Giving Comfort
Nouman Ali Khan – Surah Yusuf #44 – V69
AI: Summary ©
The legal age of Islam in Egypt is considered puberty and injury, with puberty and injury being considered injury. The use of Phone Law and the pandemic on children are also discussed, including the impact of bullying on children and the use of masala in video games. The importance of giving comfort to family members and not just quote things is emphasized. The speakers emphasize the need for everyone to practice social distancing and avoid touching things that could be considered symptoms of COVID-19, and for everyone to practice social distancing and avoid touching their face and clothing.AI: Transcript ©
Salam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
I will be learning him in a sheath on ology, while the hollow mala Yusuf
he a horrible color in the Anna honka fella Tabitha is Pima
County Southern way assembly Emily wahoo Dr. Tammy lasagna Cody from Hungary la salatu salam ala alihi wa sahbihi. Again, salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. So today, inshallah My job is to share a little bit about I am number 69. Absolutely. So for you guys. This is now when they finally have convinced to, you know, bring the brother, you know, convinced their dad to bring Binyamin, the youngest brother, who has again not been mentioned by name, the Bible calls in Benjamin are more for Syrian called him Binyamin. And those 10 brothers and they have now brought their 11th and youngest brother back with them to Egypt, they've been told not to come in from multiple doors, we talked
about that. And now in 69, and number 69, we're gonna move on to the next the progression of the story. So there's parts that are skipped. Now, what's this? What skipped is how was their journey? Where did they stop and all of that all the formalities, basically, now we're at the point where they are in the company of use of it. So now, they're in front of the minister, and they don't know that it's used for Islam. And Binyamin is there, the youngest brothers there?
If you were to calculate the number of years that Yusuf Ali Salaam was away, right, if you try to figure out kind of what the range is of the number of years that he was away, so he's taken as a kid, so if you just say, you know, you know, conservatively, he's eight or 10 years old, at the, if you take the Bible's version, and he's 17 years old when he's taken away, but that doesn't seem to add up from the Quran point of view because the Quran says, Allah, Allah, Allah should the who, when he finally reached mature age, which the Islamic Quran that's considered teenage years, so after becoming a slave in Egypt, he eventually became a teenager is what the Quran says. So it doesn't
make sense that he was already a teenager when he was taken away from home. So there's a difference between the bronze version and the Bible's version on this. The Quran does not mention his age specifically, but there are clues to his age, for example, Oh, hold on, right? When they, when they pull them out of the well, they said, Yeah, boo Shahada. Well, I'm Oh my god, it's a boy. And the word boy is used for preteen. So it's used for maybe an eight year old, a 10 year old, a 12, year old, etc. But it's not used for a 14 year old, you know, when the not for him or the salon, but for you know, for us, and you have to funny mustache coming in, in the sideburn situation and all that
stuff. So that's not, that's not a whole lot anymore, that's now becoming on the road to a man. So these balharshah who basically, so, and basically, puberty, injury is essentially considered when a person is considered an adult. And they are considered responsible for their actions, they're no longer considered a child. You know, in modern states, they have different legal age limits to be considered an adult. And there are, you know, even the most common thing would be like driver's license, for example, or a more common thing is like the age a legal age for somebody to be able to get married. Those are the two common things, right? So in the United States, it's like 16, and 18,
depending on the state that you might may go to, the lowest that I know of is 16. Right? So but the Quran doesn't put a number on, like an age number on when is a person considered an adult, it essentially marks puberty, as you're now responsible for Allah for your own actions, right? You're now the biological capabilities, Allah has given your body enough strength for you to now be answerable for what you do with it, you know, so if you take it from that perspective, then he is preteen before leaving Egypt, or before leaving his home before being thrown in the well. And it's only after being in Egypt. And after being the slave that he becomes a teenager. And then we don't
know how much after that the whole drama happens with the minister's wife. And then there's of course, the several years in prison, which could be 10 or more years, it could be less than 10. Two, it could be five years, two years, it can be bitterness, any means that after he told or interpreted the dream of the prisoners, then it took us, you know, single digit number of years after that. So that number could be above three and below nine, a three year over and nine and under. Right. So that's the basic bit that would that would be their means. So and that could be maybe he stayed in prison for a whole year. And then there's three more years. So the minimum it could be for years,
for example, or it could be he barely came into prison, and he had this conversation. So he was in jail for three years. But if you were to max it out, then it could be that maybe he spent already a few years in prison and then there's another
Nine years after that, so we don't know exactly how many years, some of us who don't say seven years, and very commonly, they say seven years old. I don't know the basis of it. But that's a common opinion that's found among them. Again, a lot of this is theory. And clearly the Quran doesn't mention it because it doesn't further the story. So why am I going into that detail? I'm going into that detail because I'm trying to paint before you we are being introduced to the youngest brother of Binyamin. He's not going to talk he's going to be talked to in Aisle number 69. So we're not actually going to hear him say anything. But he's present now. And he's been talked
about a couple of times. Now he's been talked about when the father said, I'm not letting him go. Right. So he was we know he exists. We know he's a character and a person involved in this family and he's a member of this family. But he's never actually said anything in the Sula in the story the way Allah tells it, he also hasn't said anything. When you know the brother when use of Alice I'm actually meet him in this ayah. But it's kind of important to try to figure out is he a child is his use of Alice, I'm talking to a child, he's talking to an adult. And the point that I'm getting at not that I'm trying to arrive at a number because that's impossible. Anyway, we won't know the exact
number. But the point that I'm getting at is that he is also a young adult, at the very least he's not a child. He's not a child, because when he left when use of a salon left, he was too little. So we know the fact that he must have been little because user friendly salon knows of his existence, knows that he has a little brother, but he's not old enough to for the brothers to be jealous of him. Right. So there's a, so he's basically not of the age where he is, you know, he's basically a baby. You know, he's maybe a year old, two years old, whatever it is, but he's too little. Now, because Yusuf Ali Salaam knows that he's from the same mom here, you know, he wants to protect him
and save him. This reunion is happening between a much older brother, or maybe there's a decade age difference, maybe 1213 year age difference, it can be maybe 15 year age difference. But still, he is a young adult. And I have to add, the separation isn't just the years that he spent in Egypt. It's also the years that he spent in prison. It's also the seven years of good crop when the he didn't see his brothers, right. So you add all those years up. And then he sees in the eighth year, at least he sees the eighth bad year, when the bad year start. That's when the family start coming. And people start coming asking for food, right? So it's in that year that he is now finally getting the
chance for this reunion. So he's actually meeting a young adult, at the very least. So maybe he's late teenager, maybe he's in his 20s, right, maybe 29, even 2829. It could be like that. But he is regardless from from our point of view, he's a young man, not a child. Okay. Now, it's interesting that he's not a child, but he's been talked about like he was because the father said, I'm not letting him go with you. You know, an adult would speak for himself, that I'm going, it's important. We also know that he's an adult, because a child wouldn't get a full cammo load of food. Right, you get the load of food per adult, right? And there would be a different kind of calculation for a mere
child. But clearly, the conversation was you have a brother. And if you don't bring him, then you're not going to get that extra load, and you'll never come back again, which means he is being looked at as an adult even by the government. Right. But when you're Coover la Salaam spoke about him, he said, you have to give me a mosaic, I mean, Allah, you have to give me this promise from God from Allah, we have to swear by Allah, that you will bring him back safely. And you're not unless you're overrun, unless you're taking, you know, all these precautionary measures as if he's protecting not an adult, but protecting a child. So this is important. This is an important side detail in helping
us paint a more accurate picture of what's going on. It's also interesting that when we're going to read about him today, again, he's not going to be the one speaking, we're only learning things about him through what is said about him. indirectly, right. So one, we can clearly tell that he is the object of bullying, or he's at least not safe easily with his brothers and the father, who I've described to you in quite some detail in the beginning of the surah. The Father knows his sons very, very well. So when he's concerned that you're taking him alone, like you did use of, should I trust you like I did with use of? He's onto something. He's not just throwing feelings out in midair. he's
a he's a highly intelligent human being in the hula, do element alumna who he certainly is someone possessing knowledge that we taught him. So he is, in fact, you know, highly intelligent and analytical when he's making this comment. It's not just an old man having panic attack and having these paranoid feelings. My other life, he's a man of wisdom. So there's this emotional side of jacobellis around, but it's also a highly intelligent analytical side and really a the psychologist of the family he understands the psychological state of his sons, and some of that you were exposed to last time to Why is he choosing to not tell them about use of and now bring them up he knows how
they think.
Right. So having said all of that, what seems to be the case what could be a plausible case here is that after the loss of use of Elisa Lam, jacobellis and became extra protective of not letting anything happened to Binyamin, right. So and they've already done this, and he knows they lied. And so now he's extra cautious not to let him out of his sight. And the thing that happens when you're over protective of a child, is that you, you can prevent them from standing on their own. You can actually indirectly that what might happen is, they're not able to stand against bullying or stand against outside situations, to the point where even when he's an adult, the decision to go he
clearly has no say in that conversation. The brothers are saying we're taking him and he's saying, No, you're not, and we hear nothing from him. Right. So because of that overprotection, it seems that he's the victim of a lot of bullying from his brothers early on. And that leads us to a an interesting and an important observation about the nature of bullying, bullying, we think of bullying as something that happens in schools, like bigger kids picking on you know, big fat, you know, that the big giant kid picking on a scrawny little kid or something like that, that's bullying. But actually bullying happens inside families, older siblings can pick on younger
siblings, they can beat them up, they can, you know, get them in trouble. Bullying can happen from younger siblings to older siblings. Bullying can happen when one student when one kid is smarter and gets better grades in school, and the other one doesn't get as many much good grades. And in the in the absence of the parents, though the smaller smarter one is insulting the bigger one and getting away with it. Right? Because the bigger one Oh, it's just your little brother, what are you talking about? And you you can have a physical beating and you know, slapping around and all that kind of stuff I'm just playing is nothing. Or it could be constant insults, it could be put downs, it could
be constant degradation, oh, look, the baby here, the baby's here. You know, taunts and things like that. It doesn't have to come from strangers, that kind of bullying can exist inside a family. And it has a huge impact on the self esteem of a person, it can have a huge impact on how not independent they may become. If the only safety he ever feels is around dad, for example, that can have a huge impact on him. And if he's not able to go out and function like his brothers are, then he may not learn to, you know, defend himself in certain situations because he's never been exposed. He's never seen. So we have to, you know, I'm by contrast, I want to show you that, you know, musala
salams.
Sister, right? She's also I mean, a girl in Pharaoh's society, you want to protect this girl, right? But when masala Sam's basket was going down the river, it would be too obvious. And if mom followed him, because then they would know that that's a baby. So what did she do? She asked a young girl, a 1012 year old girl will see go follow him out in a hostile militant, you know, military police regime, and follow him all the way to the castle, where there's the most hostility towards the Israelites. The Israelites are slaves. And she's walking towards the government building following her brother, because she knows how to handle herself outside. Right? So it's interesting by
contrast, right, here's a mom who's sending her daughter out when there are soldiers out killing babies. At that same moment, she's sending her daughter out. And here you have a father refusing to let his son go with his brothers. Right, really interesting contrast here about protectiveness. And so, you know, Binyamin is actually, the only picture we have of him is that pretty much of a victim of someone who has been, you know, psychologically, maybe even physically beat down quite a bit, and we're gonna see why that seems to be the case. Why does the Quran how do we get that picture from the Quran that some of that we'll see today. So in a single ayah, a very brief ayah, Allah has
opened up this subject for us. He says, Well, I'm da da da usofa. And when they finally entered into the company of use of so now they've taken that journey, they came from different doors, they converge that the palace all of that's been fast forwarded, you know, an hour already in the company of use of wha la he, he brought his brother into his refuge, he brought his brother into his comfort, so meaning Binyamin, the brother that he asked for now, how in the world did that happen? Mm Razi paints a scenario of how this may have happened again, there's no conclusive narrations or anything like that. I will share the summary of that scenario with you. And then I'll share with you
what I think could be a straightforward reading of it too, because there's no actual Hadith or something authenticated like that coming from the profits to them about what transpired here. Right. So one thing's for sure. He didn't come out and say that's my brother. You guys have done a lot of messed up. The Secret hasn't
Come out yet that's it hasn't come out. So he they don't know that he's the minister etc.
So remember Ozzie scenario is that when they came, he gave them hospitality, he gave them a living arrangements like hotel arrangement type thing to to a room. So how many are there? 11? Right, so there are 22222 that's 10 and the 11th one Binyamin is odd one out, he doesn't have someone to be with, it's also described that they had, you know, you know, five tables, or six tables where they could sit and eat. So two in each table, so are two settings for each, you know, so they were paired up, so they can be given hospitality and given housing. So they're each sitting twos, twos, twos, twos, and the only ones sitting by himself is who, then you mean, and then they say, a mirage. He
says that, you know, Yusuf Ali son walked over to him, and he looked sad. And he basically said something like, you know, if my brother was alive, I, you know, I would be sitting with him. And Yusuf Ali Salaam says, Well, I could be a rather. And he, no, no, he says, you know, how amazing would it be if you were my brother, but you are not the son of Yahoo. At that moment, he couldn't hold himself and he said, the words that are coming, you know, he brought his brother towards him and said, in fact, I am your brother. So that's the that's the way that mamarazzi kind of paints this scenario.
Again, I don't know where this comes from. But it is it has been mentioned. Right? So I'm sharing that with you. What I also see as a very plausible theory, is if you remember when they first came as 10 Brothers, not 11. And they made a claim that we should get 11 loads because we have an 11th. Brother, he deserves food to the way use of honey, some use that claim it said, Well, if you have an 11th brother, I'd like to see him. Right. And if you're lying to me and trying to get a free load of Campbell of worth of food, then you're cheating me and you will never be allowed in this country again. Isn't that what the conversation was? And now and you better come back with him. And that's
why they came back with him. Right. Now, when they came back with him. It seems like a part of due diligence, that use of engines. So this is the brother You claim that this is the 11th one. Yes, sir. This is the 11th one, okay, let me have a word with him. You know how you say cross interrogation, like they made certain claims. Let me talk to you in private for a second. And let's verify if your story matches their story. So you really are who you say you are. from their point of view, he may have called him into private conversation, because he's completing his investigation. Right and this, but from use of Allison's point of view, this is a perfect opportunity for him to be
pulled away from them. And actually, you know, what he's going to be staying with me.
For some time, your housing has been provided your residences have been provided. But I'll be, you know, engaging with him for a little bit. And I'll let you know what i'm done with him. But he's safe. Don't worry about it. Right. So they've been discharged. And now he's got his brother doesn't even know he must be nervous, too. Why am I being pulled in, but he's now being pulled in. And he is, you know, going to now talk to his brother in private.
And what I'm going to do now, before I go further, I in the beginning of the series, I talk to you about these comparisons between the story of Moses and the story of how one is a very, you know, blazing comparison here that should be highlighted that I don't think I did, and that is that Musashi. Sam has a brother Harun and he asked Allah for his brother for his support. Right, he wants, he says, I'm not strong enough. I need Harun to be my support, which would be he as Reba actually Kofi nominee. Right. He will reinforce my back. He will, he will be a partner in my mission. When he was here on Main alley, he says, Put him put for put in place for me someone who
will carry my load with from my own family was he from wizard wizard as a burden. So that's the wording that Moosa used for who heroine so Moosa needs the support of how he's saying I need him. The flip happens with use of not needing the support of Binyamin but needing to be the support of Binyamin. So he's asking for Binyamin, not because he needs the support, but because Binyamin needs the support. So you've got this kind of you know, contrasting scenario.
Now in that scenario, when he when when Binyamin is alone with him the word Allah used is our LA
and I wanted to take a little bit of time and explain to you some of the origins of the word our the word Allah is used for refuge as a verb in our in our illa sokrati finding a subtle hook when we took refuge in the in the boulders I forgot about the fish in the story of you know masala Solomon, you know the the Heather's story and sort of go have fun. Whoo lol caffee go take refuge in the cave, you know, so always use the word
is used for taking refuge in the cave in its root origin. Our You know,
I'm reading from Hassan, Hassan jables and margin manage the copy which is a phenomenal Dictionary of the Quran. So he's talking about this word, our alpha kulu Danny kallyas Dharma lofi our ilani darphin finma alhaja de la mia I mean I do in Omaha often our Joe in your local town Lahore can hacia la hottie sauce in our will huddle. We a lot for you when he basically what he's saying is, this word is used is never used when there isn't weakness present.
So the word that's being used, I'm calling it refuge, right? But he's saying when this word is used when someone heads towards somewhere, but they themselves are weak. And actually then there's the other
concept inside of this word.
Worry bomb. baman Maraba is when two things fuse together, because of weakness. They actually use the word it tower for birds.
When birds by themselves can easily be picked on and they fly as a flock together, they as if they are one, you know, the swerving movements they have as if they are one creature, and they move in unison like that synchronized, that's actually called from this from the same origin. So why is that because on their own, they're very weak, and they fuse together as though they're one to become stronger.
The people of the cave wanted to become almost like one with the cave because the cave is strong. And the cave is fortified. And we're going to stick to it. So the word was used. And our on vote by the way, this is the same word used by the son of new and they said, I'm when he wants security, I'll stick to the mountain. I'll go take red, not just take it off, I'll seek to become one with it. Because it was part of the meaning. Yes, I know I'll drown. But that that mountain is pretty solid. And it's pretty high up. I'll stick to it. So are we eligible? He has a monumental Ma, that's our but then there's our the fall pattern. And the file pattern is what is used here, our Eliyahu that's
our you we Eva and, and Eva is used when you give someone when you bring in someone and stick to them to protect them.
When you hold on to somebody, because without you they'll be weak. That's Eva. So when he says Arwa la he
he brought his brother into him, and he stuck to him. Now, if I'm not letting you go now, you stay with me. Why? Because if you recall a few episodes ago, when I talked to you about a use of Alison's concern for Binyamin if they were like this to me, oh, he must have been their next target. And they're exactly you know, out of fall, he recognized that they haven't changed much. So he must be the recipient of a lot of abuse. I need to get him here anyway. I can't remember that. And now that's actually happened. He is right in front of him. They are in private. No way. I'm letting you go now. So he brought him in to refuge towards him, he brought him to stick to him. Interestingly,
this word, Allahu Rocca wa sallahu. Ashoka, Holly, the other dimension of this origin root word is actually the show empathy and care for someone as if to say not only, I'm gonna stick with you, I'm bringing you into my care. I'm bringing you towards myself into my care. Other dictionaries have also mentioned that the word hour is used when you bring someone into your own home. Like you gather someone or bring someone over to stay with you. So that's the these are the meanings of what he says to his or does with his brother. Now. I you know, it's important that we kind of try to visualize what happened here. He brings his brother in other brothers aren't around. And here's what he says.
And the Quran tells us in ni Allah in ni on a hook. It is no doubt I I am your brother. Me, it's I I'm here rather than me as twice. And I'm there's enough to remove doubt. I am. It's it's really me. I'm your brother. Maybe he was too too much of a baby to remember you suffered. He said I'm right. But who's been missing and crying about use of since he left the Father. And the Father has missed him all that time. And in private when he says I'm in fact your brother, the brothers like you're the one that they did wrong to. You're the one that they hurt. And after you left, they're the one they were hurting me all that time. You're that one. But he It's unbelievable. Right? So he has to
say this to him in a way that will he'll actually believe so he in privacy, lets him know in me and I hope now there are different ways that this can be interpreted. Let me let me help you look at all of those scenarios because they're all plausible. And at the end, I'll share something with you about my my own understand
A lot of the way the Quran translates stories because I think there is something more than human attempts of translation when the Quran is translating stories, but let's talk about that at the end. Now. I am certainly your brother let me translate the entire sentence follow it up that is America and
then No, no longer should you be miserable. No longer should you feel a void don't become miserable and feel a void actually bit. Books is used for factor alpha krisha did like when you are completely bankrupt or empty or not have no support. That's why bazzar is the situation after war. Because the buildings are dilapidated, schools are destroyed, hospitals are gone. There's no food available. You know, the streets are ransacked, etc, you're completely devoid of everything. And that's the situation of books. And it's called sat also was Sabina filbert said he will not write you know, that's from it comes the word, it doesn't have to be sad and miserable. And to be, you know, and you
know, in modern psychology, we've got all these different diagnoses for negative emotions, like, you know, someone who has a nervous breakdown, somebody who has panic attacks, somebody who has anxiety, somebody who has depression, you're different kinds of diagnoses are there. But if you look at classical Arabic, any of those are a result of a serious situation of void. Something very serious is missing or broken or taken away, some safety has been taken away, some love has been taken away, some sense of security has been taken away. So the word is can actually be encompassing of all of those states. You don't have to be nervous anymore. You don't have to be anxious anymore. You don't
have to be worried anymore. Now, let's translate again, I am actually your brother. So no longer do you have to be sad. You don't have to be, you know, overrun with sadness and grief over what they've been doing.
Don't Don't, don't be you know, don't be traumatized by what you're doing any what they've been doing to you anymore. Don't feel don't let that feeling Hold on. Don't hold on to that feeling anymore. Some of us are here also means don't hold on to a grudge against them anymore. Because of what they've been doing. That's gone now. And I'll never let that happen again. Okay.
The Koran is saying these two statements, I'm your brother, don't be sad anymore all at once. Right. But that seems highly implausible that as soon as he pulled turn the corner, stepped into the office locked the door and says, I'm your brother, don't be sad about what they've been doing. Because he's never talked to him about what they've been doing.
Right. So I'm your brother makes sense. But I'm your brother. And immediately after whatever they've been doing, you don't have to be sad about that anymore. Now one scenario is he did say it immediately. And that would be an incredible insight just from the look of Binyamin face, Yusuf Ali Salaam knew that they've been abusing him. And they've been humiliating him. And you can sometimes read a person's face if you have vasila, like that, right. And you surprise him it was given the interpret, ability to interpret all kinds of speech, all kinds of communication. And by the way, body language is also a kind of communication. People can read the bags under your eyes, people can
read the bulges on your forehead. People can read the the sadness on your face, they can read it, they can read the anxiety or fear with which you look at your brother's they can he can tell something, and he knows that face because he's had that face when they did that to him. It could be like that. So it could be that the first thing is not just I'm your brother, but you don't have to feel that anymore. I know all you ever, you all you've ever known from brothers is that the abuse that they missed that they put down, that they you know, take advantage. They're supposed to be your protection. They're supposed to be your older brothers, your role models. You're the boss of this
family, but they're the ones that are beating on you. You don't have to feel that anymore. I'll show you a different kind of brother now. I'm the other kind of brother. I'm your brother, you don't have to be sad about what they've been up to. That's one scenario that immediately he started to them. Another scenario is they go in private, and he starts talking to
to be near me and Binyamin has hasn't had someone affectionate talk to him or someone caring talk to him in a dignified way other than who jacobellis because he's got that scenario at home, right? And as when you when you talk to somebody like that, even though he doesn't know that says brother yet, he starts opening up to him. That's another scenario, he starts opening up to him talking about his family. So what's your family situation like? I even though I'm not as sold on this theory, only because I would argue that family matters are not exposed to strangers like that in just a conversation like that. And that would also in some sense, constitute a kind of backbiting I would
think that he's talking about how but my brothers have been pretty bad to me and things like that. You get it. So that would be a little bit. It seems a bit odd that someone trained by jacobellis on himself would get into the company of a king and say, Yeah, my brothers are totally messed up you like there's
so bad. And then, you know, use the reasons By the way, I have your brother. But that is one way of looking at it, I find that less plausible, but that is another way of looking at it. Yet another way of looking at it, and I'm most convinced of this way of looking at it, well, there's two more actually. And both of them seem very plausible, is that they talked, he shared some things. But after that come after some kind of level of comfort, he opened up to him and tell him, I'm in fact, your brother. And don't be sad about what they're what they've been up to. But the final one is the one I find most appealing. And here's the final one. As soon as they're in private, I need to tell
you something.
I'm the son of Yahoo. I'm in fact, your brother.
And that must have been a very powerful emotional moment for both of them. First of all, they would have been shocking and unbelievable. And the fact that it's not believable is captured inside in the ANA ahuka. You know how unbelievable something is you have to iterate it over and over again, which is why it's kind of like when Musa alayhis salaam went up the mountain, and who was talking to him all of a sudden, a lohas. And he says, in many anila, it is I, I am Allah, the I was twice. And here, he can't believe it could be his brother. And he's saying in me, I don't know. I'm telling you, I'm your brother. But then once he told him, I'm your brother, they hug each other, they
started crying dad has missed you so much. You don't know what it's been like, since you were gone. I've heard about you all these years. What happened in your life? And he says, What happened to your house? Dad? How have you been? And then he starts crying about what the brothers have been doing to him. And, you know, you know, it's, it's been a kind of *, it's they they're so mean to me. And they're disrespectful to dad, and I can't do anything about it. And, you know, I was so scared to even come here. I didn't know what they were going to do to me. Because, you know, Dad kind of told me what they did to you. We don't even know what happened to you. And they're all this conversations
happening. And Yusuf Ali Salaam is kind of reliving what he lived with his brothers, in the words of his own younger brother. And so the first thing he does, is he makes sure that his brother will no longer fear that again. So after that opening up in between, he says, then you don't have to be scared. I'm your brother. I am your brother. Like he's almost as if he says it again at the end and says no, you don't have to be you don't have to be sad anymore. So it's the thing is even though it's said once, you don't have to necessarily accept that it was said just once by them.
And this is where the theory on how the Quran dialogue and its exchanges can be interpreted comes into play.
You have, for example, the story of zecharia Artesia, right when he was very old, he didn't have a child. And the angels came to him and told him you're going to have a child you're going to have Yeah, his name is going to be even named him. Allah even sent the name for john. That was what was called john the baptist. Yeah. London, Aloha, makapuu. Samia, when Allah gave him that name, and when the angels came and said that to him, he said, Yeah, yeah, like, give me a sign. Yeah. And in one surah,
insert Miriam. Don't speak to people for three nights. That will be your sign, you're not going to be able to talk to people for three nights except by using science. In Sudan, Iran, same story. But the angels say don't talk to people for three days. They don't say three nights, they say what, three days was one conversation? Someone wants, what are they saying three nights? And the other sort of other saying, What? Three days and somebody who doesn't understand even a little bit of depth of Quran say, oh, clear contradiction? Which one is it? Did they say night? Or did they say day? Well, here's the thing. Is it a pretty shocking thing that's just been told.
So for three nights, you're not going to be able to speak to people, Allah has blessed you remember? Three days? Three complete days? Meaning can it be said multiple times? And one fragment of the conversation is here, another fragment of the conversation is there. Absolutely. That's what the Quran does. It's the same conversation with Allah and Musa alayhis salam on the mountain. But the way the parts of the conversation and sort of sharara are highlighting something else, and the parts of the same conversation, it's like bar highlighting something else. It's the same conversation, but different scenes of that conversation. You know, in modern film, you've got the the filmography, the
ones that the people that are filming the scene, they'll film a scene. And then in season two or stuff, it'll law, they'll show you the same scene, but from a different camera angle. And they'll show you some of the things that were said in that first conversation that they didn't show you the first time and you're like, Oh, no, I get it.
Right. There's a lot of now I get it into seed of course.
There's this feeling of the these incredible gaps. It's remarkable storytelling. So what
can be the cases, when he says I'm your brother, don't be sad anymore. It's a law basically taking the entire conversation they must have had, and juicing it and squeezing it into a few words, to give us an idea of what came out of that conversation. Now we get to what is the lesson to be learned from this conversation?
You could be in the house of a prophet
and you're not safe from abuse?
Well think about that. You could be in a house so blessed by Allah, that Allah put profits in it.
And yet you are being wronged in that household.
Even and the profit that is with you Your father is unable to stop it from happening. Why would use of honey salon say, don't be sad about the things they have been doing be maka,
some, some have actually posited what they're going to do. Meaning now that I've called you towards me, they think that you're getting special attention, they'll get jealous of you don't worry about what they're gonna do.
But this is not, that's not what the language is saying the language isn't saying, don't worry about them, or don't worry about what they're going to do. It says Don't be sad, don't be miserable, don't hold on to what they have been doing.
Now, what they have been doing must can very plausibly mean that Yusuf Ali Salaam was told by his brother all the bad things they have been doing.
And now he says they're there. I'm your brother. Come here, give me a hug. They're not going to do that anymore. No, no, no, no more sadness for you. I'm your brother, right? I'm your brother, right? Yes, you are. And there's this comforting happening between two brothers. You're in safe hands. Now. What does that tell you that even though you are a person of a man, and Binyamin is a person of the man he's a good son of Jacobo de Salam. So his faith is very strong. Just because you have faith in Allah doesn't mean you don't need comforting. It doesn't mean you don't need to be, you know, fell victim to be made to feel safe.
And does if you're physically not harmed because he's physically not harmed doesn't mean that emotional harm doesn't count. That it can cause you misery words and Thompson comments, by the way, there's a fear interpretation of, you know,
you know, put downs that they used to give to these two brothers. Basically, the story is, and again, I don't know the authenticity of these things, but they have been narrated that because their mom is different, right? So use of Ambien means mom is different from the other brothers. They have different moms.
So their mom, her father, so the basically use of and Benny means grandfather was an idol worshipper. But not from your boob side from your good side, their grandpa's house. From their mom's side, their their their grandpa was an out idol worshiper and his mom hated it, that the grandfather worships idols. So the story that's been narrated, is that she told us to go steal the idols so he won't be able to worship them anymore.
Okay, and then he got caught. And then his brothers called him a thief.
Oh, this is the both the mom and the center. This is the thief side of their family runs in their blood. So they turned it into a wild what they did is something praiseworthy, and very close to what Ibrahim alayhis. Salam did, actually because what did he do destroy other people's property?
Didn't he just he broke idols? And if that story is true, then you certainly said I'm sorry if I'm mom said not break, but I'll steal? Sure.
You know, and I wouldn't be surprised if does it happen that he's stolen and then broken to? possible? Who knows? But if that happened, that then came this idea that there are thieves or you're the the thieves brother, or your mom was a thief? And they would talk like that they would bring those things up? What are you going to steal now? Huh? You know, and actually, that's coming later on, you know, when the acquisition comes that you've stolen, they said, Well, if he stole he had a brother who stole two. And we've also don't say that that may be a reference to when he stole the idols from his maternal grandpa. So he won't be able to worship that anymore on the instruction of
his mom. Again, I don't know the authenticity, and we'll get to that when we get to that. But here, the critical thing is the act of giving comfort to a family member and to acknowledge the pain and suffering they've been through, and to listen to the suffering that they've been through. And actually, once you hear it and understand it, to actually come and give comfort is a prophetic legacy. This is now a sunnah of Yahuwah is salam, or Yusuf Ali Salaam that's been recorded in the Quran, to give comfort to family that have been through bad things, to give comfort to someone that's been through bad things, even at the hands of family. You know what happens in our families,
when bad things are done? You come to your father and say, This is what uncle did to me. You come to mom and say, This is what they did to me. This is what sometimes a father is abusive. And you go to the mother and say, This is what dad did to me. You know what Mother says? Shush. We don't talk about that.
Must have been your fault, you must have asked for it.
Right? So instead of giving comfort, we put down even more you understand? Me here you have a prophetic advice, prophetic legacy of giving comfort to someone who's been through a lot. And instead, there are other ways you can take this right? Somebody comes to you and says they've done a lot to me. Yeah. What did you do? You can't stand up for yourself. You couldn't learn from boxing?
You couldn't do this. You couldn't do that. Seriously, you Why are you being such a wimp? There are other ways to approach this right. And many of you experienced other ways of approaching when you say I have a problem. Why do you ever thought Why can't you just toughen up? What's your issue? Why are you not strong enough? Everybody's strong enough. Just believe in a line, everything will be fine. That's another approach. Another approach which is not Islamic, but pretend Islamic would be or you're going to backbite against your brothers. You should be ashamed of yourself talking about your brothers like that user probably saw him do that, hey, you're talking about your brother's
behind their back. This is backbiting this isn't backbiting This is a family matter. There's a difference. He's not going around talking to strangers about it. When you have someone safe, you can talk to you don't call that backbiting.
When you need to talk to somebody, for example, if there's you're in an abusive marriage, and a husband or a wife is being abusive, and you say I need to talk to somebody, I need to talk to my mom, I need to talk to my dad, I need to talk to my brother. No, I don't want to talk about what's going on because that's backbiting or I have to you know, keep family matters, family matters. Know, when it comes to abuse. And when you're being traumatized or victimized, then you have a right but you don't have a right to email everyone you know, or everyone you meet, hey, I want to tell you about the situation I'm going through or make posts about it and memes about it because you want the
world to feel sorry for you. No, but if you have someone you can trust, who says I'm your brother, I will take your sadness away. Don't look to for sympathy from the world. But But if Allah has given you someone in privacy that can offer you that sympathy. That's not backbiting that's not slander.
But in the open and coming out and this you know, you know what my brother does to me, you know what my husband does? You know, my wife does you know what my dad does? You know, what my mom does, you know what my son does? You know, and when people do that kind of thing, and you know, what's what's become now is when people are in a relationship, you know, siblings, spouses, parents, whatever, and they have some argument going on. They'll just make emotional like, rants about it online. Let's say I wasn't talking about you. They say when your heart is broken by your sibling, and you and then you put like a little whatever it no no, no other sibling you only have one brother bro, who you're
talking about what sibling?
No, my friends. And that to me is about some other sibling I'm sure we're applies to someone know you're very passively trying to take jabs at a family member by putting up these emotional rants online and to get likes and shares 100%
you know, I feel your pain and crime emojis all this fake emotion. Now you can scroll down the screen and feel better about you say, hey, somebody thinks my feelings are valid online. Yes. That must mean I'm right.
This is this is what we've become. Because there's a genuine lack of human connection. There's a genuine lack of human connection. I mean, that's you know, and I don't necessarily make fun of that entirely. I also say that that's become a common practice because we don't actually have genuine human connections. We don't feel like we're being heard. So might as well be seen on these you know, these memes This is why we're being heard. I have a voice to that's not a voice because somebody reads that and goes and then does this that's that's what your emotions are worth
about point five seconds in somebody's reading that's what they're worth. You know, that's not genuine that's not real. Your your actual family, your actual friends your people that are that have real substance in your life. real the real well wishers you have the equivalent of use of any son who's never been around his brother but is genuine enough and comes and offers that protection and he gives it any spills it all he's been he's been holding a lot in clearly right. And by the way, the idea of holding a lot in and letting it all out happens in the story of masala
when he makes it to marry an enemy it's an old man for the Mojo Casali hypnosis.
And the old man said to him, the chef said to him, don't be sad anymore. You escaped. You escaped from wrongdoing people you're okay now. So he gave him a kind of refuge and now here you suffer the same as giving his brother a kind of refuge and saying you don't have to be sad anymore. You know, and it's important what he what a lot but I didn't record this is why I thought this is relevant to us.
Because we sometimes when people come to us in times of suffering
then we feel
That the only thing we can do is give them Islamic advice. Remind them of a lot, remind them of their faith, which is good sometimes, and actually, most times it's good. But did Yusuf alayhi salam, tell his brother, you know, Allah wants us to have Subbu. And you should be grateful that you're alive. And you have to have to walk golden Allah? And how can you be like this, you have to have what was your Iman? You know, we all have to remember the author and the author. And none of this will matter. Because on Judgement Day, this will feel like it was nothing will feel like it was just a single day. Those are all great reminders. But you know what, as much as those lectures sound
really good, profits are much better lectures than we are. And they're much more wise in what to say and when to say it than we are, isn't it? And here you have someone coming to him in pain. And he he talked about a lot to prisoners. Then he talks about a lot of prisoners. He talked about love, and he interpreted the dream that he can be my allamani Robbie. Right? He did. But when it comes to this, he didn't bring up a lot. He just says Don't be sad. I'm your brother. I'm here for you. Because sometimes your family members don't need you to preach. They just need you to be there. They just need you to be a mom, not a lecturer or mom. They just need you to be a brother, not the guy
will give Honda's they don't need you to be that you don't need to quote stuff. There's plenty of a quote. There's really I mean, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to record some really epic stuff from Ibrahim alayhis salam, and from his hockaday salaam and from jacoba. Isn't he not getting no quotes? He's just getting I'm your brother. Don't be sad. I know you went through a lot. Sometimes we feel like we want to say what we wanted. Here's an opportunity for me to drop some epic quotes. No, this is an opportunity first for you to be a good listener. Because his words are actually indicating that he listened very carefully be Macondo, Yama, Dune. And not only did he listen, he can tell that
the events that have happened have made you have made have made you suffering anxiety have made you suffer sadness, they've made you suffer, suffer misery, you feel like a void where you don't feel safe, you have no one to talk to. And that's the that is I can tell not just what you're saying. But the feelings behind what you're saying. And I want you to not have those feelings anymore. Because I want you to feel safe, because I'm here, and I'm your brother. It's so beautiful. These words of comfort are so beautiful. So this all relevant. So what I'm trying to get at is a remarkable wisdom from Yusuf Ali Salaam and his brothers exchange here is that we have to become more empathetic.
You know, when we said when Alice has an earlier in this hour, he or ha he brought him into his refuge, he brought him into empathy and care, he brought him in and held them together, fused himself with him. All of that tells you what, that before you speak. It's the way that you make someone feel and to make him feel safe was necessary because the word for refuge is being used, making his brother feel safe, and then telling him what you are to him. And then telling him I've heard what you've gone through, acknowledge what you've gone through, and I will try to do my you don't have to feel like that anymore. I will be your shield, I'll protect you. It's absolutely
beautiful. It's so powerful, that this one IRA contains this family therapy.
But you're not going to get from a counselor or a stranger who hear your problems and tell you how to deal with them and how to work through your emotions that has its place. But when family gives comfort, when a son gives comfort to his mother, when a brother gives comfort his sister or sister gives comfort to her brother, when a husband gives comfort to wife when wife gives comfort to her husband ends and they make them feel like they understand the pain I'm going through. They understand it and they're going to protect me that comfort cannot come from anywhere else man. That's just a love made you family with some people that only you could comfort them like nobody
else can and that's why I chose to make them your family. Like that was a that was part of a less plan. Now you may look as you're listening to this and think about your brother like that guy is my comfort.
And it can be the case because he has other brothers too that are not comfort, isn't it?
So we're not talking about everybody has to be everybody else's comfort. It doesn't work like that. The Quran doesn't paint an over simplistic picture. The Quran doesn't say every sibling should be like Yusuf and Binyamin because he we know of other siblings in the story too. There's a reality check.
But you know when and to whom this applies and how it applies. You have to ask yourself and I have to ask myself, are we are we the kinds of family members that vineya means brothers are the other brothers are
The use of kind,
right to those that are suffering in our family and if we're watching silently, is it because we're powerless? We're too old, too weak, too young to outnumbered? Is that why? Or is it because we just don't care? We simply don't care. We have to ask these critical questions of ourselves as we engage in contemplating this remarkable idea. Well, am I the hawala Lucifer, who called me a hookah, fella.
I can't imagine these words were sent without lots of tears flowing from both of their eyes.
Lots of holding together, you know, lamenting, and now, you don't have to be sad anymore, wiping his tears. I'm here now. I'm here. Now. I'm here now. It's okay. It's okay. Let it out. Let it out. It's a beautiful woman is one of those things, you know, sometimes you guys, you watch like, some of you watch like emotional movies, when you get a box of napkins and watch them.
NEEMO finally
gets me every time. Yeah.
It's a CGI animation, with voice actors, but they're able to have manufacturer emotions in you were able to do it like, every time. And so Have you listened to it like a sentimental song or something? And you get to that line and
that happens to you. Would you know what, sometimes, we are so emotionally connected to story and we're emotionally connected to song. We're emotionally connected to actors that are faking it. They're faking it, and we're emotionally connected to it. People are addicted to shows that make them cry, you know that. I love the show, I cried so much.
Okay, because they're not really crying, they're not sad at all, they got paid to do that.
And they love each other to death and they died. And as soon as a scene is over, they hate each other's guts and walk away. You know. But when we read something so real, so powerful, so emotionally jolted, like it's so charged, it doesn't move.
There is a problem with that the fake has become real. And the real doesn't seem real. The Quran, what's more real than the Quran storytelling. What's more real than this real scenario that happened, I'll let talk us inside this very private, intimate moment, between two men that have suffered in their lives. And they're crying like children because it feels like their children all over again. And he's telling them something you would normally tell a child, don't be sad, they won't hurt you anymore. Don't be sad about what they've been doing to you. So you don't have to feel like that anymore. Because when when trauma happens, that lives inside you and it makes you relive
those feelings as if you're a child. It doesn't matter how strong or bigger you are on the outside, that stays inside and then needs to be healed. And he's healing that for his brother allows me to give us the opportunity to find people that are a source of healing for us, and give us the opportunity to be a source of healing for others that may need it from us, especially within our own families. barakallahu li welcome Phil Corrado Hakim, one of our annual er COVID IoT with Salaam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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