In today's article, we will be sharing the important takeaways in the form of key notes of the Tafseer of the 6th ayah of the Surah Yusuf by Nouman Ali Khan. In this lecture he analyzes the response of Yaqoob (a.s) to his son Yusuf (a.s). So if you are interested in Nouman Ali Khan Lectures and Tafseer by Nouman Ali Khan continue reading this article.
Fun Parts: 00:00, 43:20, 53:40, 58:40, 01:01:00, 01:09:30, 01:12:25
Ayat 6 (Part 3 of Scene 1):
"And that is how your master has chosen/ selected you and is teaching you and will continue to teach you interpretation and from what lies behind all kinds of speeches and events. And he is going to be completing his favour on you and he will be completing this favour on the lineage of Yaqoob (a.s) just as he completed that favor on both of your fathers from not so long ago Ibrahim (a.s) and Ishaq (a.s) (so father, grandfather and great-grandfather all got mentioned), certainly your master is knowledgeable and wise.
"And that is how your master has chosen/ selected you and is teaching you and will continue to teach you interpretation and from what lies behind all kinds of speeches and events. And he is going to be completing his favour on you and he will be completing this favour on the lineage of Yaqoob (a.s) just as he completed that favor on both of your fathers from not so long ago Ibrahim (a.s) and Ishaq (a.s) (so father, grandfather and great-grandfather all got mentioned), certainly your master is knowledgeable and wise.
Ayah comprises of 2 parts
Part 1: Allah(s.w.t) is talking about the future of Yusuf (a.s) (things that have not happened yet, but anticipating that it will happen). He has chosen you and will be teaching you; thus, completing his favor on you and that favor will continue to the family of Yaqoob (a.s).
Part 2: (Switches) talks about the past. He just completed this favor on your fathers Ibrahim (a.s) and Ishaq (a.s).
One part about the past and one about the future, but all of it is about Allah (s.w.t)’s blessing (Allah (s.w.t) selecting, choosing, giving preference, giving comfort, giving relaxation).
The things mentioned are all positive, which directly contrast with the negatives (don’t tell your
dream, scheme, devil) and warnings in the previous ayah. There is a sudden change of mood and
switch to positivity: great future like the great past.
Why did he start with the negative and come into the positive?
Good news (easy to share) makes you optimistic, hopeful and does positive reinforcement.
However, Islam doesn't teach us to be positive without an eye on reality. Have a good grasp of
reality (brothers are an immediate threat; succumb to the constant whisper of the devil). So if you
only talk about a dark reality you can become pessimistic and hopeless. It's not just about this
child, we can develop that kind of a worldview. We can just look at the dark realities (family
problems, outside problems) around us and just consume ourselves with these thoughts from the
outside or inside.
So if you only talk about the problem then you are pessimistic, hopeless, scared and anxious
and if you only talk about the positives then it’s not realistic (you should believe that Allah (s.w.t) will
take care of it and I don’t need to worry).
Quran teaches practical optimism that is rooted in reality, first take precaution of what dangers lie
in front of you.
God vs Devil: Look at the contrast, previous ayah mentions devil as an enemy to the human being
and as the mention of this animosity ended, Allah (s.w.t) begins the next ayah by iterating his
support against the enemy. Since Adam (a.s)’s time, there is a constant struggle, where the devil
pulls away and there's a call from Allah (s.w.t) who has selected you. He is making his child aware
that there is negative reality and environment but there's hope into the future, which gives a
message that difficult things that are going to happen but never become hopeless because
Allah (s.w.t) has selected you and you have a higher purpose.
This transition teaches us that we should make our children aware of difficult situations and
difficult realities, but we should also instill hope in confidence in them because if any one of
those is missing then they're not going to be have a balanced life, they're not going to be able to
deal with life in the way that they should be able to deal and that can affect their adult life.
“and that is how Allah (s.w.t) has chosen”, why “that is how” is mentioned?
By showing you the dream, clearly, this is how Allah (s.w.t) has chosen you. Yaqoob (a.s) was
observant and he has been noticing his good and noble qualities (intelligence, great character,
manners, eagerness for worship) and sees the signs of prophethood in him from an early age (even
before the dream) through his actions, which he has not seen anywhere. However, kids become
spoiled when treated in a special manner, but Yusuf (a.s) (even after that) is down to the earth.
(Even the minister notices it in his short journey and is so convinced to the point where he wants to
adopt him). Yusuf (a.s) carries himself a certain way (that's special) and even a stranger can see
that.
“Don't tell your brothers this dream” also suggests that though the brothers are mean, Yusuf (a.s) still
didn’t respond by being mean to them or committing wrong against them. The brothers and
everyone in the family knows that there will be prophets promised in this lineage and so it is as if
Yaqoob (a.s) knows everything and is waiting for a confirmation from Allah (s.w.t). So when the
dream is narrated he says “that's how your master has chosen you” as if he is wondering how's
going to choose you, how is he going to let you know that you have been chosen for prophecy and I
see that Allah (s.w.t) chose this dream to be that.
Yaqoob (a.s) also knew that the dream contained in it ingredients for a conflict that is going to
happen between Yusuf (a.s) and his brothers. “KAZALIKA” here indicates that whatever difficult
situations are about to come and they will come, (in all of that) you should know Allah (s.w.t) has
chosen you because you could have handled them better than everybody else.
It's not just a dream but a confirmation that Allah (s.w.t) has chosen. However, the events that are to
transpire (and whatever you're going to experience) is all part of the plan and it will all be what Allah
(s.w.t) has prepared you for.
Yaqoob (a.s) notices that Yusuf (a.s) figured out what the dream was and his good manners in
speech, his analytical mind propels him to say that because of these qualities, Allah (s.w.t) has
chosen you from this family to have the gift of prophecy.
Words for selection:
Ikhtiyaar: comes from the word khair. When you choose something because it has good in it.
Musa (a.s) was chosen because Allah (s.w.t) saw good in him (as Musa (a.s) felt that he is not good
enough because he killed somebody).
Istafa: Purely one's choice. Allah (s.w.t) used this word for the selection of angels delivering
revelation and selection of men becoming messengers.
Ijtaba: comes from the word ‘jabwa’. When you make a selection based on the purpose i.e, best fit
for the job. Example: hiring.
Yaqoob (a.) says that you have demonstrated a certain skill, which Allah (s.w.t) will use to put you in
all kinds of situations and that’s why he selected you to be a prophet. This is significant because Our
life is a cycle of difficulty and ease and when you start thinking that you have hit ease and there's
no more difficulty to come, you become delusional.The difficulties that you face are chosen by
Allah (s.w.t) for you and he chose you for them.
Allah (s.w.t) chose my trials for me, he wrote my story, but Allah (s.w.t) chose me because I have
certain qualities to go through those tests successfully. He picked me for this life story.
Yaqoob (a.s) gives a message that when Allah (s.w.t) selects a prophet, he gives them
monumental challenges in the future like today’s highest paying jobs have the most complicated
tasks. If the task is simple anybody can do it, so you have to demonstrate a very high aptitude to be
qualified. The higher the job, the more qualified you have to be
“Your master has chosen you” – kids nowadays want to hone their skills and the more they're honing their skills, the more arrogant they're becoming. Parents showcase their accomplishment, but what Yaqoob (a.s) does when he sees his child having a remarkable ability, he reminds him of his master’s choice, which automatically makes him a slave (most humble label).
He chose you to be a really good slave. Become humble because you have got a special
talent for a special purpose. You’re no special, he made you special. This also means that the
abilities you have doesn't make me special, but fulfilling the purpose for which you were given the
abilities and using it for the service of your master, is what makes you special.
Don’t waste your talent/ ability by not putting it into work and by thinking that talent is
enough for you to get free from all the other responsibilities you have to carry.
Father sees a remarkable talent of his son and says your master has selected. On one hand, you've
been validated and on the other hand you've been humbled, but the most beautiful part of this is
that the father will not humble him but the one to humble him will be his RABB. Some people say
“I have to humble my children by putting them down” as if you are acting in the place of the Rabb.
You have failed because a time will come you get old and you will require their support. Yaqoob (a.s)
is giving him a life lesson that you should be humble whether I am there or not.
You cannot humble anyone if they don't recognize that their Rabb is the one humbling them.
A youth child going in a non-muslim environment with no parental supervision has every reason to
get spoiled, but these words of his father will remain in his head: My master has selected me for a
purpose.
The conversation is so special that Allah (s.w.t) chose it to be there in the Quran.
Later, we see that he has got his positive outlook even in the middle of the worst negativity (the
terror of being thrown into a well) because he knew that there's a purpose and reason behind what is happening.
“he's teaching you the interpretation of dreams” is a wrong translation, but the correct one will
be “he has commenced your teaching/your teaching from Allah (s.w.t) has begun”. Yaqoob
(a.s) is telling him that his teaching just started and it’s not the end. Teaching is ongoing, takes time,
rigour and it will be done in different learning environments and eventually he will teach you even
what this dream means in whole.
“He will teach you from the interpretation of all kinds of speech”- why is ‘dream’ replaced with
‘speech’?
Yaqoob (a.s) is telling Yusuf (a.s) that Allah (s.w.t) has a plan for you to be able to interpret all kinds
of speech. You will be able to interpret what is behind the speech (words) and the original thought
process behind the saying.
This same part of the ayah is also mentioned after the minister brought Yusuf (a.s) home.
“This is how we settled Yusuf (a.s) in the land so we could teach him all kinds of interpretation of all
kinds of speech”.
Yusuf (a.s) as a servant got access to different worlds (politicians’ speech and talks, slaves’
conversations, criminals’ conversations in jail and conversation of people outside the house) and he
understood how different people talk/ work/ communicate their emotions, the thought
processes behind them and life experiences behind what they say.
Information kept getting poured to him and he understood (as he was analytical) what was behind it.
Therefore, Yaqoob (a.s) accurately tells him what Allah (s.w.t) will teach him.
Allah (s.w.t) made him ready for that high position, so when he is at that position, he knows what and
how everybody is thinking. So, he has got both the spiritual talent of interpretation and worldly
talent of interpretation. Thus, his ability is not just limited to dreams.
“He will complete his favour on you” – we know he is already chosen, what does ‘completing
his favour’ mean?
Completing his favour upon you is used for Rasoolullah (s.a.w) in the Quran (when revelation got
completed (he completed his favour upon you, he sent a messenger so he can complete his favour
on you).
Two types of blessings:1) Spiritual (regardless of the outside (good/ bad) situation. Ex- Yusuf (a.s)
in jail/ well/ beaten by brother, he still has the blessing of spirituality. 2) Having an easy life where
your faith is not tested (Worldly blessing). Ex- reunite with family.
When Allah (s.w.t) uses this phrase, he’s referring to both the spiritual and worldly blessings. So,
when Rasoolullah (s.a.w) is being said this phrase, it means that the revelation is completed and all
obstacles (enemies, fear, anxiety, freedom) are removed.
Rasoolullah (s.a.w) was told by Allah (s.w.t) in Medina that “he will be completing his favours”. Surah
Yusuf (revealed in Makkah) already mentions these words from the tongue of Yaqoob (a.s). Yusuf
(a.s) held on to the spiritual blessing and Allah (s.w.t) gave him the worldly blessing (reunited with
brothers, repentance, no obstacles, fear, dominion) too. Similarly, Rasoolullah (s.a.w) held on to his
spiritual blessing and was given the worldly blessing (reunited with brothers, repentance, no
obstacles, fear, dominion) as well.
In the phrase, “uttimmu naymatahu alaika” in Surah Yusuf foreshadows (deliberately) what was
coming for Rasoolullah (s.a.w) because that exact phrase was used for Rasoolullah (s.a.w). So
Allah (s.w.t) will give you triumph but you have to go through a lot of trials and difficulties to reach
there.
You would have to be in difficult environments to hear all kinds of speech and then being
able to interpret them. It cannot happen in a sheltered environment. In our lives, we have
difficult situations, and that is when we are able to understand things about life that we didn’t
understand before, made us connect to Allah (s.a.w) in manner manner never got connected before,
taught sabr, resilience, bearing pain, and all of that will go towards Allah (s.w.t) completing his
blessing. You can’t go to the beautiful place without the struggle.
Hadith does not only mean speech, but can also mean an event/ catastrophe. Allah (s.w.t) will
teach you what is behind different kinds of catastrophic/ events. People might become
reactive and impulsive, but you take a broader picture in mind and know that the obstacle
has a higher purpose.
“He will complete his favour on you and on the family of Yaqoob (a.s)” he could have said
“He will complete his favour on you and on my family”. There is a view that other children of
Yaqoob (a.s) also became Prophets once they repented because of this part of the verse that
he will complete his favour on you and the children of Yaqoob (a.s). Another reason- Allah
(s.w.t) calls them stars, means by which people get guided.
Arguments against: not all stars guide people, only particular stars guide people.
Yusuf (a.s) holds on to the spiritual favor while constantly losing the material favour and eventually
both come together.
Yusuf (a.s)'s brothers hold on to material favor and lose the spiritual one, but eventually repent and
regain it.
Yaqoob (a.s) knows that prophets will be coming from his lineage, not only from the lineage of Yusuf
(a.s)’s lineage but from the lineage of his other children. That’s’ why he says that Allah (s.w.t) will not
just bless you but he'll bless my entire family. He said “Aaal'' which doesn't mean children, but
future generations.
But why did Yaqoob (a.s) include his brothers as part of the blessing, when they are falling in the
trap of the devil?
Yaqoob (a.s) knows that his brothers will be doing sajdah, which means that they will realize their
mistake and will get humbled before Allah (s.w.t). So, through Yusuf (A.s), they will learn humility.
Right now, they are not humbled and are falling into the devil's trap, but Allah (s.w.t) has created a
plan for them to come back to their master and humble themselves.
It's only after you humble yourself that the doors of blessings open.
Allah (s.w.t) will complete his favour on Yusuf (a.s) by Prophethood and he will complete his favour
on them because they’ll be making Tawbah.
It is not only mentioned in the Quran that Allah (s.w.t) will complete his favour upon Rasool Allah
(s.a.w), but he will complete it for the Ummah as well. So, saying that he will be completing his
favour on the Ummah doesn’t make us Prophets in the same manner completing favour on Yaqoob
(a.s)’s family doesn't make them prophets.
At the end, though everything looks specific to Yusuf (a.s) (due to their repentance), the entire family
will be blessed and favored worldly and spiritually (Favour will get completed: they had good
economic condition and prosper in Egypt).
He is giving a remarkable vision to his son about looking ahead to a bright future while keeping an
eye on reality at the same time because the brothers are the trouble (no blind optimism, but
cautious optimism).
Why did Yaqoob (a.s) call himself by name?
So that his future generations will look back and say ‘look at how Allah (s.w.t) favored/ blessed our
father Yaqoob (a.s)’ . Remarkebly, we find that generations later, Zakariya (a.s) calls Allah (s.w.t) to
give his a child who can inherit his legacy and the legacy of Yaqoob (a.s): Same exact words ‘Aale
Yaqoob’ are used.
Yaqoob (a.s) is telling Yusuf (a.s) that they and their generations have a great future ahead. This is
Allah (s.w.t) fulfilling his favor on us and our future generations.
The Prophet (s.a.w) said “From the children of Israel, every time a prophet would die another would
be born.” No generation didn’t have a prophet.
“Just as he completed his favour on both of your fathers, Ibrahim (a.s) and Ishaq (a.s)”
Yaqoob (a.s) is reminding his son about his grandfathers. But if he mentioned his name first, he
should mention Ishaq (a.s) second rather than Ibrahim (a.s), as to follow the sequence, but he
mentions Ibrahim (a.s) before Ishaq (a.s) ?
He does this because of the importance and centrality of Ibrahim (a.s), his legacy is that ‘no matter
what happens (no one loves me, hate comes in, I am thrown into fire etc.) I will hold on to the truth’
and ‘my loyalty to Allah (s.w.t) will not be pushed aside by my love/ fear of anything else’. You come
from Ibrahim (a.s)’s lineage on whom Allah (s.w.t) completed his favour and blessed his lineage, but
only after putting him in the most difficult trials (at the end ishaq (a.s)/ blessing was given).
This young boy will live in a very toxic environment (of fear, negativity, uncertainty and lack of
supervision) and face all of the challenges (dark well, beaten by brothers, isolation) alone without the
spiritual light of his father. However, there are two things that are his support (things that keep you
going, no matter what you are surrounded by): Future Allah (s.w.t) has promised him/ He has
chosen me for a higher purpose to put through difficult tests because he has in him the
capability to pass those tests and he is from the line of Ibrahim (a.s).
This is not specific to Yusuf (a.s) as he was a prophet, but in Surah Hajj (22:73) Allah (s.w.t) says to
every Muslim (using the same word “Huajtabakum” and in Surah Yusuf it was “yajtabika”) “he has
selected you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. You are the religion of your
father Ibrahim (a.s)”. First, Yaqoob (a.s) said to his son that he has selected you and will complete
his favour on you just like your father Ibrahim (a.s). Then Allah (s.w.t) (in Surah Hajj) himself says
that he selected you (he sees something in you that brings you to his service) and you are the
religion of Ibrahim (a.s)- on the same track as Ibrahim (a.s)- he is the one who named you Muslims. Therefore, there is a parallel here as well.
You can only climb as high as you throw your rope. Our rope is the rope of Allah (s.w.t), so even if
we think we can’t go anywhere, we still can hold on to it and go up. Where you set your rope
determines where your eyes are, so if your eyes are on overcoming a problem and being happy then
you should realize that this is a constant life of struggle and you have to keep ascending.
Firstly, whether you are Muslims or non-Muslims you are going to have problems and as a Muslim
there will be things that will threaten your eimaan, but if you have a vision that Allah (s.w.t) has
chosen you, despite all of your weaknesses/ shortcomings and despite all the things people tell
you you're not good at, there's something in you that is so good that Allah (s.w.t) decided to give
you la ilahaillAllah because that's not a cheap gift to give somebody. This means you have a higher
purpose and through all of these hurdles (inside your head/ heart and outside in your life), you have
to climb over them and keep on climbing.
Ex- When I found Islam, I found a purpose. You are ascending and climbing on the rope of Allah
(s.w.t) and if you are looking up you have a purpose, but Shaytan wants you to relax and have some
chill time by showing you what is around that rope (worldly distractions) and if you loosen the rope
for a little bit then you will automatically start falling. So, Have Eye on the Purpose.
There is no difference between how a Hindu wedding happens in India and how a Muslim wedding
happens in Pakistan. The fathers of the Pakistanis were begging Allah (s.w.t) to give them a free
land as to freely worship him and for the safety of future generations (no forced conversions etc.).
It should put us to shame that 3 generations earlier our fathers were praying for freedom in
worship and now what are we doing? So, remember your heritage and don’t misuse the freedom by
not offering Salah and not remembering your fathers. There should also be a sense of loyalty to
freedom and heritage. Also, when you look down the rope, you see the past and people who
made sacrifices that brought you to that position.
(You don’t know where you are going, if you don’t know where you came from) From religious point
of view, I have to be loyal to my father, who sacrificed everything to make me a Muslim (gave me
identity) and our deep roots lie in his identify and mission.
Yaqoob (a.s) has given his son two things: look ahead to where your purpose is set by Allah
(s.w.t) and look back to the one who fulfilled that purpose (whose legacy you are to be loyal to:
Ibrahim (a.s)).
If we can give these 2 things to our kids, they can go to a college where people are smoking weed,
drinking alcohol, taking cocaine, having questions about their sexual identity, are in the midst of all
kinds of confusion and don't know which direction they want to go into but our kids will have a rope
which only goes in one direction and whenever they look back, they don't look back at the world
to find examples, but they look back at their father Ibrahim (a.s) and they find strength to keep
going.
We need to look ahead the right way and look behind the right way, which can help you go through
any environment (office, college, work, etc.)
Today, we have an identity crisis (ayah of identity crisis). Yusuf (as.) could have justified his
traumas for identity crisis, but these two things kept him from breaking.
“Inna Rabbaka Aleem Haqeem”: No matter how much you know that you have talent, you have
wisdom, you can figure things out, remember one thing that “no doubt it is your master that knows
everything that has all the wisdom”. Whatever knowledge you have are just drops that your master is
dropping on you.
Human beings when they acquire knowledge, start thinking they are smart and they know a lot.
Here, the smartest of people the wisest of people (prophets) are being told knowledge and wisdom
are the property your Rabb. And slaves will be given, whatever drops the master gives.
The ayah began with humility (your master has chosen you) and the ayah ends with humility (he
has knowledge and wisdom that he gave you (you did not own it)), you remain a humble slave no
matter what your past (noble lineage) was and no matter what your future is).
This ayah shapes the entire life of the Yusuf (a.s), it acted as an anchor in every situation he found
himself.
Rabb means nurturing master. Your master alone will nurture you with knowledge, wisdom, by
showing you the right course of action and by giving you the strength to stay away from the wrong
when times are good and when times are tough. Your parents' environment can do little to protect
you and nurture you, at the end it will be you and your master.There will be times in your life when
nobody will save you except your Raab.
The ayah encompasses three states of time: Present (don't tell your dream to your brothers),
Future (Allah (s.w.t) has a great future for you) and Past (he completed his favor on your fathers).
So, he dealt with the present, gave a vision of the future and anchored him into the past.
Also See:
(Previous) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 5 (Don’t tell your brothers) by Nouman Ali Khan | 5th Ayah #9
(Next) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 7-8 (He Loves Them More) by Nouman Ali Khan | 7th and 8th Ayah #11
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