Story Of Prophet Yusuf ✔

5. BREAKING PROMISE [Surah Yusuf 12:10-11]

10 . A speaker from among them said "Do not kill Yusuf, but cast him into the bottom of the well where some caravan of travelers will pick him up if you are among those who must act".

11. They said "O our father, what is the matter with you that you do not trust us with Yusuf when we are his sincere well-wishers".

Allah (swt) does not refer to this brother as "brother" or "person," but He (swt) calls him a "speaker".

Their choice of words suggests that they had previously approached their father and had asked him to give Yusuf (as) to their care and he had refused. It could even be that they had asked their father several times in the past and for several times he might have turned them down. So they came to sense from their father some apprehension and some reluctance in giving Yusuf (AS) to their care. However, they try to allay this fear by telling their father that they are indeed his well-wishers.

LESSONS:

1. We must not be silent when we see or hear evil plotting against others. This brother heard what the other brothers were speaking, and he recognized some of the evil in their words. He knew that he too wanted to get rid of Yusuf (AS), he too had that jealousy for him (AS). But he also realized that Yusuf was still his brother, and he also realized what a great sin murder was. That is why he opened his mouth and declared in front of the others that Yusuf (AS) should not be killed. If their objective was to get rid of Yusuf (AS), then there were other ways to reach that objective without committing murder. That is why this brother who had some good in him opened his mouth and spoke at this moment. His words saved Yusuf's life. Similarly, when we hear some evil, we must not be silent. If we believe that we can prevent evil with our words and we do not believe that harm will come to us, then we have a duty to speak. That is why Allah (swt) refers to this brother as the "speaker".

2. One of the lessons that we learned from this surah is that to never harm your parents - with your attitude or your words. The brothers of Yusuf harmed their father by taking his most beloved son away from him even though they were very respectful towards him. Their intention was not to harm their father; the intention was to seek his love. But look what happened instead? They caused a great harm to him, and his love for Yusuf increased instead of decreasing.

3. In order to save ourselves from becoming like the brothers of Yusuf, we have to try our best to love our parents. Even if our parents have done wrong to us, even if we think that our parents have shown favoritism to one of our siblings, we still have to love and respect them. We have to give them their due rights. We must not lie to them, and we must not even say anything to them or do anything that might displease them. Always remember that in their pleasure lies the Pleasure of Allah (swt) and in their displeasure lies the displeasure of Allah (swt).

4. Respect your parents as authority. The brothers didn't take Yusuf away from their father without first taking the permission of their father. There are several lessons that we can take from this fact alone. First, it shows us that even these brothers, sinful and corrupt as they were, still had some degree of respect for their father. They knew that they could not just take Yusuf (AS) away, rather they had to ask their father to send him (AS) with them. This shows the respect that they had for the authority of the parent. Do you ask your parents before you do anything? Or do you do many of the actions that are displeasing to Allah (swt) without your parents knowing?

5. The fact that the brothers first seek permission of Yaqoob (AS) before they take Yusuf (AS) away shows us how carefully Yaqoob (AS) was watching over his son. Yaqoob (AS) was keeping such a close watch on his son that the brothers knew that they would never be able to take him away without their father finding out. Do we today make an effort to take the same care of our children? Do we always look to see where they are and what they are doing? Do we allow them to go out of the house for extended periods of time or during the late hours of the night without knowing where they are?