These are the notes and important takeaways from tafseer of Surah Yusuf - introduction part 3 The Siblings, which is a lecture given by Nouman Ali Khan. Here he compares and contrasts the siblings of Yusuf (a.s) i.e. his brothers and the sibling of Musa (a.s) i.e. his sister.
Fun Parts: 36:58, 39:47, 52:32
Why siblings are important to analyse: “For sure in Yusuf (a.s) and his siblings are signs for seekers".
Siblings Comparison
Brothers left him in a well and walked away. Sister follows the basket until it enters the palace. She didn’t walk away and kept waiting until the wet nurses came.
Allah (s.w.t) shows us that even prophets (a.s) are not immune to trials in the family. We can be given a family that becomes the cause for blessings in the family, saving and protecting that family and sometimes our biggest troubles can be in the family.
Brothers came back with animal blood on the shirt but the dad knows them. The sister tells a creative story about her own family (to the wet nurses). I know people who live in a house and they can take care of him. Brothers of yusuf (a.s) said “we mean well for him: nasihoon” and when the sister talked to them she said “I know of a family that can take care of him, la nasihoon”. Exact same words used. She doesn’t speak directly but creates a story. Sister tells the story so they get united and brothers tell the story so they get separated. Her creative story did not involve lying, but in case of brothers it did.
Brothers talk back and convince the father to let the son go with them. When the mother asks her daughter to follow him, she doesn't say how, why , but obeys quietly. Mom says the wrong thing, but the girl understands it and does the right job. (wrong word came out of desperation: follow step by step, which is not possible, but the intended meaning was to not lose sight of the baby). Children need to understand that they need not pick at the faults of their parents and understand the point they are making.
Allah (s.w.t) tells yusuf (a.s) that you will be telling them what they have done to you and they have no idea. They have no clue that the one they schemed against will backfire and will receive the embarrassment. Similarly, the Pharaoh has no idea who he just picked up. His plan to kill all the babies is gonna backfire and he has no idea. And profoundly the same wordings are used in telling both the ends: wahum la yashoroon. Sometimes you are helpless against the people who scheme against you. They think what a helpless person is going to do in response to this. Allah (s.w.t) has a plan for the weak that the oppressor doesn't know how to counter.
Comparison of the Journey of Yusuf (a.s) and Musa (a.s)
They both say that follow my way and you won’t go to jail. One wants you to take an action against Allah (s.w.t) and one wants you to take the belief out of your heart. One is calling for Allah’s disobedience inside the heart and one through the actions. "Nut fath" is both things: what we have in our hearts and in our actions. Shows that Eimaan is both of those things: heart and actions. To Allah(s.w.t) your prayer is your Eimaan: Surah Qiyamah- neither did he confirm the truth nor did he pray. Also, threat sometimes succeeds (Yusuf (a.s)’s case) and sometimes it doesn’t (Musa(a.s)’s case).
Sometimes people close to us may threaten our loyalty to Allah (s.w.t).
They will propel you to disobey Allah (s.w.t) because you love them.
(1.) Things don’t turn out to be the way we expect.
(2.) Allah (s.w.t) put love in the heart of the Pharaoh though he hated israelites.
Comparison of the test of these young men ( Yusuf (a.s) and Musa (a.s) )
Continued Later .......
(3.) These gifts are not special to prophets (a.s) but anyone who tries to excel and keep Allah (s.w.t) presence before them will be given wisdom (give them the strength to make better choices) and knowledge. Ex- Nouman Ali khan learned Arabic through the help of Allah (s.w.t) as he wanted to excel though he was not good in studies.
(4.) Both types of trails are contrasted : trail through influence and trial through emotions.
(5.) Hurrying and rushing is from the work of the devil. You didn’t analyse the whole situation and you just jumped in, even though you had good intentions. Rushing without understanding the parameters is from the work of the devil.
When we think of young people they have knowledge, but wisdom comes with age. Making wise choices as a teen like what games to play? What to eat? etc. are very difficult even if they are smart in school, but Yusuf (a.s) was very special. Knowledge came from the surroundings—an environment where the minister would discuss affairs with governors, scholars would come, so he was getting international education there, as a servant.
When we think of young people they have knowledge, but wisdom comes with age. Making wise choices as a teen like what games to play? What to eat? etc. are very difficult even if they are smart in school, but Yusuf (a.s) was very special. Knowledge came from the surroundings—an environment where the minister would discuss affairs with governors, scholars would come, so he was getting international education there, as a servant.
Exact same wording used to describe the above qualities of both the prophets (a.s). Only extra word is in Surah Qasas, musa (a.s)’s quality of exceptional strength is mentioned.
Tried because of his looks and one tried because of his strengths.
One wants to hurry out of evil intentions and the other one hurries out of good intent, but hurrying itself is a problem regardless. Analyse first and then take action. Before I raise my tongue against someone else or hand against someone else let me analyse the situation. Also, every case is special so you don’t get to generalize that particular case of the guard beating the israelite. The Prophet (s.a.w) himself gave different answers to the same question when different persons asked.
Allah (s.w.t) says don’t come near zina and don’t kill a person. He put them next to each other. (SURAH ISRA)
Allah (s.w.t) also says that (SURAH FURQAAN) they don’t kill and they don’t do zina. He flips it here. These are the two major sins, one is taking off the physical body and the other one is killing someone spiritually. The Prophet (s.a.w) said that if you don’t have haya do whatever you want.
One is crime against yourself and Allah (s.w.t) and one is the crime against humanity.
What to do when you catch yourself heading towards haraam, be like yousuf (a.s) and but when you commit something wrong immediately be like Musa (a.s) and ask for forgiveness.
We are learning that my master has been good to me so I am loyal to him and even if my own people are doing bad, I won’t be loyal to them. Loyalty does not come from just being with people.
Surah Yusuf
Surah Qasas
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