Tafseer of Surah Yusuf- Introduction Part 5 (final) Confrontation & Resolution by Nouman Ali Khan #5

If you are searching for tafseer by nouman ali khan or nouman ali khan lectures, which you can get the takeaways of, easily in written format- here we are. This post will share the notes of the lecture given by nouman ali khan on surah yusuf, where he compares and contrasts the confrontation and resolution of the story of Yusuf (a.s) and Musa (a.s).

Fun Parts: 12:00

Yusuf (a.s)	Musa (a.s)
King sees a dream (fat cows and thin cows).	King sees a dream (a man will destroy the empire).
The dream is about the fate of the empire	The dream is about the fate of the empire.
The king doesn’t know what the dream means.	The king does know what the dream means.
Seven good years meant to help with seven bad ones.	Several bad years were meant to humble (and would have led to good years but Firoun did not heed the signs) and save from the worst outcome. (1.)
The cellmate calls (unintendedly) upon Yusuf (a.s) as the savior of Egypt in the king's court.	The believer calls (intendedly) upon Musa (a.s) as the savior of Egypt in the king's court.
Wants to stand before the King.	Commanded and Empowered to stand before the king.
Asks to question the women.	Gets asked about his past crime .
Proves his innocence .	Admits his guilt.
King promotes him.	King threatens him (demotion).
His divinely inspired interpretation is ensuring Egypt’s prosperity.	His divinely granted signs are unravelling Egypt’s prosperity.
Job Position: Shepherd/prisoner to the Minister of Finance (low status to govt. position).	Job Position: Shepherd in Madyan. (govt position to low status(shephard)).
Asked to be made the minister of finance.	Was asked to help work for the household.
Hired based on honesty and interpretive skills.	Hired based on honesty and strength.
Illustrates what should not transpire between a man and a woman.	Illustrates what should transpire (secret, being revealed) between a man and a woman.
Reunited with the younger brother before the confrontation (with the family).	Reunited with the younger brother (Haroon) before the confrontation (with Firoun).
He is support to his younger brother.	The younger brother is his support.
Counsel (related to material world) heeded by the king.	Counsel (related to the Akhirah) rejected by the king.
Advice would ensure Egypt’s wordly wellbeing.	Advice would ensure Egypt’s salvation.
Brought with him what saved the kingdom.	Brought with him what ended the kingdom.
Younger brother is helpful and supportive by remaining silent.	Younger brother remained silent though eloquent. (2.)
“I will keep him for myself,” said the king.	“Let me kill him myself,” said the king.
Yusuf (a.s) is the judge and the aggressors are on trial.	Aggressor is the judge and Musa (a.s) is on trial.
Reminds them of what they did (to resolve).	Reminds him of what he did (to deceive (3.)).
Sons of Israel are the aggressors.	Sons of Israel are the victims (4.)
Brothers fall in Sajda (5.)	Magicians fall in Sajda.
Blessing of settlement turned into slavery.	The trail of exile turned into settlement.
Sons of Israel come to Egypt for food.	Sons of Israel are desperate for food having left Egypt.
Yusuf (a.s) first wronged by his own and then by the Egyptians.	Musa (a.s) first wronged by the Egyptians and then by his own.
Has the Israelites move to Egypt under the leadership of a prophet.	Has the Israelites move out to Egypt under the leadership of a prophet.
Forgives in the end and reunites with his own/ sons of Israel.	Wants nothing to do with his own/ sons of Israel.
Saga ends in peaceful resolution.	Saga (old narrative story) ends in a violent showdown.
Minister's wife (female drunk on her power).	Quraan’s recurring character for arrogance is Firoun (male drunk of his power).
Story illustrates when a woman misses/ misuses her power.	Story illustrates when a man misses/ misuses  his power.
The villain sees her wrong way and when she sees it, it’s not too late.	The villain doesn't see his wrong way and if he sees it it’s too late.
Sons of Israel and the Minister's wife redeem themselves.	Sons of Israel and Pharaoh don't  redeem themselves.
Yusuf (a.s)’s brothers say to their father to let yusuf (a.s) come because they mean well for him “Naseehoon”.	Musa (a.s)'a genuine friend told him to get out and he said “Naseehoon - I am from among those who mean well for you”.
Brothers claim to mean well, but actually meant harm.	His friend genuinely means well.

(1.) The Firoun was given those signs (small punishment) so that they don’t have to face something worse. Allah (s.w.t) says “we will make them taste the smallest punishments before the biggest punishments”.

(2.) Both remained silent, yet supportive.

(3.) To deviate the conversation and to hide his crime of enslaving the israelites.

(4.) Went from being the aggressors to being the victims, generations later.

(5.) Both sajda happen at the sight of a miraculous event.

In life some people are ready to face a situation and some are not. Yusuf (a.s) hasn’t done anything wrong (innocent) so he was bold in standing up and requesting for a trial. Musa (a.s) is afraid that they’re going to kill him because they have a crime recorded against him.  He is not afraid of standing against justice but his crime being not understood properly. Fearful to stand in front of an unfair judge. This also gives a lesson, that sometimes Allah (s.s.t) puts us in unique situations, so we face it through Allah’s empowerment.

The one who is innocent is posing a question to his aggressors. On the other hand, the one who did the mistake is interrogated.

Yusuf (A.s) asks for becoming the minister of finance. There is a fine line between humility and arrogance. He sees himself qualified to save millions of lives. We have one category as overly humble (I can’t do it, I am just a slave of Allah(s.w.t)) and the other extreme is that “I can do it, nobody can do it like me”. The fine line between the two is confidence with humility.

The divine miracles given to Musa (a.s) are the signs and the signs (locust, blood, tornado, plague) undo Egypt’s prosperity. On one side we have the gift of interpretation of Yusuf (a.s) (given by Allah (s.w.t)), which ensures Egypt remains prosperous. On the flip side, the 9 signs from Allah (s.w.t) crippled the power of the empire.

This shows us the two things needed for a job: honesty and the job-specific skill. Any job in the world, it will either have intellectual skills required or physical skills required (2 dimensions of work, common factor of trustworthiness).

A young girl says to hire him. Lesson of coming together (families) in a noble manner. They need a dignified young man and man’s strength like Musa (a.s) to live a negative society. This teaches us how men and women should come together! And in Yusuf (a.s)’s case Allah (s.w.t) shows how men and women should not be coming together. There is a contrast in the way the minister's wife approaches Yusuf (a.s) (Shamelessly) and how the young girl approached Musa (a.s) (in shyness).

Two trails going on at the same time. One judge is the prophet (a.s), the most fair judge and the other judge is the Firoun, the most unfair judge. One case, the prophet is judging the aggressor and second case the aggressor is judging the prophet (a.s).

Allah (s.w.t) is showing us the reality of the world, you might find people in a position of judgement being fair as well as some being unfair.

Settling into the most mightiest empire on Earth (in Yusuf (a.s)’s case) was a blessing, but over generations it turned into the curse of slavery. Being exiled from the empire to live in the desert seems like a curse, but it turned into the most vast empire on Earth. Kingdom of Dawood (a.s) and Suleiman (a.s) not limited to people but other creations of Allah (s.w.t). Blessing to curse, curse to blessing.

Empires are replaced constantly throughout history. Empires based on justice collapse when its values get corrupt and the ruler starts thinking that this will never collapse and it will remain forever. But Allah (s.w.t) always replaces them.

The Quran is not a book of history, it is telling us how history works. To understand our history, we need to understand the history of the Israelites and that’s why so much space is given to it in the Quran. Through their study, we are learning something about ourselves. We might find ourselves in a position where our brothers are trying to kill, or the ummah is falsely accused and imprisoned. Also, we may find ourselves in a position of wealth and prestige but it is taken away from us. Parallel here.

Wonder for a moment about the architecture of the story. This is not a storyteller, this is Allah (s.w.t) (The architect of human history) and he designed people, locations, events that plays out like an author would have written it in a fictional account. 

Every Quranic ayah is like an ocean and nobody can say he has fully explored it. When someone goes in this ocean, he will only return with a few drops because of the limited human capability. 

The word of Allah (s.w.t) sustains the earth like the ocean sustains the earth. The ocean contains endless lives and is an endless source of rizq. The word of Allah (s.w.t) purifies like the ocean and the word of Allah (s.w.t) can be a source of mercy or destruction (when abused) like the ocean can be a source of mercy and destruction.

Also See:

(Previous) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf- Introduction Part 4 Trial & Isolation by Nouman Ali Khan 

(Next)  Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 1-2- Kitaab & Qur'an by Nouman Ali Khan