Story Of Prophet Yusuf ✔

PART 22:YUSUF REQUESTS OF CLEARING HIS NAME [Surah Yusuf 12: 50]

50. The king said “Bring him to me”. So when the messenger came to him he said “Return to your lord and ask him what happened to the women who cut their hands. Surely my Lord Knows of their plot well”.

There is much that happens between this ayah and the previous ayah that is not explicitly mentioned. But all of it can easily be implied from what is in this ayah and in the previous ayahs. In the stories of the Quran Allah (swt) only gives us the most important and relevant parts of the story. He (swt) leaves all that is superfluous and all that can be implied from what He (swt) has already said. So there are many events that happen in between what Allah had told us about in the previous ayah and what He (swt) tells us about in this ayah that we can infer.

Allah begins this ayah by telling us how “The king said “Bring him to me””. Recall how Allah (swt) ended the previous ayah with Yusuf (AS) interpreting the dream of the king and also with Yusuf (AS) telling the people even more than what was in the dream. Now Allah (swt) changes the scene to the court of the king. The king is commanding that Yusuf (AS) be brought to him. What has happened in between these two scenes? Allah (swt) does not tell us explicitly but we can infer from what is in this ayah and from the previous ayahs. First of all we learn that the king found the interpretation of his dream. He saw that it was indeed a true dream and not a meaningless dream like the nobles had claimed. We also learn that the king found out that it was Yusuf (AS) who had interpreted the dream and now he wanted to see him. So the messenger from the king comes to Yusuf (AS) specifically to bring him to the king.

If you want to know what is patience then imagine yourself in the shoes of Yusuf (AS) at this moment. You are in prison. You have been oppressed and you have been wronged. You have been suffering in the prison for almost 14 years. Your very freedom has been taken away from you. All not because of something that you have done but rather because of the crimes and transgressions of others. Now a messenger from the king comes to you. The king has sent this messenger specifically for you. This messenger tells you that the king specifically wants to see you. Do you think that you will be able to hold yourself back from going with the messenger? Would you resist the opportunity to be face to face with the king? You could clear all of the false accusations that have been made against you. You could see to it that justice is done for the wrong that has been done to you. You could live a comfortable and pleasurable life having all of your needs take care of. Despite all of this if you know that remaining in prison was the right course of action to follow, if you knew that this was what was most pleasing to Allah (swt) then would you still do it? Would you still choose to remain in prison? This is what Yusuf (AS) did. Yusuf (AS) told the messenger to go back to his lord and ask him to inquire about the women who had cut their hands. He (AS) does not say anything more than this. He (AS) leaves it to the king and his investigators to find out what happened. However, the benefit that we can take from this ayah is to see that Yusuf chose to remain in prison even though he had an excellent opportunity to leave. The question to ask ourselves now is why. Why did Yusuf (AS) choose to remain in this place of confinement and torture?

The simple answer is because Allah (swt) had told him (AS) to. Through revelation Allah (swt) had told Yusuf (AS) to remain in the prison. Allah (swt) wanted all of the people to know that Yusuf (AS) was innocent of the charges that were made against him. Allah (swt) wanted all of the people to know of the great wrong that was done against him. Allah (swt) wanted all of the people to know of the great evil that the women had done against him. Yusuf (AS) should not even leave the prison until this justice was done. So great was the need for this justice to be done. How great was the evil that these people had done and had kept hidden? The women had sought to seduce Yusuf (AS) against his will. They had tried to make Yusuf (AS) to touch them when they were not even married to him. Then the men had tried to cover up this crime. They put the blame on Yusuf (AS) instead of on their women. They had put an innocent man in prison for years only because of their own pride and their own jealousy. This was the greatest of injustices and Allah (swt) wanted that this injustice should be known to the people before Yusuf (AS) should step one foot outside of the prison. This is why Yusuf (AS) does not say anything to this messenger except that he requests that these women are inquired about.

The only other statement that Yusuf (AS) makes to this messenger is “Surely my Lord Knows of their plot well”. Here Yusuf (AS) is only implying that these women did wrong. Instead of naming them and accusing them directly, he only implies that they did wrong. He (as) says that they planned a great plot, but he also says that Allah (swt) Knows their plot very well. Allah (swt) encompasses all that they do. So Yusuf (AS) does not need for the king to punish these women. He already knows that his Lord knows very well what they have done. Thus the justice that needs to be done here is not so much the punishing of these women, but it is the  clearing of Yusuf’s name.

LESSON

1. One lesson that we can take from this is to see that we as dawah carriers must also think of the image that we portray to the people. How can we call the people to Allah (swt) if we ourselves are so distant from Him (swt)? How can we tell others to do good if we ourselves are immersed in sin? Look here at the example of Yusuf (AS). He had done nothing wrong. But still, he chose to remain in prison only so that his name can be cleared. Only so that the people may know that he is not a sinner and a foul person. This was not because of his arrogance and pride but rather it was for the dawah. The people need to know that the dawah carrier is not one who is immersed in sin. The people need to know that if they respond to his call then it will make them into a better person, it will make them into one who is closer to Allah (swt).

Now, this does not mean that we should be free of sin if we are to carry the dawah. Everyone outside of the prophets commits sins, such is the nature of the children of Adam. But if we are involved in the dawah then we must make a conscious effort to try and avoid sin. We have to realize that when we are calling to Allah (swt) then the eyes of all of the people will be upon us. Then if they see us immersed in sin then this might turn them away from our call. So if you are involved in the dawah then try your best to avoid the major sins like fornication, alcohol and dealing with interest. These are the worst of sins and they will drive the people away from you if you were to call to Allah (swt) while still indulging them.