Surah Yusuf (12) - The Best Of Stories 14/15

"Nahnu naqussu 'alayka ahsan al-qasasi bimaaa awhainaaa ilayka haadha al-Qur'an"(12:3) "We do relate unto thee(Muhammad) the most beautiful of stories, in that We reveal to thee this (portion of the) Qur'an".

A'udhu billahi, as-samee', al 'aleem, min al-shaytan al-la'een al-rajim. Bismillah, al-Rahman, al-Rahim. Al-hamdulillahi rabb il-'alameen, thumma as-salaat wa-s-salaam 'ala sayyiddina Muhammad wa 'ala ahli baytihi at-tayyibeen at-tahireen. Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa aali Muhammad wa 'ajjil farajahum.

Dear viewers, salamun 'alaykum jamee'an wa rahmatu Ullahi wa barakaatuh. In our series thus far in this holy month of Ramadan, we have been discussing the most beautiful story in the Holy Qur'an, the story of Yusuf. And also looking at the emphasis that the Ahlul Bayt 'alayhum as-salaam, have placed on the recitation and the contemplation and the etiquette which is required by us to uphold when we study or recite the Holy Qur'an.

One particular etiquette that we all act upon, but is highly emphasized, is to seek refuge with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala from Satan, the accursed before we begin the recitation of the Qur'an.

It is interesting to note that the first two vices that we spoke about in this series of lectures, was the vice of pride and the vice of jealousy. We find that this is exactly what Satan- Shaytan or Iblis at the time was taken with, and that is what led to his downfall.

Satan or Iblis at the time had been worshiping Allah for apparently six thousand years. Six thousand years, we do not know whether that is is as counted on this earth or in the skies however, he had worshiped Allah for a very lengthy period of time. He was a jinn, however, he had reached the ranks of the angels that the angels would also look up to him. There are some traditions that give him the name 'taawus al-malaa'ikah'- he was the peacock, the beauty of the angels.

Despite having arrived at such a high station, knowing God the way he knew Him, it was still possible for him to slip and he did, with the vice of pride and jealousy within. When Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala commanded all the angels to bow down in prostration to Allah but in the direction of Adam, you find that Iblis was the only one who refused.(15: 29-31) Why? He makes it very clear in the Qur'an, he says, I am better than him, I am greater than him. Why? Because You have created me from fire and You have created him from mud or from clay.(15:33)

Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala banishes Iblis, because of this one action of his.(15:34) You can thereby see that one action, one ill trait within us, can bring about an action that only took place for a few moments, but whose negative effects can last until the end of time. Satan never returns back to Allah and will never return back to Allah, will never accept the Tawhid of Allah, will never seek for forgiveness from Allah.

As has been mentioned in the Qur'an, he has been given time till the final trumpet (15:37-38) and if the world was to go on, he too would have continued in the same path, until his final breath. He has been misguided, he has chosen a different path because of what? Because of pride and jealousy; these two vices that were there with the brothers of Yusuf, from the beginning of this story, vices that were inside them, vices that emerged and translated themselves as throwing their brother into the well.

What we can understand from the time that Yusuf was in prison, as spoken about in the previous episode, is that we have to take control of our time and use it to the best ability. When we have the opportunity to propagate our religion, we should do so.

When it comes to traveling for Ziyaarah or for Hajj we should inform people why we are going, that we should not be apologetic, we should not be shy, should be proud of our religion.

When it comes to reciting the prayers, for example, in a park, if it is Salah time and we are in a public place, where we are not causing any disruption, we are not blocking a path, we are allowed to pray in such a place like a park. And by all means, we should, we should pray on time. We should pray as much as possible on time, because that brings about great blessings from Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Sometimes when we are on an airplane, it is not easy to pray, it is difficult. Sometimes we do not even get a space at the back or in the side of the plane in order to pray our prayers standing up, we have to pray in our seats. And the 'fiqh'(jurisprudence) is quite clear that at least when we do the 'takbirat ul-Ihraam', we need to turn and face towards Qiblah. Sometimes this is difficult, sometimes facing Qiblah means looking at the people on the plane and then raising our hands and saying the takbir.

But this is where our faith is tested, this is where we are tested as to whether or not God is our priority or our reputation in the eyes of others, whether what people think of us weighs more in our eyes than how Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala looks upon us.

When Yusuf was in prison, an interesting incident occurred. Yusuf has now interpreted the dreams of these two individuals, and then he turns to the one who is going to leave prison and remain alive, ' wa qaala li-l-ladhi dhanna annahu naajin minhuma-dhkurni 'inda rabbik'(12:42) -'He asks, did is this individual please make mention of me to your master, to your Lord.' To your Lord here means to the king. So then Allah mentions - 'fa ansaahu-sh-shaytaan dhikra rabbih' (12:42)- 'then Shaytaan made this individual who left the prison forget mentioning Yusuf to the king', 'fa labitha fi-s-jni bid'a sinin'- 'and then Yusuf remained in the prison for another lengthy period of time, for a number of years.

Some have misunderstood this verse by saying that, Yusuf remained in prison because he asked this individual who was leaving prison to make mention of him to the king. Instead, he should have turned to Allah and asked from Allah directly to be freed from prison. However, this is not possible, this is a man who was so pure in his heart that even when he got the opportunity within prison to call to Allah and to Tawhid, that is exactly what he did. This is a man who, when vice was presented in front of him with easy access to quench the desires of man, he refrained from it because the first thing that came to his mind was the pleasure of his Lord.

Such an individual, such a Prophet, a Prophet who has 'ismah' - who has been purified by Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. Such a Prophet would not forget Allah, he would remember Allah, however, there is a reason as to why shaytaan made that individual forget mentioning Yusuf to the King. Maybe shaytaan did not know about it at that time but again, this was part of the plan of Allah, where Allah used, uses the deceptive nature of shaytaan against him in order to bring about the plan of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Imagine for a moment that Yusuf left the prison at the same time as those other two, he was freed. What would have been said about Yusuf in the town and in the palace? It would have been said that this individual was in prison because he attacked women, he attacked the wife of the Aziz and many other women as well. If this was said about him, he would not have been given the Treasury, his reputation would remain tarnished and his brothers would never have come to him, his father would never have met him.

All of this was in the intricate plan of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, He is performing every action in this chapter. As Allah says in the Qur'an - ' wa maa ramayta idh ramayta wa laakin- Allah ramaa' (8:17) -'You did not fire the arrow when you threw the arrow, but Allah is the one who threw the arrow.' It is Him who is taking care of all the affairs. Yes, externally you are doing it, but it is with His permission, if it is not part of His plan, it will not occur.

Yusuf remains within the prison for a number of years, until the king has a dream and has a dream that nobody else can interpret. It is clear from the verses of the Qur'an forty four onwards, that this was a dream that was being, it was a recurrent dream, it was being seen by the king continuously, night after night. People around him said these are just nightmares, we can not make sense of them.(12:42-44)

But one of the individuals who was in the prison with Yusuf understood now and remembered that there is a man who is left in prison who can interpret this dream. He asks the king permission, he goes and he gets the dream interpreted and he comes back. He tells the king the dream, and the king understands that this is a true interpretation of the dream.(12:45-49)

So straightaway he mentions and he calls for Yusuf - ' wa qaala-l-malik u'tuni bih'(12:50) - 'Bring him to me, bring this man who has interpreted my dream, bring him to me'- verse number fifty. So when this messenger who has been sent by the king goes to Yusuf and tells Yusuf, come to the King, Yusuf again seizes this opportunity.

This is why he remained in the prison, not because he forgot God, not because he asked a man and did not ask God. He remained in the prison for this precise reason, so that a time will come where his skill set, the knowledge that he has been given, will be required by others but before he comes out, he will be able to clear his name so that it will be known that Yusuf did nothing wrong and Yusuf never attacked those women. His reputation will not be tarnished.

Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala is the one who makes people 'dhalil'(disgraced) and the one who gives people 'shuhrah'- and makes people famous. Imam Zayn-ul- 'Abidin 'alayhi as-salaam, says in a du'a in Sahifa, he tells Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala,' You are the one who has made mentioning of my name great, I have not deserved it, I have not done anything to make people look up towards me. Everything I have done has had a flaw in it. Everything I have done is only because You have allowed me to do it. I have slept more than I should have, I have eaten more than I should have, I have made myself angry more than I should have, I have fallen into this vice and that. If people knew about my ills, they would not praise me and look up towards me but it is You who has made mentioning my name widespread in the town.'

Yusuf seizes this opportunity to remove this reputation that has been given to him. And he turns around and he tells this individual, go back to the king, 'fa-s-salhu maa baalu-n-niswah'(12:50) - 'Go back to the king and ask him what happened with the women, those ones who cut their fingers.'This was now a known incident, it was known that women had cut their fingers after seeing Yusuf. It says, go back to the king, ask him what happened in that incident, find out, let the truth come to surface before I come out.

And this is when the King now calls the group of women who have cut their fingers, including Zulaykha, and asks what happened at that time. Tell me what happened and this is when Zulaykha makes it very clear. 'Qaalat imra'atul Aziz al'aan has-hasa-l-haqq'(12:51) - 'Now the truth has come to surface', 'anaa raawadtuhu 'an nafsi' (12:51) - 'I am the one who tried to seduce him', 'wa innahu lamina-s-sadiqin'(12:51) -'and he has been of the truthful individuals, he has continuously said the truth.' He never attacked me, what he said was on par with the truth.

The next verse now we will talk about, one of the most profound sentences that comes from Zulaykha, the verse after the next, verse number fifty three, where she talks about 'nafs -ul-ammaarah', it is a profound verse and a verse that requires deliberation and understanding.

Insh Allah, we hope to tackle this in our final and next episode in this series of looking at the best of stories of Prophet Yusuf in this most blessed month of the Qur'an, the month of Ramadan.

We ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to make us companions of the Qur'an, to place the Qur'an and its understanding in our hearts, to purify our hearts so that we can receive true knowledge from Him. And we ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala in these nights that are now going away and fading past us, we ask Him to accept our little a'maal and complete the shortfall that we have had in it.

Wa salla Allahu 'ala Muhammad wa 'alaa ahli baytihi, at-tayyibeen, at-tahireen.