In today's article, I will be sharing with you the notes and key takeaways from the Tafseer lecture by Nouman Ali Khan on the 9th and 10 ayah of Surah Yusuf (The 12th Chapter of the Holy Quran). In this Tafseer lecture, he explains the how the brothers of Yusuf (a.s) wanted to get rid of Yusuf (a.s) to earn a good impression of their father. He explains how the devil manipulates human beings and makes an immoral action good and easy for them.
“Kill Yusuf (a.s) or throw him on a far away uncharted/ unknown land (not familiar to us or him so he can’t come back) and your father’s face will be only for you, and after it you shall be good people”
Who’s saying this? The Quraan has captured the essence of the conversation (which would have lasted a long time and It is likely that these options came not from a single person but from the discussion) and is telling the summary of what they said and what ideas they proposed.
Lesson: when someone develops a grudge (I am treated unfairly because of him/ them), they think that getting rid of them will make them look good (even though the person might not have done anything to them to deserve that grudge or anger).
This is the nature of jealousy, which can make its way into any relationship. Somebody else accomplishing something or reaching success is somehow taking something away from you and if you get rid of them then everything will be good.
Devil’s Tool: Harming them in some way will benefit you (“it is because of them we are not getting sales”) because they are the problem and not you.
The Quran will give extreme examples (killing a brother) but it doesn’t mean that unless that scenario doesn’t exist, we don’t have the same problem. We may not know or wish a situation for killing somebody, but so long as you want to cause them some harm, there is the same mentality at play.
1st Mentality: Physically hurting the person. 2nd Mentality: I wish they were not in my life/ circle.
2nd Mentality may not seem bad but it is practically as bad because in the first suggestion you are killing him yourself and in the second suggestion you are letting the environment (human or animal predator) kill him. The second option gives a false sense that I did not do bad.
“father’s face will be only for you”
1) since he will not be there, we will be the sole recipient of his attention
2) when your face turns towards someone, it means you are pleased with them or love towards them. (In Arabic, pursuing someone’s face means pursuing their smile/ love). They are trying to say that their father doesn’t understand and is confused about his feelings and that’s why he loves Yusuf (a.s). Once we get rid of him, his love will be ours. (Twisted Thinking: you think you can control what others feel/ love and if they love one thing and you get rid of that thing, then they will find something else to love).
In a toxic relationship, the person is trying to control the feelings of the other person (why don’t you love me the way I love you, why aren’t you angry the way I am). The brothers are thinking that they need to take this step to guide and redirect their father’s feelings.
3) “Khala”- the look on the father’s face when he sees Yusuf (a.s) (that of joy and happiness) will empty out once we get rid of him. Only when that feeling is emptied out, will he be there for us.
4) They think that the problem of our father comparing (between us and Yusuf (a.s) will go away once we get rid of Yusuf (a.s)). The brothers are comparing their father’s love for Yusuf (a.s) and themselves.
Many people are trained to compare themselves since their childhood and their value comes from comparison to others (in terms of paycheck, position, car, clothes). Every decision they make is rooted in comparison forget their personal preferences (slavery: as your choices are dictated by the comparison culture, that wants you to compare first). It is powerful since it can make you do things just out of the need to compare. We make terrible decisions because of what people would say and how we would compare to others.
“You shall be good people” and “saleh” – (Explains how Shaytan becomes a human enemy). Though the brothers are saying this, it is Shaytan who is whispering from behind.
1) They think that their life is currently bad because of Yusuf (a.s) and they will be in a good place/ situation will be better if Yusuf (a.s) doesn’t exist.
They think that their life is horrible because he exists and not because of their own actions. (True Believer’s thinking: Allah (s.w.t) will not make my life miserable or take my rizq because of the existence of other people). None of your potion in life can be taken for you and handed to somebody else and none of it is withheld from you because somebody is alive. They say they are not able to focus on any good because Yusuf (a.s) is here.
2) They thought to themselves that ‘We know it is a terrible act, but we will commit it once and after that we will be very good’. (Devil’s trick: Let me do this one last time and after that I will become completely changed). Because the thought of evil is haunting you all the time, if you get it done, you'll be good. Shaytan will never be done with you, he’s just getting started and strengthening the influence of the sin on you. “The devil made their deeds good to them”. What a scam of evil with seemingly right intentions. They are doing nothing but feeding each other with it.
3) In father’s eyes we will be good since Yusuf (a.s) won’t be here to blind him of our good. People do horrendous things because they want to look good in the eyes of someone. The impression you give someone can become an object of worship. You become obsessed of what they think of you. (I will harm somebody’s life, because I want to get a good impression of my father). The impression somebody has of you changes nothing, who you are is what matters. So many of our choices are dictated by comparison and there are another multitude of choices that are dictated by the impression somebody has of us. You fail to see that your obsession with somebody else’s impression of you, means more to you than Allah (s.w.t) seeing you for who you are. (How Allah (s.w.t) sees us, our conversations and our actions are erased from your mind). Father can have a good view even though you are no good.
You can’t lie to yourself and Allah (s.w.t). You should be concerned about how Allah (s.w.t) sees you and his pleasure, which is what Yusuf (a.s) was given from the beginning (Your master matters the most). If you have to impress someone in your life, it has to be Allah (s.w.t). I have to look good in the eyes of Allah (s.w.t) and he will take care of everything else. Examples of our prophet (s.a.w) being called insane, Yusuf (a.s) being falsely accused or Maryam (a.s) being thought in a different way as she came with the baby all show us that people’s impression did not determined their value and they themselves did not care about other people’s impression of them but Allah (s.w.t)’s pleasure.
They didn’t think that even if the father sees the good in them, it won’t erase the bad that they have done.
In social media, your likes and dislikes do not determine your self-worth.
We all have good and bad qualities, but once I start thinking that we are perfect then others become a problem and we see problems in them and not us. Nobody can say I have nothing wrong (no flaws) or nothing to improve on. They make sure to point out the flaws of others. Moreover, they justify their terrible acts in the shade of goodness and righteousness.
Prophet (s.a.w) said “A Muslim is a mirror of another Muslim” because a mirror doesn’t lie to you (you got something on your face, it will tell you and if you erased it, it will tell you that). Our first mirror is our family. When you do good/ bad, it acknowledges that it is good/ bad. If the mirror tells you good when you are bad, that’s delusional. And then if there is a mirror which says (even though you cleaned your bad) “I still remember that bad”. Then it’s a recorder not a mirror. These brothers are not being each other’s mirrors.
“One of the speakers amongst them said : Don’t kill Yusuf (a.s) but throw him in the darkest part of the unfinished well” this is my personal interpretation that this is the most influential brother or the eldest one because when this person speaks everybody listens.
The ayah suggests that they know of that well precisely, they know that it is unfinished, it has a deep ditch, it is far from civilization (because it is ‘Jubb’ – no fortification and only a deep ditch and not ‘Bir’ – fortified with stones around it).
Rationale for leaving in a deep well: no blood on our hands, if it is not deep, he’ll come back (he’s smart), other things will kill him like snakes/ water.
Imagine a 10-year-old being lowered in a dark well without his shirt in isolation
“Maybe some of the traffic/ caravans that passes by might find him and take him” (On a side note, Prophet (s.a.w) said “wisdom is a lost treasure of a believer, they pick it wherever they find it”)
2) Another interpretation of this is that the person suggesting this knows that people pass by and the water is not enough to drown him but its deep enough for him to be invisible and inaudible
“In quntum fayeleen” 1) if you will do/ if you are meant upon doing. If you want to take action now, do this
2) I am not saying this is what you have to do, but if you want to take my suggestion (If I were to do it, then it will be this).
He is not disagreeing with his brothers as he is not rejecting the first option of killing but he is reinforcing the second idea of taking him far away and adding specific details to it.
There are a lot of ways to get people out of the way: social, financial etc. most prominent is social isolation to separate the person from attention and from their loved ones.
Devil’s purpose: create rifts in family relations. (Speak in better terms because Satan wants to create friction between you). Example- people learned magic to separate a man and his wife.
They cut apart what Allah (s.w.t) wants them to keep together (Family ties). By doing so they create corruption in the land (Broken families (without supervision) leads to breaking of ties within and searching for ties outside (gangs, groups, cults) and that leads to crimes because nobody is there to tell you what’s wrong).Also See:
(Previous) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 7-8 (He Loves Them More) by Nouman Ali Khan | 7th and 8th Ayah #11
(Next) Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Part 11-14 (Convincing Dad) by Nouman Ali Khan | 11th to 14th Ayah #13
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