Reve lation was se nt down fro l11 the heaven . And A ll ah

W hat supports the cl a im Ih at on ly Yoosuf ~ was alone

se lec ted fro m a mong hi s brothers to be a Messenger and

Prophet is the fac t th aI hi s Prophethood and th e rece ipt o f

Reve lation are attested to in seve ral Verses in the Qur ' an and

there is no evidence anywhere in th e Qur'an (hat any of them

except Yoosuf ~ was a Prophct wh ich proves what we said.

But onc must take into considera tion the narration of Imam

Ahmad, on the authority of Abdu llah Ibn ' Umar 4-, in which

he reported that the Messenger of Allah ~ said, "Veril y, the

noble, son of the noble, son of thc noble, son of the noblc is

Yoosuf, son ofYa'qoob, son of lshaq, son of Jbrahecm." (2 1)

The sc holars of laj~·eer and others said th aI when Yoosuf :-MJ

was a boy - before hc rcached pubcrty - he saw in a dream as

if ( clcven sHirs ) - this is a rcference to his brothers - ( and

the sun and the 11100n ) - and this is a refe rencc to his pa rents -

prostra ti ng to him. His fa Lher understood that this meant that he

would ac hievc a high rank and elevatcd status in thc life of this

world and in th e Herenf1er, since his parents and his brothcrs

submi ttcd to him in his dream. So he ordered hi m to keep it

secret and not to relate it to his brothers, in case thcy became

afflicted wit h envy and devise sOl11e plot to harm him. This

proves what we ha ve said (i.e. that they we re not Prophets).

This is why it has been reported in SOllle traditions: "Seek hel p

in att aining yo ur needs by concealmcnt of thel11, because every

recip ient of blessings is envied." (22)

( Thus ),our Lord will choose you. ) (Soorall )'oos I/ 12:6)

That is, as He showcd you this grem vision, if you keep it

secret, ( yo ur Lord will choose you ) . That is, I-Ie will favo r

you with all manne of kindn ess and mercy ( and leach you

the in terpre tati on of speech ) _ That is, He will make yo u

comprehend th e mea nings of specch and the interpretation of

dreams, whi ch non e but you wi ll undersla nd ( and perfect His

(2 1) The wkhreej of this IUIl/cetll has ulrcady bccn given.

(22) This is authentic, and iI was also said that it is JIlI.felll. due to supporting

narr:ltions. (t was 1l1lrTllled by At-Tabaran i in AI-K(/IJc/!/" (20/94, No. 183).