Part 76

on the authority of Mu' ndh Ibn Jabal ~.

"'ell/iUII oj Ih" PlVgellY o/ Ibralteelll 339

Favor 0 11 YOLI ) . That is, w ith Revelation to you ( and on the

fam ily ofYa ' qoob ) . T hat is, because oryou, and thro ugh YOll ,

they wi ll attain the best of the life of thi s worl d and of the

Hereafter ( as He pe rfccted it on your fat he rs, IbraheeJ11 and

Ishaq aforetim e! ) (50omh Yoosllf 12 :6). That is, He bCSLOWS

Hi s Bless ings on YOll and favors you with Prophethood, just as

He gave it to your father, Ya ' qoob if:i:B, your grandfat her, Ishaq

~ and your grea t-grandfa ther, fbrahec lll , AI-Khaleel. ( Veril y,

your Lord is A ll -Knowing, Most Wise ) (Soorah Yoast!! 12:6),

as He, Most Hi gh, says, ( A ll ah Knows best w it h whom to

place Hi s Message ) (Soora" AI-All 'am 6: 124).

Thi s is why, when the Messe nge r of A ll ah 3:i was asked wh ich

of the pcop le was noblest, hc said, " Yoosuf is the Prophet of

Allah, son of the Prophet of All ah, th e son of the Prophet of

A ll ah , the son of A llah 's Klta/eel." (23)

A llah, Most Hi gh, says, ( Veri ly, in Yoosufand hi s bret hren,

thcre were Ay af (proofs, evidences, Verses, lesson s, signs,

re ve hlli on s, etc.) fo r those who ask. Whe n th ey sa id : "Truly,

Yoosuf and hi s broth er Bin ya mcen (B cnj amin) are loved more

by our fath er than we, but we are 'Ilsbah (a strong group) .

Reall y, ou r Huhcr is in pl ain crror. Kill Yoosuf or cast him out

to some (other) land , so thm th e fav or o f your fat her may be

give n 10 you alone. and after that you wi ll be rightcous folk (by

intendi ng re pentance beforc committi ng th e sin)." On e from

among them snid , " Kill not Yoosllr, but if you lllUSt do it , throw

him down to th e bO ll om ora we ll , he will be picked up by some

carava n o f tra ve le rs." ) (Soorah Yoosllf 12:710)

Alla h, Most Hi gh, draws our atte nti on to the s igns, wisdo ms,

proofs, warn ings and indi sputable evide nces contained in thi s

(23) Narrated by AIBukhari (3374), Muslim (337 t) and Imam Ahmad (9284),

on the authority of Abu I-I urairah ~.

340 J\ le/lfioJl of ,lte Pmgl'II)' of l11mlll'l'm ~

story, The n He me l1lions th e e nvy fe lt by Yoosuf's brothers

towards him , beca use of the fact that his father loved him and

hi s brothe r Binya mccll morc than them . (Yoosuf ~ and hi s

brot hc r, Bi nya lll ee n were bo th born to thc sa mc moth er, wh il e

the ot hers were born of another mot her). They said, " We have

more right to his love than these two. " ( '·Rea ll y. ou r Huher is in

pl ain crror." ) (SoOl'al1 Yooslif I2:8) That is, by lov ing them more

tha n us. Then they consulted one another regardin g th e idea of

killing him or expelling him to a land from whi ch he wou ld not

return , so that th cy would be left alone w ith thcir fathe r, th at

his love wo uld be devo ted sole ly 10 them and woul d suffice

thcm. They harbored within th em the intenti on of repen tin g to

Allah after that. So w hen they dccided on the ir pl an a nd agrced

on it ( One from a mong thc m said ) (So oral1 Yooslif 12: I 0) -

Mujah id said that the on e referrcd to was Sham' oon. As-Suddi

said that it was Yahooza. Qatadah and Muhammad Ibn Ishaq

asscrted Ihal it was the oldest o f them, Roobeel. ( One from

a mong them sa id. "Ki ll nol Yoosuf (Joseph). but ifYO llll1U SI do

it, throw him down 10 the bollom ora we ll , he will be picked up

by so ml.! caravan of tra ve lers." ) (Soora/z Yooslif 12: 10) That is,

some passing caravan of travc lers. ( "bu t ifYOlllllllst do it," ) .

mea ns, if you must do what you have mentioned , then do w hat

J have suggcsted, rather than ki lling him or bani shi ng him . So

they agreed on the ir dccision to do th is, a t wh ich po int they

said, ( Thcy sa id. "0. our !iuher! Why do you 110t IruSlliS wi th

Yoosuf, when we <Ire indeed hi s well-wishers'! Send him wi Lh

us IOmorrow 10 enjoy himsclf'a nd play, and ve ril y, we will take

care of him ." He (Ya'qoob) sa id , ''Truly, it saddens me that you

should tnke him away. I fea r les t a wo lf should devour him,

w h il~ you arc ca re less o r him." Th cy sa id. "If a wo lf devou rs

him. wh ile we arc '/ls/wlt (a strong group) (to guard him), then

surely. we arc the losers." ) (Sooml1 Yoo.'ilif 12: 11-14)

\h'lIfioll oj Iht! PmgeIH' oj'Jlm,hl'/!m 341

They asked the ir fa ther to send them with their brother,

Yoosuf 'A!.' . and th ey cla im th at th ey inte nd ed 10 ta ke good care

o f him and to play wi th hi m an d give him a good tim e. while

in fac t, th ey harbored fee lin gs toward him o f whi ch A ll ah was

full y Aware, The o ld ma n - may Alla h's c ho icest prayers and

bless ings be upon him - answered them, saying, "0, my sons!

It gri eves me 10 be pa rted from him for even an hour o f the day,

and in additi on 10 thi s, I fear that you w ill be busy w ith your

games a nd you will not ta ke care of him and that awo l f may

come and de vour him , a nd he will be un able to de fend himse lf

aga in st it , due to hi s youth fuln ess and yo ur neg lect of him,"

( Th ey sa id, " I f a wolf devours him , while we are 'lIsba" (to

guard him), then su rel y, we are th e losers," ) (SoOl'ali YOOSII!

12: 14). That is, if a wo lfa ll acks him and cats him whil e he

is among us, or we a re di st rncted from him and a llow thi s to

happen, the n we mus t be a powe rl ess gr0u p, and we w ill be

dest royed (then surely, we arc the losers),

A ll ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( So. when they took him away. th ey

all agreed to thro w him dow n to th e bOllom of the well. and

We inspircd in him. " Indeed. you sha ll (one day) inform them

of thi s affa ir of thei rs. whe n they know (you) no\. '· A nd they

cmnc to their father in the earl y part of the ni gh t weepi ng. They

said. "0. our fat h er~ We we nl racing with one a nothe r. and left

Yoosuf by our belongings und n wolf devoured him: bUI you

will neve r beli eve us eve n whe n we speak lh e truth:' And they

brou ght hi s shin stain ed with fa lse blood. l ie sai d. "Nay. bu t

yOli yourse lves ha ve made lip a ta lc. So (for me) pati cnce is

most fitling , And it is Alhlh (Alone) Whose help can be sought

against that whi ch you assert," ) (Soorah Yoos /if 12: 1518)

They continued to press th e ir fathe r, until he sent Yoos uf ~'

wi lh them. But no soone r were they OUI o f hi s sight th an they

342 Mention oJthe Progeny ojlbmheem ~

began to revile hi m and insult him by wo rds and deeds. They

agreed to cast hi m into the depths of a well and Lhey left him

on the slOne whi ch projects fro m the middle of it, 0 11 whi ch a

person who descends into the well to fill his bucket wo uld sit,

when the water level is low. Whe n they cast him int o the we ll,

Allah inspired him, by infonll ing him that he would certai nl y

be saved fro m this calam ity into which he had fallen and that

he would certa inly infonn his brothers of th is deed of theirs,

wh ile he was in a position of powe r and they were in need of

him and feared him ( "when they know (you) not." ) (Soora"

Then, when they had placed him in the well and left him

th ere, they took his shirt and stained it with blood and returned

to their father at night and they were weep ing, i.e. for their

brother. This is why one of the Sala/sa id, "Be not dece ived by

th e weeping of one who comp lains of having been wronged,

because he may be a wrongdoer, though he weeps," and he

mentioned the story of Yoosuf ffi:B and how th ey came to

their fa ther al ni ght and they werc weepi ng. They wep Lin the

darkncss of ni ght, in order 10 hi de their treachery (Le. believing

tha t their faces wou ld not betray them in the poo r light).

Allah, Most High, says, ( They said, "0, our father! We went

racing wi th one another, and left Yoosuf by our belongings."

) (SoO/'a" YooslI/12: 17). That is, we left him by our clothes,

( "and a wolf devoured him." ) (Som'all }oo.nif 12: 17). That

is, while we were absent, rac ing wi th each other. They said, (

"but you will never believe us even when we speak the truth."