Story Of Prophet Yusuf ✔

PART 32:BROTHERS ARE IN THE WORST OF SITUATIONS [Surah Yusuf 12: 77-79]

77. They said “If he stole then surely a brother of his stole before”. But Yusuf kept it a secret in his heart and he did not disclose it to them. He said “You are in the worst of situations, and Allah Knows best all that you allege”.

78. They said “O Aziz, Surely he has an elderly father, So take one of us in his place, Surely we see you to be among those who have Ihsan”.

79. He said, “Allah forbid that we should take anyone except the one whom we found our provision with, if we do then surely we would be among the oppressors”.

When the brothers saw Yusuf taking out king's cup from Binyamin's bag; instead of insisting that this was a mistake and that there was some explanation. Instead of apologizing. Instead of defending Binyamin in some way. They said that if Binyamin stole then a brother of his stole before. Of course, by this, they mean Yusuf (AS). So not only do they acknowledge that Binyamin stole but they accuse Yusuf (AS) of theft also. They accuse both of their own blood brothers of being thieves.

Yusuf (AS) knew very well of the falsehood of what these brothers asserted. He (AS) knew that what they said about him and his brother was a lie. But Yusuf (AS) did not reveal to them the truth at this moment. He kept silent for the sake of Allah (swt), even though Yusuf (AS) wanted to defend himself and his brother from these baseless accusations. He said to himself “You are in the worst of situations, and Allah Knows best all that you allege”. He (AS) could not tell his brothers what was truly in his heart at that moment because Allah (swt) had commanded him not to disclose his true identity to them at that time. So Yusuf (AS) spoke these words to himself.

These brothers were no doubt in the worst of situations. First, they had accused Yusuf and his brother of crimes they did not commit, and they themselves were guilty of crimes. Secondly, they had been found guilty of theft. Now they would have to give back all of the grain that they had received. They had become enemies of the state of Egypt, and they would probably be never able to conduct trade there. Now their family would have no food for the famine. But even worse is that they would have to give up Binyamin to the Egyptians to be their slave forever. This meant that they would have to break the promise that they made to their father. A promise that they would return with Binyamin. They would have to break a promise that they took from Allah (swt) Himself. This was the terrible situation that they found themselves in.

They tried to escape it.  Now their entire tone had shifted and they were actually requesting that one of them be taken as a slave instead of Binyamin. Before they had spoken purely on instinct. Purely on the jealousy that they had. But now they remembered the tremendous oath they had given to their father. A promise from Allah (swt) Himself and they knew that was not a promise to break. So they beg of Yusuf (AS) and ask him if one of them could be taken in place of Binyamin. They would rather become a slave for the entirety of their lives than break a promise that they had taken from Allah (swt).

In the final part of the ayah Allah (swt) tells us that the brothers said: “Surely we see you to be among those who have Ihsan”. The brothers did not recognize this man in Egypt as their brother Yusuf (AS). But they still recognized him as one of those who had Ihsan. This was the level to which the Ihsan of Yusuf (AS) showed on his character. As I mentioned earlier, to have Ihsan is to wish the best for the creation and to serve the Creator as though you behold Him (swt). This was how Yusuf (AS) was and the brothers could see it from him. So they ask of him to do the best for them.

Notice here the complete power that Yusuf (AS) had over these brothers at this point. He completely controlled their fortune. He could honor their request and grant them immeasurable happiness or he could turn them down and give them great despair. This same boy who they had once thrown in a well now held their lives in his hand. He (AS) could have done to them whatever he pleased. This was only because of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) gives power to whom He pleases over whom He pleases.

LESSONS

1. Evil always clings to us unless we make an effort to rid ourselves of it. The two great evil that these brothers had was their jealousy for Yusuf (AS) and their propensity to lie. Even after many years they still had these despicable traits. Time did not do anything to wash it away. They still accused Yusuf (AS) of great evil even though they had not seen him for years. They still had this darkness in their hearts. So if you have some evil within yourself you have to realize that you need to make the effort to rid yourself of it now. Do not think that such evil will leave after some time if you do not make the effort to remove it now. On the contrary, it will only linger and it may even get worse. So if you find some jealousy in your heart or
some other character trait that you know is not pleasing to Allah (swt), then try your best to clean yourself of it today. Do not wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may very well be the day that you return to your Lord.

2. It is beloved to Allah for us to hold our tongues even when we have the ability to speak. We always should check ourselves before we speak. We should not let loose our tongue whenever we find some advantage over our opponent. We need to follow the example of Yusuf (AS). Before we say anything we have to always ask ourselves if what we are going to say will be pleasing to our Lord or not? We must keep silent no matter how strong is the urge within us to speak. The Prophet (PBUH) has told us that the believer should speak good or keep silent. Good is what is pleasing to Allah. So unless you are certain that what you are going to say is pleasing to Allah then only you must speak otherwise keep silent.

3. The value of oath and promise. These brothers of Yusuf (AS) were terrified of breaking an oath and they would do anything to avoid it. Even the Arabs at the time of Ignorance before Islam came knew the value of an oath. They also would never break a promise. How much more so should the promise then have weight when it is taken from Allah (swt). Do we today still have the same regard for promises and oaths? Do we try our best to fulfill all of the oaths and promises that we make? Does the fact that we have mentioned the Name of Allah over our oaths mean anything to us? If not then we should remind ourselves of Who our Lord IS. Who He (swt) IS and what He (swt) demands of us. We have to realize what an act of blasphemy and insolence it is to our Lord for us to break a promise that we have taken over His (swt)’s Name.

4. Importance of Justice. The upholding of justice is an integral part of our religion just like prayers and fasting are. Here Yusuf (AS) says that if any but the one who stole the cup was taken as a slave then that would be the worst of injustices. This shows how important justice is to Allah. It shows how important it is that only the guilty are punished. People have become so heedless of Allah they seem only to care for themselves. They do not care if an innocent person is punished just as long they escape the punishment. They are not affected by all of the injustice that happens all around them. They forget that their Lord Sees all that they do and that He (swt) will take them to task for their failure to uphold justice.