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Newsletter for April 2010

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PROPHET YUSUF
by the late Dr. syed Haider Hussain Shamsi
(An excerpt from his book, "The Prophets of Islam" available for online
reading on this site, in the Book Section.)

Yusuf was one of the twelve sons of Ya'qub. His mother's name was Raheel. He had a younger sister and a brother named Benyamin (Benjamin) from the same mother. Yusuf was exceptionally handsome and was very dear to his parents.

The dream of Yusuf and its interpretation by his father

One day Yusuf told his father about a dream he had seen the previous night. He saw that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down before him. His father was the prophet of the time and knew the meaning of the dream. He told him that he would be a prophet of Allah and will be a powerful king over all, including his parents and his brothers.

III treatment of Yusuf by his brothers

Interpretation of the dream by Ya'qoub did not sit well with his sons who were already distraught due to their father's special affections for Yusuf. They decided to get rid of their brother Yusuf. They threw him in a well and brought his shirt, smothered in sheep's blood. They put up a false scene upon entering their home, wailing and crying. They told their parents that a wolf had devourer their young brother, and that they were unable to save him from the terrible fate.

Ya'qub was so grieved at the story and was so saddened by the apparent loss of his son that he wept profusely all day and all night. It is said that he lost his eye sight due to excessive crying.

Yusuf retrieved from the well and sold as a slave

Having thrown their younger brother in the well, the older brothers stayed around to see what may happen. A caravan headed for Egypt stopped at the well, for water and rest. Seeing a handsome youth in the well they pulled him out
and wondered at his beauty and youth. The brothers showed up in front of the leader of the caravan and said that the youth was their slave who had escaped from them and had hidden himself in the well. The leader of the caravan saw the potential of higher sale value for Yusuf in the slave market of Egypt and he paid a lowly price to his brothers for legitimizing his ownership.

Upon arriving in Egypt, the caravan leader placed Yusuf on the market. His price increased every day. The ruler of Egypt heard about the sale of an exceptionally handsome youth in his city and he came down to see him. He was stunned at the beauty of the lad and paid the highest price at the bidding. He took him to his palace to serve his beautiful wife, Zulaikhah who had no child.

Yusuf in servitude of the Pharaoh of Egypt

Yusuf served the king and his wife with such honesty and efficiency that he was made in charge of the ruler's house-hold. It so happened that Zulaikhah developed infatuation for Yusuf and started to love him with increasing passion.

The story of Zulaikhah's love for Yusuf

Zulaikhah fell madly in love with Yusuf, but he took every opportunity toavoid her advances. At one occasion she was successful in trapping him into her chamber so that she could be alone with him. No sooner he realized the wicked
designs of the queen than he made for the door of the chamber. She lunged after him and was able to grab his shirt from behind. In the short scuffle that followed, Yusuf's shirt was tom from behind. Just as he escaped through the chamber door, he bumped into the king himself. Realizing the acuteness of her situation, the queen yelled out for help. The ruler was greatly angered by the rather strange circumstances and looked at Yusuf demanding an explanation. Yusuf said that he was innocent, and that Zulaikhah was the guilty one. One of Zulaikhah's own relatives from the house-hold came forward to clear the
matter. He said that if Yusuf's shirt was tom from front, then he was the aggressor and culpable for his actions, but if it was tom from behind, then Zulaikhah was guilty. As Yusuf's shirt was tom from behind, the ruler found his wife to be culpable for the embarrassing event.

He told Yusuf to forget the event, and told his wife to refrain from seeing Yusuf when alone. However, the story of the scandel got out of the palace, and spread far and wide. Women of other nobles maliciously gossiped about this happening.

Zulaikhah arranged a party and invited the women of nobility to her palace. As they were busy cutting and eating fruits, she summoned Yusuf into her audience. As he arrived in their presence, the women got totally stunned by his beauty, and many cut their fingers instead of the fruits in their hands. They were now convinced over what they had heard about Yusuf and his beauty. Yusuf prayed to Allah to save him from the wickedness of the queen and other women of Egypt.

The imprisonment of Yusuf

When the king leamt about the scandalous involvement of the wives of other nobles in his kingdom over Yusuf, he considered it best to take Yusuf away from his palace, and threw him into the prison. However the supervisor of the prisons noted the purity of character and conduct of Yusuf and started to treat him with respect. He made him his deputy in managing the affairs of the prison.

Interpretation of dreams by Yusuf

It so happened that two other young men were thrown in the same prison. Each one of them saw a dream. One saw that he was extracting juice from ripe grapes and the other saw that he was carrying a basket of bread over his head, and birds ate freely from it. They asked Yusuf if he could interpret their dreams. He gave them serinon on virtuous conduct and belief on the oneness of Allah. He then gave them the interpretation of their dreams. He told the one who saw himself extracting juice from grapes, that he would be pardoned for the allegations and would be set free, and that he would return to his old employment of serving drinks to his master. He told the other intem that he would be crucified for his deeds, and birds of prey would feed on his crop after his death. Yusuf then asked the first prisoner to make a plea for his release as soon - as he got out of the prison. But the man forgot his promise.

Now the king saw a dream over successive nights that got him concerned. His courtiers and astrologers failed to satisfy him with any plausible interpretation. At that time, one of the prisoners who had survived, remembered Yusuf. He told the ruler that he could find the interpretation of his dreams if he was allowed to visit Yusuf in the prison. He was pen-nitted to do so.

He greeted Yusuf and narrated the dream to hilin. The ruler, in his dream, had seen seven fat cows emerging from the river, followed by seven weak ones. The weak cows devoured the fat ones. He then saw seven green and healthy ears of wheat followed by seven dry ones. The dry ones ate up the green ones.

Yusuf said that both the dreams had the same interpretation. The seven fat cows and the seven healthy ears consist of seven years during which the country would see high productivity. That would be followed by seven years of femine. Unless the years of high productivity were managed wisely, the years of femine would totally destroy the kingdom. He told the ruler that it would be prudent to save for the years of femine, for the femine would be wide spread.

The ruler carefully listened to the interpretation of his dreams by Yusuf, and he knew that it must be true. He called Yusuf back to his court and restored his position with full respect. Zulaikhah , by now had admitted her mistake.

Yusuf rises to the highest status in Egypt

The ruler made Yusuf the chief administrator of the country's produce. He gave Yusuf his ring that testified his total authority on his behalf. Yusuf was only thirty years of age at that time. He went straight to work and began the implementation of methods to enhance the produce. He built large granaries for storage.' He conserved resources over expenditure, in preparation for the bad times he had predicted.

Brothers of Yusuf in Egypt

As foretold, femine srtuck the land of Egypt as well as the lands a found Egypt. The news of the greeneries of Egypt had already spread far and wide. People flocked to Egypt for jobs and food. Thus Egypt flourished with cheap labor even during the days of wide spread femine. This was a clear sign of the
intelligence and foresight of Yusuf.

Like other lands, femine visited the land of Kin'an as well. Ya'qub sent his sons to Egypt to procure grain.

When they came in the presence of Yusuf in their wretched attire, they could not recognize their own brother who was wearing his royal attire and had grown into handsome manhood. But Yusuf recognized them. He gave them love, affection, shelter and food, but did not reveal his identity to them. He asked them about their family and they told him about his father who had lost his eye sight from crying over the loss of his beloved son. When they were leaving with grain. Yusuf insisted that they had to leave one of them as security. They must also bring their youngest brother when they return or else they would not
be given additional grain. They had no choice and one of them had to stay in

Egypt.

Yusuf's brothers returned to Egypt with their youngest brother Benyamin, who was his sibling from the same mother. They brought the price of the previous cargo, and gifts from their old and ailing father. The reminiscence of his childhood and separation from his beloved parents made Yusuf cry. He revealed his identity to his brothers and sent them back laden with gifts and grain. He invited them to come and live in Egypt, as the famine was to last for a few years.

They returned to Egypt with their parents as well as other members of their clan. They bowed to him as subjects do before the king. This indeed was the true interpretation of the dream that Yusuf had had as a child. Although his brothers had reacted to that dream with such cruelty, yet Yusuf paid them back with sympathy, love and forgiveness.

The death of Ya'qub

Ya'qub lived for seventeen years in Egypt before his death. He called his sons at his death bed and advised them on matters of their mutual benefit and wished that upon his death that his body should be carried back to Kin'an for burial near his forefathers. His wishes were carried out with royal ceremonials.

The death of Yusuf

Yusuf lived for one hundred and ten years. He was buried in Egypt according to the rituals of the land, and when Musa finally took the children of Israil out of Egypt, he took the coffin of Yusuf to Kin'an, to be buried alongside his ancestors

References: al Qur'an: Sura Yusuf, Momin.

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