12. PROPHETS’ DU’A (PRAYER) IN THE QUR’AN (7) 9.. Prophet Yūsuf (Joseph)

 12.  PROPHETS’ DU’A (PRAYER) IN THE QUR’AN (7)

9. Yūsuf (Joseph)

          Prophet Yūsuf (Joseph) a.s. is mentioned by name 27 times in the Qur’an. His name is mentioned once in Q. 6:84 and Q. 40:34. There is a special chapter in the Qur’an bearing his name, sūrat Yūsuf (Q. 12) where his name is mentioned 25 times[1] and where the story of him is mentioned in more details. However, since the object of the story is to give moral lessons besides giving consolation to the Prophet, as we shall see, not a single name is mentioned in this chapter of the Qur’an, containing 111 verses, other than himself and his for-fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are mentioned in verse 6 when Allah perfected His Favour on them, and verse 38 when Yusuf invited his inmate to worship Allah like what he himself did, that he worshiped their Lord, and never took partner with Him.[2] Therefore, names mentioned here other than these names are based either on Qur’an commentators or Biblical accounts the veracity of which is questionable. However, as we are living among Christians and Jews who are familiar with the story of Yusuf as mentioned in their Bible, and being rich with moral lessons which we shall deal in due course, some of their names are also mentioned here.

           Yusuf’s dream that eleven stars and the sun and the moon prostrated to him, according to Ibn ‘Abbās, Qatādah, and others, represent the eleven of his brothers, as well as his father and mother respectively.[3] One of these favours was Yusuf’s ability to give interpretation of dreams (Q. 12:4 and 6). The interpretation of dreams (تَأْوِيلُ الْأَحَادِيثِ)  is mentioned three times in the Qur’ān: when
Allah favoured Yūsuf with it (Q. 12:6), when Allah wanted to teach it to him (Q. 12:21), and when he mentioned it as one among Allah’s blessings (Q. 12:101).

          Yūsuf’s brothers envied him and his brother (Bunyāmīn, Benjamin, according to the Bible), because both were dearer to their father than the rest of them, and this was not fair for them. They planned to get rid of him, either by killing him or banish him to a distant land. They knew that this was a crime, but they promised to themselves that by then they would become good sons. They agreed to the advice of their elder brother Reuben to throw him down to the bottom of the well, and to sell him as suggested by their other brother Judah.

Then they came to their father Ya‘qūb (Jacob) a.s. asking him to let Yūsuf go with them playing and enjoying themselves while they were tending their cattle. Eventually, their father allowed Yūsuf to go after they had convinced him that they would take care of him. The classical commentator al-Suddī said that the moment they were out of their father’s sight they started abusing Yūsuf, cursing and harming him by beating.

When they reached the well they had agreed to throw him dawn, they tied him with rope and lowered him down. When he tried to hold to the sides of the well they struck his hand, and when he was only half the distance from the bottom of the well they cut the rope, and he fell into the water. Luckily, he was able to stand on a stone in the wall. In this critical situation Allah revealed to him,

... لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُمْ بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَذَا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ (يوسف:15))

… “Indeed, you shall (one day) inform them of this

 their affair, when they know [you] not.” (Q. 12:15)

 Ibn ‘Abbās commented on this verse as follows: “You will remind them of this evil action against you, while they are unaware of your identity and unable to recognize you.”

Then they brought his shirt stained with the blood of a sheep they had just slaughtered, then brought it to their father, telling him that Yusuf had been taken by a wolf while they were racing one another. As they forgot to tear off the shirt of Yusuf their father knew that they were lying, he told them that they had made up a tale, and he would firmly observe patient.[4]

The brothers of Yusuf remained around the well for the rest of the day to see what he might do or what might happen to him (Muhammad Ibn Isḥāq’s commentary). When a caravan of travelers came and sent their water-drawer, he let down his bucket into the well. He was happy to see Yusuf holding on to it and exclaimed: “What good news! Here is a boy” meaning a slave they could sell.

Allah said about Yusuf,

وَأَسَرُّوهُ بِضَاعَةً وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ (يوسف:19)

So they hid him as merchandise, and Allah was the

 All-Knower of what they did (Q. 12:190)

Who were “they” who hid Yūsuf as merchandise? According to the classical commentator Ibn ‘Abbās, they were Yūsuf’s brothers. When they saw him out of the well they said to his rescuer, the water drawer called مَالِكُ بْنُ دُعْرٍ (Mālik bin Du‘r): “What a bad deed you have done! This is our slave who is running away.” Then they told Yūsuf in Hebrew to admit it, so that they could sell him to them; otherwise, he would take him and kill him. It was also said that his brother Judah told him in Hebrew to admit that he was a slave running away to save his life, and so he did, and they sold him to them as a slave. When Malik told them that he did not look like a slave they said it was because they treated him nicely like a member of the family.[5]

Allah knew what they were doing, and could prevented them from committing their crimes, but He had decreed otherwise out of His perfect wisdom. As we shall see, Allah wanted him to be an important and influential person in Egypt who eventually rescued his whole family, parents and brothers, from starvation.

Then he was sold to “a man from Egypt”, a noble man or a minister who was entitled ’Azīz. According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali, “Aziz is a title of a nobleman or officer of Court, of high rank. Considering all of the circumstances, the office of Grand Chamberlain or minister may be indicated.” He thought the term aziz was not an office, but a title, and therefore, he did not translate it. It could be in modern time, like “Excellency” or “Highness”. According to the Biblical account he was called in the Bible Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. So, eventually Yusuf was in good hands. The aziz treated him well, not as a slave. He said to his wife:

... أَكْرِمِي مَثْوَاهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا...(يوسف:20)

“Make his stay comfortable, may be he will profit

us or we shall adopt him as a son.” (Q. 12:21)

          When Yusuf attained his full manhood in Egypt Allah gave him wisdom and knowledge, namely, the prophethood. Because he was so handsome, the wife of the Aziz tried to seduce him, but he rejected. Although he was innocent he was put in jail, so that people would think that he was guilty of seduction.  In prison he had two jail mates; each of them had a dream. One of them saw in his dream that he was pressing wine, and the other saw that he was carrying bread in his head and birds were eating it. Before giving interpretation of their dreams, Yusuf as a prophet invited them to tawḥīd, worshipping Allah Alone, following the religion of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To the former he said that he would be saved and would pour wine to his master. To the other he said that he would be crucified and birds would eat from his head. He asked to the former to mention his case to his king, but Satan made him forget it, and Yusuf remained in the jail for a few years, (five years according to al-Qurṭubī, seven years according to Wahb ibn Munabbih).

          When Yusuf gave the interpretation of the King’s dream he was released as innocent from the prison. His dream was that seven lean cows devour seven fat cows, and seven green ears of corn and seven others withered. Yusuf said that he will receive the usual amount of rain and fertility for seven consecutive years (seven fat cows produce fruits and vegetables represent seven years producing seven green ears of corn in the dream). Here is his advice to the king:  Leave whatever you harvest during those seven fertile years in the ears to preserve it better and stay healthy longer, except the amount he needs to eat. Then the harvest of seven years of drought would follow where whatever you plant will not produce anything, represented by seven lean cows that eat seven fat cows. During this time you will eat from the harvest you collected during the seven fertile years. Then a fertile year will follow where there will be rain and the land will produce in abundance.

          The king was happy, trusted him and gave him high status. When the king said that nobody could do this job, even the whole people of Egypt were unable to do this work, and were not reliable, Yusuf asked the king to be a minister of finance in charge of the harvest storehouses, and the king whose name was al-Rayyān ibn al-Walīd (الرَّيَّان بْنُ الْوَلِيْد), accepted his request.[6] Moreover, the king gave him full authority, to do whatever he wanted, and to go wherever he wanted. He became de facto ruler of Egypt.  Allah said in the Qur’an about this,

وَكَذَلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَتَبَوَّأُ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ يَشَاءُ نُصِيبُ

بِرَحْمَتِنَا مَنْ نَشَاءُ وَلَا نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (يوسف:56)

Thus We give full authority to Yusuf in the land to take

 possession therein, when or where he likes (Q. 12:56)

Here, the table has turned: Yusuf who had been sold as a slave now has become the ruler of Egypt. Before, he was confined in prison, now he is free and can go wherever he likes.

           We wonder why they could not get water from the Nile in the time of drought that lasted seven years. It is because they were living in a town called Tanis (San al-Hajar), and in Old Testament was called Zoan, an ancient city of Lower Egypt in the Nile Delta. Its present location is approximately in the midst of the triangle of the present cities of Ismailia, Port Said and Mansoura. It is far from the river Nile to get its water. In normal condition rain water is sufficient for cultivating the land. It was just a matter of temporary climate change. Therefore, the idea of digging a canal from the Nile or moving away to another place was out of the question.

                   TO BE CONTUNUED     (CIVIC, 19 September, 2014)

         

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[1] See Q. 12:4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 21, 29,46, 51,56, 58, 69, 76, 77, 80, 84, 85, 87, 89, 90 (twice), 94, and 99.

[2] It is coincident which helps us to remember that as Yusuf and his brothers are 12 in number, this sūrat Yūsuf is chapter 12 in the Qur’ān. These twelve brothers were called the children of Israel, another name for Jacob.

[3] For the Bible’s account, see Genesis 37:10. Here Joseph did tell his brothers about this dream, which made them more jealous, whereas his father rebuked him (Gen. 37:9-10)

[4] For Biblical accounts, see Gen. 37:12-35.

[5] According to Rabbi Judah, Joseph was sold four times: (1) his brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites (2) the Ishmaelites sold him to the Midianite traders, (3) the Midianite traders to the Medanites   (4) the Medanites to the Egyptians. Rav. Huna adds one more sale   (5) the Egyptians sold him to Potiphar. (Genesis Rabbah 84:22). According to the Bible his brothers sold him to the Medianite traders, and in Egypt they sold him to Potiphar, one of the Pharaoh’s officials (Gen. 37:36). The Qur’an briefly stated, “And they sold him for a lower price, --for a few Dirham (i.e., for a few silver coin. And they are of those who regarded him insignificant.” Q. 12:20)

[6] According to the classical Qur’an commentator Mujāhid, he also answered Yusuf’s call to religion of his father and fore-fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to worship Allah Alone, namely, Islam and became Muslim, (as Islam is the religion of all prophets from Adam to Muhammad s.a.w.). Many Egyptians also followed him and became Muslims.