Yusuf 12:7–12

Commentary

In the first of the fourteen verses cited above (7), a notice of warning has been served to the effect that the story of Yusuf, peace be on him, should not be taken as a common story - because, in it, there are great signs of the perfect power of Allah Ta’ ala, and His instructions, both for those who have asked and for those who would seek guidance through it.

The statement made here could be explained by saying that the signs referred to here are for the Jews who had put the Holy Prophet ﷺ to test by asking him to relate this story to them. When, according to a narration, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was in Makkah al-Mu` azzamah, the news about him reached Madinah. The Jews living there sent a group of their men to Makkah to make investigations and test his claim to prophethood. Therefore, the question they asked of him was put in a somewhat vague manner, that is, ` if you are a true prophet of Allah, tell us about the prophet one of whose sons was taken from Syria to Egypt, an event which had caused his father to become blind due to constant weeping during his absence.

The Jews had chosen to ask about this event because it was not widely known, nor did anyone in Makkah was aware of it. That was a time when there was no member of the people of Book living in Makkah, one from whom some part of this story as appearing in the Torah and Injil could be ascertained. So, it was following this very question that the entire Surah Yusuf was revealed, a Surah which relates the whole story of Sayyidna Ya` qub and Yusuf (علیہما السلام) - and does it in such details as do not appear even in Torah and Injil. Therefore, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ described it, it was an open miracle shown at his blessed hands.

Alternately, this verse could also mean that this event in itself - aside from the question asked by the Jews - was full of great signs of the perfect power of Allah Ta’ ala and that, in it, there were major elements of Divine guidance, and instructions and injunctions. One could imagine the destiny of a child who was thrown in a pit when the power of Allah took over, carried him from one stage to the other guarding him all along, from his childhood to his youth. Then, Allah Ta’ ala has blessed him with a divine colour as He would do with His special servants for he stood steadfast as His servant against trials which would make obedience difficult. It is all the more difficult when one is young and challenged by opportunities. But, here is he, armed with the fear of Allah. He holds his ground, controls his self from desiring the undesirable and walks out clean from the stranglehold of temptation. Then, the story tells us how Allah rewards a person who takes to righteousness and fear of Allah as his conscious and determined way of life, how He makes him rise higher than his adversaries in power and recognition, and how they stand subdued before him finally. These are lessons and truths, all pointing to the great signs of the Divine power which can be realized by anyone who would care to look and find out. (Qurtubi Mazhari)

This verse mentions the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . The reference is to the twelve sons of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، including Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . Every son from among them had their children. Their families prospered. Since the title by which Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) was known was Isra'il, therefore, all these twelve families were identified as Bani Isra'il (the children of Isra'il).

Out of these twelve sons, the eldest ten were from the first blessed wife of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، Sayyidah Layya, daughter of Layyan. After her death, Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) married her sister, Rahil (See editorial note on page 156. ) (Rachel). She became the mother of his two sons, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) and Benyamin (Benjamin). Therefore, Benyamin was the only real brother of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . The rest of the ten were his half-brothers from the father's side. Ralil, the mother of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، had died during his childhood at the time of the birth of Benyamin. (Qurtubi)

From the second verse (8), begins the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) which tells that the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) saw that their father, Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) loved Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) unusually more than them who were older than him. Therefore, this made them envy him. And it is also possible that they had somehow found out about the dream of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) which may have led them to become uncomfortable at the prospect of his coming rise in status, and which may have made them envious of him. They talked about it among themselves: We see that our father loves Yusuf and his brother Benyamin much more than us, although we are ten of us and older than them. We have the ability and group strength to manage the affairs of the family while they both are small children who cannot do much. Our father should have noticed this and we are the ones he should have been loving more. But, what he is doing is open injustice. Therefore, you should either kill Yusuf, or throw him away into some far out spot of land from where he could not come back.

In this verse, these brothers have referred to themselves as: عُصبَۃً (` usbah). This word is used in the Arabic for a group from five to ten. As for their remark about their father: إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ (Surely, our father is in clear error), the word: ضَلَال (dalal) appearing here lexically means the error of straying. But, at this place, dalal ضَلَال or error does not mean religious error. If so, such a connotation would have made all of them Kafirs (disbelievers) - because, Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) is an exalted prophet of Allah Ta` ala and such a thought in his case is an absolute Kufr.

And about the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، it has been mentioned in the Qur'an itself that they, later on, admitted their crime and requested their father to pray for their forgiveness which he accepted to do. This makes it obvious that their mistake was forgiven. Now, this can become possible only when all of them are believers - otherwise, the prayer for the forgiveness of a disbeliever is not permissible. This is the reason why there is no difference of opinion about their being believers, although ` Ulama' do differ about these brothers being prophets. This tells us that the word: ضَلَال (dalal: error) has been uttered at this place in the sense that he does not treat brothers equally in the matter of their rights.

The third verse (9) describes how the brothers exchanged opinions among themselves. Some suggested that Yusuf be killed. Others opted for throwing him into a desolate pit so that the thorn in their side could be removed and they could thus become the sole recipients of their father's attention. As for the sin they would be earning for themselves by killing or throwing him in a pit that was something which could be taken care of later when they could repent for what they did and thus become righteous. This is the meaning of the sentence: وَتَكُونُوا مِن بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِين (and after that you may become a righteous people) according to some reports. And the verse could also be taken to mean that things will come out right for them after the killing of Yusuf because that focus of the father's attention on Yusuf (علیہ السلام) will not be there anymore, or that they would, once they have apologized to their father after the killing of Yusuf, become normal as they were.

This proves that these brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) were not prophets because, in this case, they had committed many major sins, such as, the intention to kill someone innocent, disobedience to their father and causing pain to him, contravention of pledge, conspiracy, and things like that. Such sins, according to the Muslim consensus, cannot be committed by the noble prophets, may peace be upon them all, even before they are ordained to be one.

Mentioned in the fourth verse (10) is that, hearing this whole conversation, one of these brothers advised that Yusuf should not be killed. If something has to be done, let him be thrown into some pit of a well where he could remain alive so that when wayfarers stop at this well, they would take him out and away. Thus, it would serve their purpose while they would not have to take the trouble of traveling with him to some far out place. Some caravan passing this way would itself do this for them by taking him away to some distant destination.

The giver of this advice was their eldest brother, Yahuda (Judah). Some narrations report that Ruebel (Rueben) was the eldest and it was he who gave this advice. And this is the same person mentioned later, that is, he was the one who, when Benyamin, the younger brother of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was detained in Egypt, came forward and said: How am I going to face my father when I go to him without him with me, therefore, I am not going back to Canaan.

The expression used in this verse is: غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ (ghayabatil jubb: bottom of a pit). Literally, ghayabah means everything which hides something in or makes it disappear. Therefore, a grave is also called ghayabah. And jubb refers to a well without raised sidings.

Another word: يَلْتَقِطْهُ (yaltaqithu) appearing in the next sentence: يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَ‌ةِ (so that some wayfarer picks him up) needs explanation. This word: اِلتِقَاط (iltiqat) is a derivation from: لُقطَہ (luqtah). The word: لُقطَہ (luqtah) refers to something left or dropped which is found by someone with-out having the desire to have it. If it is inert, it is called لُقطَہ luqtah, and if it is live, it is identified as laqit (لَقیط) in the terminology of Muslim jurists. A human being will be called لَقیط laqit when he or she is a child, not rational and pubert. It is from this word that Al-Qurtubi proves that, when Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was thrown in the pit of a well, he was a non-pubert child. In addition to that, the saying of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) fear lest a wolf should devour him (13) ' also indicates his being a child - because, the likelihood of being eaten up by a wolf can only be imagined in the case of a child. As reported by Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Shaiybah, the age of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was seven years at that time.

Some rules about the disposal of something owned by an unknown person (lugtah)

At this place, Imam Al-Qurtubi has given details of Islamic legal injunctions relating to 'luqtah' and ` laqit' for which this is not the appropriate occasion. However, it is necessary to understand a matter of principle operative in this connection. Islam has a system of its own in which the protection of the life and property of common people, the upkeep and cleanliness of walkways and streets, and similar other civic duties, have not been left in the sole charge of the departments of the government. In-stead of that, it has made everyone obligated to the duty of keeping them safe and clean. The Hadith has sternly warned those who make things difficult for passersby by crowding or lingering or depositing or throwing their belongings on public walkways and streets. It says: ` The Jihad of a person who blocks or clogs the passageway of Muslims is not acceptable.' Similarly, there is the instance of thorns or nails or broken glass or rocks and things like that which may be lying on walkways and which pose a danger of hurting others. Islam has not made their removal from public thoroughfare the sole responsibility of a city council or municipal board. Instead of that, it has made every believing Muslim responsible for it. Of course, it does that in a mode of persuasion and great reward and thawab has been promised for those who do so.

If, on this principle, the property lost by a person is found by some-one, his Islamic legal responsibility does not remain simply limited to not stealing it - it goes much beyond that. In fact, it also becomes his responsibility that he must pick it up as an article of trust, keep it safe, make an announcement, look for the owner and, when he finds him and his description of the lost property before him makes him sure that the lost property does belong to him, then, he should give it to him. And when, despite his announcement and search, the owner remains untraced and, given the general valuation and status of the lost property, one becomes convinced that its owner is not going to look for it anymore, then, one has two choices. If he himself is poor, he may use it personally; if not, he should give it in charity to those poor and needy. However, in both these situations, the lost property thus used shall be taken as sadaqah (charity) from the owner. The thawab for it shall reach the owner - as if, it was deposited in his name in the Treasury of the Heavens.

These are golden principles of public service and social self-help. The responsibility of putting them in regular practice has been placed on every individual of an Islamic society. Only if Muslims would under-stand their religion and start acting in accordance with it, they will be noticed by the whole world with surprise as to how do they accomplish things so easily and so effectively, things which big departments of governments fail to accomplish at the cost of millions and billions.

Appearing in the fifth (111) and sixth (112) verse is the request of these brothers before their father in which they wondered why he would not trust them with Yusuf, although they wished him fully well. So, they pleaded, he should send him along with them to enjoy himself freely by eating and drinking and playing with them and that they all shall be there to take care of him.

The tone of the very request made by the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) indicates that they had already made such a request earlier too which was not accepted by their father. Therefore, in the present request, they seem to have tried to assure their father with added effort and insistence.

Permissibility of a trip for pleasure

In this verse, the permission sought from Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) is to go for an outing and have the freedom to enjoy eating and playing together. This was something Sayyidna Ya'qub (علیہ السلام) did not disallow at all. He only showed his reluctance in sending Sayyidna Yusuf JI with them, which will appear in the next verse. From here we find out that going out to enjoy and play is allowed under permissible limits. Authentic Ahadith too seem to indicate its justification. But, the condition is that in this activity of fun and games, there should be no transgression of the limits set by the Shari` ah, nor should it be mixed up with any act not permissible there. (Qurtubi others)