Tafseer of Surah Yusuf- Introduction Part 4 Trial & Isolation by Nouman Ali Khan #4

In this post, you will get the notes and important takeaways from the YouTube video lecture given by Nouman Ali Khan on the Tafseer of Surah Yusuf introduction, where he discusses, compares and contrasts the trials and isolation of Yusuf (a.s) and Musa (a.s).

Fun Parts: 29:00, 32:00

Qasas: telling an account. Allah (s.w.t) calls the stories he tells in the Quran-Qasas, which literally means ‘to follow step by step’. So if somebody is telling a Qissa, he is walking you to the steps somebody already took. Allah (s.w.t) used the word for both Yusuf (a.s)’s story and Musa (a.s)’s story, indicating that the stories follow each other step by step. Largely, all stories in Quran follow each other (in the guidance they have to give) and are connected to each other.

Comparison of the Trails

Yusuf (a.s)	Musa (a.s)
Villain's False Testimony, Evil Intent	Israelite’s True Testimony, Evil Intent
She takes advantage of being master	He takes advantage of being fellow israelite (he is using pity to call on Musa (a.s))
Material Evidence to establish his innocence	Witness Evidence
Innocence declared privately (had the evidence got declared publicly he would’ve never ended up in jail):  lower extreme	Guilt declared publicly (slave incriminated him publicly): upper extreme
Injustice because evidence was not brought to the authorities.	Injustice because the authorities themselves are corrupt (police).
Motivated in part by the loyalty to the Egyptian ruler.	Motivated in part by the animosity for the Egyptian ruler.
Told to keep it a secret if not the political power of minister would be affected	Keeps the incident a secret
Testimony vindicates (proved innocent)	Testimony incriminates (proved guilty)
Character assassination by minister’s wife	Character assassination by con artist (cheater or tricker)
Two troublesome encounters: incident happened and during finger-cutting incident	Two troublesome encounters: actual incident and again the next day (getting beaten).
Second encounter before a larger group	Second encounter before a larger group
Minister doesn’t help Yusuf (a.s) escape authorities (he can, but he doesn’t)	Police friend helps Yusuf (a.s) escape authorities (put his life to help) (he could help, and he did)
Elite women are on the plot (women together schemed against Yusuf (a.s) as they didn’t testified)	Elite men are on the plot (police schemed against Musa (a.s) to be killed)
Their toxic admiration is a problem	Their toxic hatred (1.) is a problem
Women’s scheme foreshadowed (“you women scheme and it is amazing”) by the minister	Men’s scheme leaked by the Musa’s police friend
Found innocent but still jailed after the second encounter	Found guilty yet escaped after the second encounter

She falsely testified in front of her husband and her intention is to take guilt out of herself, which is

an evil intent as she is an actual culprit. In the story of Musa (a.s), the next day he didn’t help the

same person who was getting beaten yesterday, so he cried “ are you going to kill me like you killed

somebody yesterday”. Though the testimony is true, he had an evil intent and is taking blame off of

himself. Allah (s.w.t) is teaching that sometimes the true testimony can be used criminally (to hide

the actual criminal).

Sometimes people will take advantage of you to do the wrong thing, because they have an influence

over you. Yet other times you will be invited to wrongdoing, because you feel bad about them (pity

for them).

The balance between the two is that the evidence should be declared to the proper authority.

Testimony is about what happened and not the intentions of the characters. When testimony starts to

paint somebody’s intent, that’s when you are using your imagination to figure out what was going on

inside the heart. Testimony should be about what actions that can be seen, intentions cannot be

deduced.

Things don’t play out as we expect. The story of our life is not based on our expectation of justice

and injustice. People scheme and design, but Allah (s.w.t) is a dominant architect over them. Allah

(s.w.t) plans

(1.) Why this hatred? They don’t know why pharaoh loves him and he should be treated like the slaves because he is from a slave race. Why is he receiving a special treatment? In the modern world, we have different races, skin colour etc. when you see a foreigner living well and the foreigners are usually lower class. People will question his wellbeing?

Comparison of the Years of Isolation

Yusuf (a.s)	Musa (a.s)
Isolated from the noble house and society in jail.	Isolated from the Egyptian society and in the desert.
Yusuf (a.s) meets two men in prison (2.)	Musa (a.s) meets two women in desert
Two men approach him for help	He approaches two women to help
He helps them with interpretation -his special ability	He helps them with strength -his special ability
Preaches - roping them in a conversation	Doesn’t preach - no conversation
Expects to be mentioned	Doesn’t expects to be mentioned
Doesn’t get mentioned	Gets mentioned
One of the two men returns years later	One of the two women returns hours later
Returns for selfish reasons (the one in need is calling him)	Returns for selfless reasons (the one who needs is being called)
The king in need for help and calls him	He is in need of help and gets called by the Shaikh
Shamelessly asked for help	Shy in offering help
Asked to get out of prison	Was asked to be taken to get paid
Yusuf (a.s) tells the men how blessed he is (he talks about blessings in jail-bad environment)	Musa (a.s) tells the men his desperate story (he talks about problems in house -good environment)
Meets two men, but the story continues with just one	Meets two women, but the story continues with just one

If somebody comes for help, and Allah (s.w.t) has given the ability to help them in what they need, then you should. There are manners and ethics in helping different genders, if you want to help the opposite gender, then don’t be interested in a conversation or limit it because conversation can go the wrong path, even when it is met with good intent. Long interaction with the opposite gender opens the door to fitnah. Keep things business, when it comes to the opposite gender.

Sometimes Allah (s.w.t) will open doors for you from people, you never expect and sometimes you will expect things from people and they will never give it to you (you will be disappointed).

When someone is offering you help, that doesn’t humiliate you. But if they remind you about the help and etc. that’s something else. When someone wants to genuinely help, your first reaction should not be that it is a hit on my self-esteem.

Sometimes help comes immediately and sometimes after a long time.

It is okay to tell someone the bad things you went through and sometimes you’ve been in difficulty for a long time , but you should focus on the blessings Allah (s.w.t) has given you despite the negatives.

(2.) Yusuf (a.s)’s parental figure is a male and he meets two men. In the other case, Musa (a.s)’s paternal figure is a female and he meets two women.

Also See:

(Previous) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf - Introduction Part 3 The Siblings by Nouman Ali Khan

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