Part 86

ca used them to sec k fo rgivcness after they had com mitted it.

Thei r father agreed to do what they asked. ( l ie said, " 1 will

ask my Lord for forg iveness for you. Verily, He, only He is the

A ll ah , Most Hi gh, says, ( Theil, when they e nt ered unto

Yoosu f, he betook hi s parents to himse lf and said, "Enter

Egy pt, if Allah will s, in sec urity." And he rai sed hi s parents to

th e throne and they fell down before him in prostrat ion. And

he said , "0, my fath er! Th is is the interpretation of Ill y dream

aforetimc! My Lord has made it come true! He WliS indeed

good to me, whe n He took mc out of the prison and brought

YOll (all here) oul of the Bedouin life, aner SIW;/(I11 had sown

enmity between me and my broth ers. Certai nly, my Lord is

the Most Courteous and Kind unto whom He Wi ll s. Truly, He,

On ly li e is the A ll -Know ing. th e Most Wise. My Lord! You

have ind eed bcstowed on me of the sovereignty, and taught me

the int erpretation of dreams; The (only) Creator of th c heavens

and the Earth ! You arc my lVali (Protector, l-Iclpc r, Supportcr,

Guardian, etc.) in this world and in the I rereaficr; cause me 10

die as a Muslim (t he one submi lling to Your Wi ll), and join me

wit h th e righteous." ) (500roll Yoos /if 12 : 99~ I 01)

The People of the Scripture cla im that Yoos u f ~ was absent

fro lll hi s fa ther for forty years; but the course of event s related

in the story is a fairl y reli able guide to the length o f hi s absence,

because th e woman att cmpted to seduce him whcn he was a

you ng boy of seve nteen, accord ing to what has been related by

Mellfioll of Ihe PmgcIIY of IbraheclI/ 379

a numbcr of repo rters, but he refused. Then he was in pri son for

a few years (seven, acco rdi ng to ' Ik rimah and ot hers). Then he

was re leased and thc seven yea rs of abundance occurred , the n,

when the peopl e were sufferin g from the effccts of the drought

in the second year of the seven years, hi s bro thers came,

see ki ng foo d supp li es in th c first yea r. Then in th c second ycar,

they brought hi s brot her, Bin yamec n wilh them. In th e third

yea r, he revea led himse lf to them and ordered the m to bring all

of their fami li es with them and all o f thcm came. ( Th cn, when

they en tered unto Yoosur. he betook his parents to himself ) .

That is, he met with them alone, withou t his bro thers ( "and

sa id, " Enter Egypt, if Allah will s, in security." ) It was said

tha t this mean s that he to ld them to enter and then he betook

thcm to himsc lf. This was desc ribed as weak by Ibn Jarcc r

At-Tabari; bu t he is excused ( for that). It was al so said that

he met the m and be took thcm to himse lf in a te nt (outside the

city) and that when they approached the gate o f Egypt, he sai d

( " Enter Egypt, if Allah wi ll s, in securi ty." ) Th is was sa id by

As-S uddi . But if we sa id that the matter does not requi re this

(exp lanation) and it is imp licit in the wo rd ( "Ent cr. .. " ) that

means rcside in Egypt ("if Alla h wi ll s, in security." ) (SoO/·all

YOOS II/ 12:99) - it wo uld be co rrect and also mo re appropriate.

Allah, Most Hi gh, says, ( and they fell down before him

in prostration ) . That is, hi s parents and hi s cleven brothers

prostrated before hi m, in order to venerate and ho nor him

and this was leg islated for them (by Allah) and it conti nued

to be acted upon in all of the Di vine Legislations until it was

made un lawful in the Reve la ti on given to Muhammad. ( And

he said, "0, my father! This is the interpret<l ti on of my dream

aforcti me!") That is, this is the in terpretation of the dream that

I re lated to you, in whi ch eleven planets and the sun and 11100n,

which prostrated before me when I saw them; and you told me

380 .\fell/ioll of'''e l)m~l'/~I' oj Ihmhel'III 'i:tO:

to keep it sccret and you promised me tha t which you prom ised

l11e at that time. ( " My Lord has made it come true! I-I e was

ind eed good 10 me, w hen l ie took me uut of the pri son," ) That

is, alier the a ffli ction and hardship, I-Ie hus made me a govern or

and a pe rson whose words are heeded and impl ement ed in th e

lands of Egypt, wherever I wish ( "a nd brought YO ll (a ll here)

a lit o f the Bedouin life." ) Th at is, from the desert , for they li ved

in the region o f the Arabs, in the I<mds of A/-Klia/eel. ( "After

S/lOirllll had sown enm ity between me and my brothers." )

Th is refe rs to the envy and ma lice wh ich Satan inspi red in their

hea rts, which ca used the m to do what they did to Yoosuf ~,

whi ch we have a lrcndy descri bed. Then he sai d, ( " Ce rtainl y,

my Lord is the Most Courteolls and Ki nd unt o whom l ie

w ill s." ) That is, when A ll ah Wills something, I-Ie prepares the

ca uses that w ill bring it abou t a nd makes them casy in ways

of whic h the slaves are unaware. Indeed. He ordai ns them and

faci litates them, as a Kin dness from Him, by Hi s Su preme

Omnipotence. ( "Trul y. lI e, Onl y lie is the A ll-Know in g" ).

That is, He possesses (com plete and pe rfec t) Know ledge of all

a mlirs. ( " Th e Most Wi se." ) . T hat is, rega rdin g Hi s creati on ,

Hi s Legislatio n and Hi s Di vin e Predestin ati on.

T hen, when Yoosuf 'f:,:B saw that his b lessing was comp lete

and all of his family had been ga the red, he realized th is

(earthly) abode wi ll not remai n and tha t everything in it and on

it is tra nsitory. He saw thaI there is no thing after com pl eteness

except defi c iency. As he realized a ll Ih is, he praised hi s Lord

in OJ manne r Ihat bcfitt cd Hi m and he ac know ledged His G reat

Kindn ess and Grace and asked Him - and He is the Best of

those who are asked - to gra nt that whe n death came to him ,

he mi ght die as a Muslim and be join ed w ith Hi s righteous

slaves. T hus it is said in the words of the suppli cation: "0,

Allah! Calise liS to live as Muslims and to die as Musli ms."

Melllioll oflhe l'mgeflY olJhraheelll 381

Thil t is, w hen You bring death to us. It is poss ib le that he asked

th is w he n dea th a pproached hi m, as the Prop he t 3'i: asked, w hen

deat h approac hed hi m , that A ll ah ra ise h is so u l to the heave nl y

host and the ri g hteous companions from amo ng th e Prophets

and the Messe nge rs; he sa id three times, "0, A ll ah! Let me be

wit h the h ighest compan ions," and then he d ied. (1)

As fo r ou r Isla mi c Law, it pro hib its us fro m supp li cati ng

for dea th , exce pt w here we fea r jill/ali, 1m as in the /wdeelh

o f M u'az ~ . describ ing the sup plicat ion of dea th , w hi ch

was narrated by A hmad, " II' You are go ing 10 send Jill/ah to a

peop le, th en cau se us to di e and co me to Yo u w itho ut be in g put

to tri al. '· (H) In anot he r hadeelli. it is sa id : "Son o f Ada m ! Death

is bell cr fo r you than Jil/wh." (l~)

Ma ry:uTI (peace be upo n her) sa id , ( ';Wo u ld tha t I had d ied

before th is. and had been forgo tt en and ou l of s ight !" ) (5001'0h

M W}'C11Il 19:23). 'A li Ib n A b i Talib ~ w ished for death when

th e s ituati o n became g rave, th e di scords and tria ls becamc

o ppressive, thc fig hting increased in inte nsity and ru mor,

goss ip and hea rsay beca me wides pread. Ab u ' Abdu ll ah A I-

Buk hari , the co mpiler of th e famo us 5alleeh w ished for it w hen

c ircums ta nces became diffic ult f'or him and he cncou n!c red

those w ho op posed him.

However, in circlllllstances of comfort and case, it was namlled

by AI-Bukhari and Muslim in their authentic comp ilations. on

the authority o r Anas Ibn Ma li k ~ that he said: ''The Messenger

(3 1) Narrated by A I· l3ukhari (H 37). h luslim (2444). At·Tirmidhi (3496).

Imam Ahmad (24253) and tmam Malik (562).

(32) Fillmh: Temptation. tria t. discord. strife ete.

(3 3) This is an lmlhcntie Im(/n'fh narral.;d by [ma1l1 t\l unad ( 15066); sce the

COl1l1l1cll!:lry of A I·A lbani on A I·/l r/ab AI·J\fIlJrad (69 9).

(34) Th is is an authentic imdecfh narrated by Imam Ahmad (2311 3).