Today, I will be sharing with you the important takeaways from the tafseer lecture of nouman ali khan on the 7th and 8th ayah of Surah Yusuf, where he analyses the concluding comments given by Allah (s.w.t) after mentioning the conversation of Yaqoob (a.s) and Yusuf (a.). Also, he explains strategies and tools of the devil that made it easy to manipulate the mind of the Yusuf (a.s)'s brothers.
Fun Parts: 00:00, 1:24, 20:05, 20:55, 31:08, 40:57, 43:24, 48:15, 51:30, 53:07
(Scene 1 ended in the previous Ayah (6th ayah))
Ayah 7 and 8 (Concluding Comments by Allah (s.w.t))
Ayah 7: “Certainly in Yusuf (a.s) and his brothers there have been many signs, for those who ask questions/ and seek”
Rough meaning: there is definitely a lot to learn from Yusuf (A.s) and his brothers, so long as you are curious and ask questions.
Implications of “Laqad Kaana”, “Ayat” and “Sa’ail”
Yusuf (a.s)’s brothers are mentiond at the beginning and end only? Then why are they given a pivotal role for our learning by Allah (s.w.t), though other characters are also there which can teach us like Minister, Prisoners etc.?
1) It’s not just that you can learn from Yusuf (a.s) and you can learn from his brothers, but their relationship has a lot to teach you (and not just as individual entities).
2) Though the revelation is happening now, the lessons to be learned about what happened with Yusuf (a.s) and his brothers have been there (since a long time) for any who would have had questions. People should have learned from it, but they didn’t learn.
3) Responding to those who asked questions to the Prophet (s.a.w) about Bani Israel in a negative manner, and redirecting them to positive directions. Those who asked (did not want to learn for guidance, but to prove that he is not a Prophet) genuine questions would have benefitted.
4) There is a wrong way of thinking about questions;Allah (s.w.t) is teaching us what it means to ask questions? And what kind of question should we be asking? The question we should be asking is how is this going to guide my life (Purpose of revelation is guidance). Asking wrong questions, and not getting what they are supposed to get.
5) (My view) we all have emotional needs when it comes to relationships, and for everyone who finds himself at a junction where you don't know how to deal with a situation, Allah (s.w.t) is teaching us that in this relationship you will find answers.
6) “ayaat” refers to value. There is a lot of value that can be gained from not just Yusuf (as) but his brothers.
Why are his brothers mentioned, for us to learn from? Just because you are surrounded by a positive environment doesn’t make you immune from messing up. Anybody from any family can mess up, no matter who you are, where you are etc. Devil finds his playground in houses of worship many times and sometimes evil things happen among righteous looking people (Shaytan comes after them, and injects a virus they do even know they have).
I want my children to be in Muslim environment and save from the western culture because there are certain evils present there and not in Muslim environment. However, they forget the fact that if not those evils, there are other evils present in Muslim environments. So, we are replacing one label of evil with another ‘Islamic looking’ evil. Shaytan plays different games in different places.
A lesson or principle while doing the study of Quran is to ask the right questions with every detail given to us. Even though you have heard the story before, you should ask yourself “what can I gain from the story now? what more is there? Why did Allah (s.w.t) say this?” and the answer you are looking for should bring you closer to him and solve your problems. In reality, what you learn about them should benefit you by shedding light on what you are up to? It exposes things about yourself and your relationships that you didn’t realize before.
Also, there is a direct connection from the 7th Ayah to the 8th. So, it goes like this “Yusuf (a.s) and his brothers have a lot to teach you when they said….”
Of the many lessons you will learn, you will learn from what is about to be said about them.
Till now, brothers were only mentioned, but now they are speaking themselves.
Ayat 8: “When they said ‘Yusuf for sure and his brother are loved more by our father than we are, while we are a tied band of men (strong group). Certainly, our father is clearly lost in confusion/ misguidance”
They are speaking with certainty.
They don’t see Yusuf (a.s) and his brother as their brothers. They don’t say “our younger brothers are loved by dad”. They don’t see him as part of their family.
Wanting attention from our parents at an early age or feeling that our parents value us plays a critical and pivotal part in our upbringing. Ex- people feel worthless (though they have accomplished a lot) because their parents say they are. Father is supposed to be a staple of validation, values, worth and that father figure (who can anchor you, warn you from dangers, be a source of strength like Yaqoob (a.s)).
When the fatherly figure is missing or is made to feel that he plays that role for someone else, then-if unaddressed- these feelings will grow and fester. We see that the brothers have got a problem from Yusuf (a.s) being significantly younger.
For parents there are different ways of expressing love for younger and older kids (the dynamics change, but not love). A young child will be close to the father physically he will call him with good names, whereas there is a more formal relationship with an older child. However, some children develop this insecurity where they feel that no attention/ love is given to them.
The brother made a claim about what their father feels (love), but they cannot know or say (with certainty) whether Yaqoob (a.s) loves Yusuf (a.s) more than them unless Yaqoob (a.s) says it to them because the feeling is in his heart. However, what can be said is “I think you pay attention to him more than us” based on observation. We can’t speak on behalf of anybody’s feelings.
Juxtapose: two things are put on top of one another. Yaqoob (a.s), while talking to Yusuf (a.s), juxtaposes the scheming of the devil on top of the scheming of the brothers.
Story of the Devil: Allah (s.w.t) told the angels about his plan to create Adam (a.s) out of dirt and will put a soul in him. The angels had an issue, which they asked: how a human being could be worth so much? The devil had an issue and thought that he was a better choice but did not ask Allah (s.w.t). When Allah (s.w.t) asked him to bow, he refused and said that “you created him from dirt”. He did not acknowledge the soul that is put inside Adam (a.s), which makes Adam (a.s) a superior creature because it undermines Devil’s claim that he is better.
There is reality in front of you, but accepting it will no longer justify your anger, hatred and jealousy. Thus you cut certain parts of reality and hold on to other parts of it (though everything is accessible) to fit the story you want to tell.
Devil’s flaw was that he misleads himself and then blamed Allah (s.w.t) (source of guidance) and he wants human beings to relive his mistake by committing wrong and blaming others for it. The brothers created a reality where they spoke on behalf of their father’s feelings and blamed their father, who is a prophet (source of guidance). Devil was so delusional that he blamed Allah (s.w.t) and similarly brothers got so delusional that they blamed Prophet father. Solution: Go talk to the person about what you feel and ask them the questions you have.
Children are treated differently based on their age and behaviours and this difference in treatment cannot be termed unfair treatment or partiality.
Purpose of the Evil: They want to feel that their father should love them. However, the reality is that he loves them. The point is that they want love on their terms.
The Devil thinks we are nothing but dirt and he wants to reduce us to our physical bodies like we have no soul. Yusuf (a.s) is appreciated for his spiritual goodness by his father, but the brothers think they should be appreciated because for their physical contribution (as they are a strong band), but ‘why is our father appreciating the spiritual characteristics of Yusuf (a.s)?’ This is what the devil wants that we value ourselves based on our physical.
Lesson: people think they have the license to do, act, speak and use whatever they want and however they want because they are doing the physical work (running business, doing work etc.) and they use this work as an excuse to the wrong they commit.
If they consult their father he would have rectified and clarified their mistakes/ doubts but they preferred to be in a group who think like them and reinforce the same ideas (instead of talking to the person who you have problem with): Group think (in psychology) can turn into mob mentality because your feelings turn into facts once you get exposed to same ideas again and again.
Also, your own thoughts that don’t agree with what is being said in the group gets suppressed and you get brainwashed by the group because you don’t want to go against the anger of what’s being said (When someone raises their voice, it means in a way that you need to accept their position and surrender your position).
Example: You feel lost in class and feel that you should not ask any question because people will think you are slow. They should remember that they came to class not to save their dignity or to look better in the eyes of others but to learn. And learning means you have to say “I don’t know” and “I want to get better” and if you already knew, why would you be in class. If you are afraid of embarrassment, you won’t be able to learn.
Unhealthy Communication (Less transparency-Tool of the devil): You have a concern, which you don’t take it to the concerned person and you take it to others, then it grows into a much bigger problem and becomes a fact. This is creating a negative thought process.
Someone receiving love doesn’t mean that you are deprived of that. (Allah (s.w.t) sees the value in Iblees as well as Adam; similarly, Yaqoob (a.s) loves Yusuf (a.s) as well as his other sons). Devil and also the brothers said that if he is not there then I/ we will be there. Devil wants comparison. You don’t see your value unless you compare it with someone else.
Saying “Indeed, our father is lost in misguidance”, they have invalidated whatever their father has to say before he says it. Even if the father tries to reason, they hear but they don’t hear because they have made this judgement. Devil’s Tool: If there is a source of reason, you need to demonize/ invalidate that source of reason and you dismiss everything that comes from that way (I can’t accept because it is coming from you). You start thinking that they always speak with bias and it closes all doors to reconciliation and fixing the problem (You are your judge, you’ve got your jury, only the executioner is left).
When you have unaddressed negative emotions and you are only talking to people that validate those feelings and not question them, then you will be directed to evil actions which will be entirely justified to you and you will see it as something good.
You don’t want to hear what you feel is wrong. Real friend is the one who is true to you no matter what you feel (I thought you understood me but you don't really understand me).
This ayah teaches us lessons about jealousy, developing judgments/ feelings, validity of advice that are all valid till now.
Their father said that they might scheme against you because they only talk to each other, and these talks can lead to some kind of evil plan of action. Devil’s Tool: whisper and corrupt, twist and mutilate your thinking/ feelings, which will make it easy to lead to corrupted actions
“He drew them in deceptively little by little by little by little by little”: Took the emotion of wanting to be loved (healthy emotion) and turned it into hate, judgment and disregard.
Lesson: if we don't want tragedies to happen, we have to sometimes have uncomfortable and open conversations with the right parties and need to remember that silence makes things worse. Ex- Angels were terrified to ask, but they asked and humbled themselves.Also See:
(Previous) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 6 (A Vision of the Future, A Sense of the Past) by Nouman Ali Khan | 6th Ayah #10
(Next) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 9-10 (Getting Rid of the Problem) by Nouman Ali Khan | 9th and 10th Ayah #12
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