Section 2
Yusuf suffers the treatment of his brothers
Brothers of - Joseph plot Joseph drown into a dry well - Joseph picked up by a caravan and sold as a slave for a paltry price.
(7) لَقَدْ كانَ في يُوسُفَ وَ إِخْوَتِهِ آياتٌ لِلسَّائِلينَ
7. " Certainly there are signs(of Allah's sovereignty)in(the story of)Yusuf and his brothers for the inquirers. "
Commentary :
There are numerous signs of Allah's omnipotence at work in the life history of Had rat Yusuf, each of which is an advice and a didactic lesson for the seeker of Truth. Among these Signs we can cite:
1. Had rat Yusuf's very sophisticated dream.
2. The science of the interpretation of dreams.
3. Ya'qoub's awareness of the future of his son.
4. Yusuf's remaining safe at the bottom of the well.
5. Becoming blind and then regaining sight.
6. From being abandoned at the bottom of a well and becoming high, exalted.
7. Being put in prison and finally to acceding power and government.
8. Being cleared off all accusations and hearing accusations of corruption.
9. Parting and reunion.
01. Servitude and accession to power.
11. Choosing prison over being polluted with sin.
12. Having the upper hand yet impelled to forgive wrong done to oneself.
Along with the above signs, there are certain questions which can be raised, the answers to which illustrate the way to a decent life: How does man's envy lead him to fratricide How can ten individuals engage in a conspiracy for treason How does Yusuf spare punishing his criminal brothers while having the upper hand How man can prefer prison to pollution by sin and the pleasures of committing sin, when thinking of Allah This Sura was revealed when the sublime Prophet(p.b.u.h.) was economically and socially besieged and this story provided great comfort for him. It meant that if some of his relatives did not believe and support him, he should not have worried for the brothers of Yusuf had thrown him down a well. The most important verses of this Sura are those which deal with the domination of the Divine power over man- made conspiracies. They threw Yusuf into the well in order to become dearer to their father but they became hated. Doors were closed in order to pollute him with sin, but his chastity and innocence were well demonstrated in this trying circumstance. Neither did the well, servitude, prison, palace life, or any of these conspiracies exert the slightest influence on Allah's Will.
At any rate, it is from here that the entanglement of the brothers with Yusuf first starts, and didactic lessons can be gleaned from the story. It says:
" Certainly there are signs(of Allah's sovereignty)in(the story of)Yusuf and his brothers for the inquirers. "
What lesson might be more instructive than this One finds a group of powerful individuals with well calculated strategies, through envy trying their utmost to kill a seemingly weak person. In the end all their plans turn against them making it possible for him to be elevated to a position of influence, governing a vast territory with everyone bowing before him instead! This shows that when Allah's will is at work, His plans may be implemented by even the opponents of those plans. This denotes that a truly faithful believer is never left alone and even if the whole world were to unite for his extermination, he would not even suffer the slightest injury if the will of Allah does not desire such.
* * * *
(8) إِذْ قالُوا لَيُوسُفُ وَ أَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلى أَبينا مِنَّا وَ نَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبانا لَفي ضَلالٍ مُبينٍ
8. " When they said: 'Verily, Yusuf and his brother(Benjamin)are dearer to our father than we, while we are a(strong)group. Verily, our father is in manifest error'. "
Commentary :
Had rat Ya'qoub had 21 sons, two of whom(Yusuf and Benjamin)were of the same mother and the rest from another mother. Ya'qoub's interest in Yusuf(because of his young age or because of his virtues)made his brothers envy him. They not only envied him but also by saying:/ wa nahnu 'us batun/ "while we are a(strong) group" made it clear that they were arrogant in spirit and, because of this, they accused their father of being mistaken and deviated in his focus of affection. The verse says:
" When they said: 'Verily, Yusuf and his brother(Benjamin)are dearer to our father than we, while we are a(strong)group. ..."
Many of those who are at comparatively lower rungs of position and rank in society try to degrade those who rank higher in society in order to compensate for their own shortcomings.
There are differences between the words, discrimination and differentiation, the former implies attaching importance to someone over others for no justified reason and the latter refers to distinguishing on the basis of ones abilities and conditions. For example, a physician's prescriptions or a teacher's marks differ since they must vary in accordance with
the rules which are not of an oppressive nature. However, Yusuf's brothers considered Ya'qoub's love as one that had no good reason.
Explanations:
1. If the children feel that they are discriminated against, their envy will be aroused.
2. Discrimination among one's children will decrease their love towards their parents 3. The exercise of power does not engender love.
4. Envy crossed the frontiers of fatherhood and prophecy hence the brothers attributed deviation and injustice to their father who was, at the same time, their prophet. The above verse says:
"... Verily, our father is in manifest error'. "
5. To be loved is an inherent need of man. Lack of love and affection of others is one of the greatest sufferings of man.
* * * *
(9) اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضاً يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبيكُمْ وَ تَكُونُوا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ قَوْماً صالِحينَ
9. " Slay you Yusuf, or cast him out to some(far)land,(so that)your father's attention may be given on you(exclusively), and you may be after that(by repentance)a righteous people. "
Commentary :
With respect to Divine favors, man has four options: to be jealous, to be stingy, to be self sacrificing, and to be envious of others. If he enjoys a blessing and is happy that others do not enjoy it as well, this is a case of stingy, this is also the case if he does not enjoy a blessing and is glad that others do not enjoy it as well which is jealousy. If he lets others benefit from a blessing he enjoys and is not concerned whether he would be deprived of it in the process, this is a case of self sacrifice. If he thinks that others enjoy a blessing and he doesn't and he wishes that he enjoys that blessing too, this is envy.
Imam Baqir(a.s.) said: "I sometimes express my affection towards some of my children, seating them on my lap even though they do not merit all that love, so that they do not become envious of my other children, and the adventures of Yusuf be repeated once more. "(1)
The feeling of envy, however, eventually led the brothers to conspire with each other. They proposed two schemes, either to kill Yusuf or to send him off to a far distant land so that the love
(1) Bihar ul 'Anwar, vol. 14, p. 78.
and attention of their father would be evenly distributed among them. The verse says:
" Slay you Yusuf, or cast him out to some(far)land,(so that)your father's attention may be given on you(exclusively), ..."
It is true that they might have trouble with their consciences having condescended to committing such a crime against their brother. However, they thought that it might be possible to compensate for this sin and repent afterwards. The holy verse continues saying:
"... and you may be after that(by repentance)a righteous people. "
This sentence reveals the fact that they had feelings of guilt for having committed such a barbarous act and were afraid of Allah at the bottom of their hearts. However, the important problem in question lies in the fact that discussing repentance before the commission of a sin is in actual fact a satanic strategy to cheat one's own conscience and keep a channel open with Allah, hence, the person in question is not really repenting and by no means it is a reason for his regret.
Explanations:
1. Dangerous thoughts lead man to perform dangerous acts and jealousy leads man to such great sin that he will even be prepared to commit fratricide.
2. Man seeks popularity and affection, the lack of which leads to the most dangerous kinds of behaviors and deviations.
3. Although the holy Qur'an makes the acquisition of popularity and affection upon having faith and righteous conduct, Satan makes it the reward for killing one's brothers.
4. The jealous person thinks that if others are killed or removed, all the blessings will be given to him.
5. Satan, by holding out the probable possibility of future repentance, opens up the gate for man to commit sin in the present.
6. Being knowledgeable and being aware does not always imply that one has distanced him from deviation.
Despite the fact that Yusuf's brothers knew and believed that killing their brother was an evil act it did not stop them from committing it.
* * * *
(10) قالَ قائِلٌ مِنْهُمْ لا تَقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ وَ أَلْقُوهُ في غَيابَتِ الْجُبِّ يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَةِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ فاعِلينَ
10. " Said a speaker among them: 'Do not slay Yusuf, and if you must do it, throw him into the bottom of the well(so that)some caravan(of travelers)may pick him up'. "
