The Story of Yusuf (Joseph), as told by Qur'anic verses - 3

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

"Reciting Salawath on our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is an activity that will be accepted by Allah, even if we don't have Ikhlas (piety)".

The Story of Yusuf (Joseph), as told by Qur'anic verses

Qur'an depicts this story as the most beautiful of stories narrated in the Qur'an. The story of Joseph moves in a stream from beginning to end; its substance and form are equally coherent. It documents the execution of Allah's rulings despite the challenge of human intervention (Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.)

This is what the story of Joseph, confirms categorically, for it ends with comfort and marvels.

The Dream

The story begins with a dream and ends with its interpretation. As the sun appeared over the horizon, bathing the earth in its morning glory, Joseph, son of Jacob awoke from his sleep, delighted by a pleasant dream he had had. Filled with excitement he ran to his father and related it.

"O my father! Verily, I saw (in a dream) eleven planets and the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves to me."

His father's face lit up. He foresaw that Joseph would be one through whom the prophecy of his grandfather, Prophet Abraham, would be fulfilled, in that his offspring would keep the light of Abraham's house alive and spread Allah's message to mankind.

Therefore, it was narrated that Allah's Messenger Muhammad was asked: "Who is the most honorable amongst the people?" He replied: "The most God-fearing." The people said: "We do not want to ask you about this." He said: "The most honorable person is Joseph Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's prophet, the son of the faithful friend of Allah (Abraham)."

However, the father was well aware of the jealousy of Joseph's brothers, so he warned him against telling his dream to his brothers. "O my son! Relate not your vision to your brothers, lest they arrange a plot against you. Verily! Satan is to man an open enemy! Thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of dreams and perfect His Favor on you and on the offspring of Jacob, as He perfected it on your fathers, Abraham, and Isaac aforetime! Verily! your Lord is All-Knowing, All-Wise."

Joseph heeded his father's warning. He did not tell his brothers what he had seen. It is well known that they hated him so much that it was difficult for him to feel secure telling them what was in his heart and in his dreams.

Joseph was very handsome, with a gentle temperament. He was respectful, kind and considerate. His brother Benjamin was equally pleasant. Both were from one mother, Rachel. Because of their refined qualities, the father loved the two more than his other children, and would not let them out of his sight. To protect them, he kept them busy with work in the house garden.

The Plot against Joseph

Joseph's brothers were all jealous of his talents and due to the fact that their father favored him above the others. They plotted to kill him, "Truly, Joseph and his brother (Benjamin) are loved more by our father than we, but we are Usbah (a strong group). Really our father is in a plain error. Kill Joseph or cast him out to some other land, so that the favor of your father may be give to you alone, and after that you will be righteous folk (by intending repentance before committing the sin)."

But one of the brothers felt sorry for him, and suggested they throw him into a well so that a caravan might pick him up and take him as a slave. One from among them said: "Kill not Joseph, but if you must do something, throw him down to the bottom of a well, he will be picked up by some caravan of travelers."

They asked their father's permission to take him out to play, who granted them their request, on the condition that they would keep watch over him. The brothers proceed with their plan and dropped him in a well and left him there. They brought back Joseph’s shirt, covered with sheep's blood, to tell their father that wolves had eaten Joseph. Jacob said “Nay, but your ownselves have made up a tale. So (for me), patience is most fitting.

Allah's Plan to Save Him

Joseph was rescued by a passing caravan (presumably the Ishmaelite). They had stopped by the well hoping to draw water to quench their thirst and saw the boy inside begging for help. So they retrieved him and sold him into slavery in Egypt, to a rich man referred as al-Aziz in the Qu'ran. The Quran described Joseph as a very attractive man.

"A caravan passed by, and soon sent their waterer. He let down his bucket, then said, "How lucky! There is a boy here!" They took him along as merchandise, and GOD was fully aware of what they did. They sold him for a cheap price - a few dirhams - for they did not have any need for him. The one who bought him in Egypt said to his wife, "Take good care of him. Maybe he can help us, or maybe we can adopt him." “Thus did We establish Joseph in the land, that We might teach him the interpretation of events. Allah's command is always done, And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most people do not know. When he reached maturity, we endowed him with wisdom and knowledge. We thus reward the righteous.

And when he (Joseph) attained his full manhood, We gave him wisdom and knowledge (the Prophethood), thus We reward the doers of good. While working for al-Aziz, he was constantly approached by al-Aziz's wife (Imra'at al-Aziz) (Presumably Zulaikha), she intended to seduce him. Joseph continuously rejecting her because he feared his Lord, until one day, she became furious and angry to the point where she plotted on trapping him in a room. Zulaikha locked the door and pleaded him to come into her but Joseph as a man of God refuses. 'And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him (to do an evil act), she closed the doors and said: "come on, O you." He said: "I seek refuge in Allah (or Allah forbid)! Truly he (your husband) is my master! He made my stay agreeable! (So I will never betray him). Verily, the Zalimun (wrong, evildoers) will never be successful." Indeed she did desire him and he would have inclined to her desire had he not seen the evidence of his Lord. Thus it was, that We might turn away from evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Surely, he was one of Our chosen, guided slaves.'

She then tore the back of Joseph's shirt. So they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back. They both found her lord (her husband) at the door.

Zulaikha convinced her husband that the only way to save her honor was to put Joseph in prison; otherwise she would not be able to control herself or to safeguard his prestige. She then said (What penalty it is for those who want to harm your family except for jail or heavy torture?) Yusuf said: (she came on to me), a witness of the wife's family said: (if his shirt was torn from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is from the liars, and if the hole was from behind then she lied and he is from the truthful), then when they saw the hole being in the rear he said (this is of your schemes, indeed your (you women) scheming is grand). Yusuf leave this matter, and you (Al-Aziz's wife) beg forgiveness, for you have been of the sinners. A few women in town said: (Al-Aziz's wife is coming on to her boy, her love for him has blinded her, and we find her in complete illusion). As when she heard of their plot, she invited them, preparing a place for each of them to sit, and gave them knives to cut the fruit. She then ordered Yusuf to go out in front of them. As soon as they saw him they thought of how beautiful and great he is, distracted by his beauty and gracefulness the repeatedly cut their hands. They then said: (impossible it is, this is not a human, and this is but a graceful Angel!). Al-Aziz's wife soon after replied: (that is the reason for which you blamed me, and if he doesn't do what I ordered him, he will be prisoned, or be pettily humiliated) Yusuf said: (O Lord, prison is a better choice than what they (Al-Aziz's wife and the women) want me to do, and if you don't save me from it, I'll turn to their blasphemy and be from the none-believers (illiterates). His Lord then saved him from the depths of their scheme. The male authorities and master therefore thought it would be best to send Joseph to prison for a time.

Joseph Interpreted Dreams

After being imprisoned for a few years, God granted him with the ability to interpret dreams, a power in which he became popular amongst the prisoners using. In one occasion two less fortunate royal servants were thrown into the dungeon prior to Joseph's imprisonment. They were haunted by two ambiguous dreams and remained unaware of the dream due to the inability to interpret it until they heard about Joseph's popularity among the citizens. They went to Joseph to seek for his opinion and ask him if he could help them in solving the problems. Joseph asked them about the dreams they had, and one of them described that he saw himself in the vineyard plucking grapes and pressed it into wine. The other said to have seen himself holding a basket of bread on his head but then a bird came and snatched it from him. Joseph smiled to the first man and said he will be released from the prison and he would serve the King but warned the other one that he will soon die. One day, under the order of the King of Egypt soldiers came to take the two cooks away, the King said one would be forgiven, the other will be executed. The forgiven servant then served the King.

As Days pass and everything went back to normal one night the King was echoed by a mysterious dream. He was said to have seen seven fat cows being devoured by seven skinny cows, and seven green spikes, and others shriveled. This dream haunted him every night and day turning him anxious and disoriented. When the butler heard about it he persuaded the king to seek for Joseph. The King immediately called him, and demanded him to interpret the dream.

Joseph went forth to tell the King that his dream means that Egypt would suffer famine, and that the King should be ready for it to avoid the Egyptian from great suffering. The king followed the instruction and the land was saved from the great famine.

"Joseph O truthful, inform us about seven fat cows being devoured by seven skinny cows, and seven green spikes, and others shriveled. I wish to go back with some information for the people." He said, "What you cultivate during the next seven years, when the time of harvest comes, leave the grains in their spikes, except for what you eat.”After that, seven years of drought will come, which will consume most of what you stored for them. "After that, a year will come that brings relief for the people, and they will, once again, press juice."

Joseph Attains Prominence

After the great success, Joseph eventually turned out to become a prominent advisor to the King of Egypt. The King elected him as His Royal Treasurer due to his good record.

"The king said, "Bring him to me, so I can hire him to work for me." When he talked with him, he said, "Today, you have a prominent position with us.” He said, "Make me the treasurer, for I am experienced in this area and knowledgeable.” We thus established Joseph on earth, ruling as he wished. We shower our mercy upon whomever we will, and we never fail to recompense the righteous. Additionally, the reward in the Hereafter is even better for those who believe and lead a righteous life.

The Family Reunion

Later on, he would once again run into his brothers whom he would forgive. He also found that his father (Jacob) became blind after crying so much over the disappearance his son (Joseph). However, Joseph restored his father’s vision and returned to his family. Joseph eventually died in Egypt. Tradition holds that when Musa (English: Moses) left Egypt, he took Joseph's coffin with him so that he would be buried alongside his ancestors in Palestine.

His Extraordinary Beauty

Joseph was said to have an exceptional beauty and one of the most handsome men on earth. This claim is reflected in the Quran itself as Zulaikha tempted him with evil intention because she was unresisted to the outstanding beauty, and even women in the city got amazed upon seeing Joseph.

There was a story that said that one day; the village people conducted a test to gauge his beauty. They gathered all the village women and asked them to peel fruits together with a knife. Upon peeling the fruits, the village men brought Joseph into the room and immediately the women gazed upon him and forgot about the task of peeling the fruits. Their hands were still subconsciously peeling the fruits and instead, they ended up cutting their own fingers. This story shows how beautiful Joseph really was.

Commentary on the Surah

The Quranic initials constitute a major component of a great miracle and the question "Why was the Quran revealed in Arabic?" and God has given the answer ([Qur'an 12:02]).

We learn from Joseph's dream that he was destined for a bright future. Thus, while his brothers met to decide his fate, his fate was already decided by God. Everything is done by God (see 8:17), and is already recorded (see 57:22).

In Chapter ([Qur'an 12:23]) Joseph worded this statement in such a way that the governor's wife thought that he was talking about her husband, when in fact he was talking about God.

In Chapter ([Qur'an 12:42]) When Joseph begged his companion to intercede with the king on his behalf, he exhibited dependence on other than God to be saved from the prison. This does not befit a true believer, and such a serious slip cost Joseph a few years in the prison. We learn from the Quran that only God can relieve any hardship that might befall us. A true believer trusts in God and depends totally on Him alone.

Chapter ([Qur'an 12:99]) marks the beginning of the Children of Israel in Egypt. Moses led them out of Egypt a few centuries later.

Qur'an Indication to Cataract Treatment

The detail about the healing of the eyes of Jacob after the cast of Joseph's shirt on Jacob's face does not appear in the Bible (see [Qur'an 12:84], [Qur'an 12:93]). The Egyptian scientist, Dr. Abdul Basit Sayed Mohammed, was able to discover eye drops medication for cataract. Clinical test results for this patented medication show that it is effective in curing over 95% of cases. This scientists insisted to market this product under the title “Medicine of Qur'ân” because his discovery was inspired by these Qur'an [Qur'an 12:84] [Qur'an 12:93] verses, and he present this medical discovery as one of the Qur'anic miracles.