Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Ayah 36 onwards
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The transcript discusses the importance of practicing proper mind and behavior in practicing the proper mind and behavior. It emphasizes the importance of practicing the proper mind and behavior, as practicing will be crucial for practicing true knowledge. The speakers also discuss the importance of practicing the proper mind and behavior, and the use of "has" in the name of God. The transcript concludes with a discussion of practicing the proper mind and behavior, emphasizing the importance of practicing it for practicing true knowledge.
AI: Summary ©
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed
Satan.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
And two young men entered the prison with
him.
One of them said, I see that I
am drinking wine.
And the other said, I see that I
am carrying over my head a bread that
the birds eat from.
Tell us what it means.
We see that you are of the doers
of good.
He said, There will not come to you
food to be provided for except that I
inform you of its interpretation before it comes
to you.
That is from what my Lord has taught
me.
Indeed, I have left the religion of a
people who do not believe in Allah, and
they are disbelievers in the Hereafter.
And I have followed the religion of my
fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It is not for us to associate anything
with Allah.
That is from the decree of Allah upon
us and upon the people.
But most of the people are not grateful.
O companions of the prison, are lords divided?
Is it better, or is Allah the One,
the Omnipotent?
What you worship besides Him are but names
that you and your fathers have named.
Allah has not sent down any authority therewith.
The judgment is only for Allah.
He has commanded that you worship none but
Him.
That is the right religion.
But most of the people do not know.
So we are inshallah starting Surah Yusuf, ayah
number 36.
And in the last lesson, at the end
of the last lesson, we heard that Yusuf
alayhi salatu wa salam ultimately was imprisoned for
his own protection, and because of the problems
that his handsomeness, his beauty was causing society,
and the fact that he was again and
again being put to trial, the people of
the time thought that the best thing to
do was to isolate him, and that's why
they put him in prison.
So this is where the story starts today.
And while he was in prison, two men
came to him, and they said that we've
had dreams, and we want you to interpret
those dreams.
So ayah number 36 is where that starts
off.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَدَخَلَ
مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ Two young men also entered
the prison with him, and according to certain
riwayat, Suddhi says that the reason that these
two were in prison was because they were
suspected of trying to poison the king.
So because of that suspicion and that accusation
against them, they both had been put into
prison.
So they said to Yusuf a.s. that
one of them said, إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ خَمْرًا
I see myself that I am squeezing wine.
Squeezing wine means that I am squeezing grapes
which will ultimately be turned into wine.
So this was the first dream.
According to some Mufasireen, they say that the
people of Amman, meaning the people of Jordan,
they actually call inab, meaning grapes, خَمْرًا.
So the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala used this word, that he was squeezing
wine according to the terminology or the dialect
of Amman, it would be correct to say
that he was, the translation is that he
was squeezing grapes.
Otherwise in normal terminology in Arabic, when you
say خَمْرًا it means alcohol or wine.
So if you take it from that perspective,
it means that he was squeezing grapes that
would ultimately be turned into wine.
So he sees this in his dream and
he tells Yusuf a.s. that this is
my dream, that I am squeezing these grapes
to be turned into wine.
وَقَالَ الْآخَرُ إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَحْمِلُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي خُبْزًا
تَأْكُلُ الطَّيُّمِينَ The other one, he said that
I am seeing in a dream that I
have bread that I am carrying on top
of my head and birds are pecking at
that bread.
نَبِّئْنَا بِالتَّأْوِيلِ Interpret this dream for us.
Interpret these dreams for us.
إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ Indeed, we regard you
as a person who is from the مُحْسِنِين,
the people that bestow favours.
So the word مُحْسِنِين is being used here
and the fact that they regard him as
a person who is good and who has
good attributes and the fact that this إحسان
is something that everybody recognises.
Whether a person is a criminal, bad person,
he's in jail, murderer, but if a person
does إحسان towards somebody, he will recognise and
appreciate that إحسان, he will recognise and appreciate
that good.
So even though these people were criminals or
accused criminals, they were in prison but they
saw the good that was in Yusuf a
.s. They recognised it and they appreciated it.
So this is something we learn from the
verse that Allah uses the word مُحْسِنِين.
Indeed, we regard you as from the people
that do إحسان.
There is one opinion that these two, they
had not actually seen any dream, but they
wanted to simply test Yusuf a.s. just
by giving him, making up a story and
fabricating a dream and asking him to interpret
it.
So this is again one opinion.
While we are on the subject of dreams,
there are three types of dreams that a
person gets and not every dream has a
meaning.
Many people, they think that they have a
dream and they take it very very seriously
that I saw something in my dream and
it must have a meaning and I need
to ask somebody about it and they go
around asking the interpretation of dreams.
So dreams can be of three different kinds.
One is a dream that is related to
one's own psychology.
So a person, for example, he is having
a hard time at work and the manager
is giving him a hard time.
So he dreams about his manager firing him
or giving him, overburdening him with work.
So he has dreams or nightmares, you can
say, about his manager giving him a hard
time.
So this is because this thing is weighing
on his mind.
It's something that is, that is something that
is bothering him.
So he's thinking about it.
So he's going to have the same dreams
while he's sleeping.
The second type of dream is the dream
from the Shaitaan and that type of dream
is a person, for example, he sees nightmares,
he sees jinns, he sees scary things, he
sees him murdering other people, he sees erotic
dreams of the opposite gender and so on.
So these are the dreams that are from
the Shaitaan.
And the third type of dream is a
message from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And that dream, usually it's a very vivid,
a very clear dream which a person remembers
when he wakes up and more often than
not, he is able to work out what
the message was according to what's going on
in his life.
So the Prophet a.s. said that the
dreams of the Muslims are one-forty-sixth
of the wahi of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, meaning the wahi, it finished with the
Prophet a.s. being the last Prophet.
There is no more wahi to come.
But this one sample of wahi still remains
amongst the humans and that wahi is that
possibility that a dream may be from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So this is something to keep in mind.
Not every dream has a message, not every
dream is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
but usually if that dream is very clear,
it is vivid and it has a message
for you, for the most part you'll be
able to figure out what that message is
and usually these dreams will occur before Fajr
time and not after Fajr.
If it's after Fajr, then usually it should
not be taken into consideration.
Before Fajr time is when those dreams with
meanings will occur.
So in any case, these people, they came
and they said, we've had these dreams, whether
they fabricated the dreams or not, there are
two opinions about that.
So then Yusuf a.s. said, قَالَ لَا
يَأْتِكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَعْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ
أَن يَأْتِيَكُمَا So Yusuf a.s. he didn't
just tell them the dream, he didn't tell
them the meaning of the dream straight away.
He thought this is a good opportunity to
give them da'wah and call them towards
Islam.
So they already have become close to me
and I should not let them go and
let them continue in the shirk and the
kufr that they're in.
I need to avail of this opportunity and
make sure that the fact that they appreciate
my ihsan, they appreciate my manners, they should
understand why I have these manners and why
I do this good.
It's not simply because I'm a good human
being, but because this is something that is
part of my teaching.
The fact that I am a prophet from
Allah s.w.t. and I have a
message for them.
So he decided that he will not only
give them the interpretation of the dream, but
also he would give them the message of
tawheed and the message of Islam.
And he wanted them to get a further
proof that he's not just a regular human
being.
When a person interprets a dream, it could
be right, it could be wrong.
By chance, it could have been correct.
Any person can interpret a dream and it
could possibly become true.
But he decided to show these people that
it's not just an art of interpreting dreams
that I have.
I'm also given specific knowledge that is from
Allah s.w.t. And he said to
them that I will tell you the food
that you're about to eat and the food
that you're about to be served today by
the prison guards, the food that you're going
to be given, I'm going to tell you
about it.
So this fortified within them, strengthened within them,
the belief that Yusuf a.s. is not
just any person, he's not a normal person,
he is a very special person, so he
must be connected to Allah s.w.t.
So he said, قَالَ لَا يَأْتِكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ
إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمَا He said
that whenever any type of food is about
to be given to you, I will be
able to tell you about it before it
comes to you.
So to strengthen their belief in him that
he's not a normal person.
ذَلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي So he didn't take
that power to himself.
He didn't say that I have superpowers or
anything like that.
He said this is what my Lord has
taught me.
So that Lord that taught me, that means
that I want you to follow the same
Lord.
I have that connection with Allah s.w
.t. and I want you to have that
same connection with Allah s.w.t. إِنِّي
تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ
وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ I have left the way of
the people that did not have iman in
Allah s.w.t. and they denied the
Akhira and they were denying and disbelieving in
the Akhira and the hereafter.
وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ So the question is
that Yusuf a.s. he's born in a
household of prophets, right?
Yaqub a.s. is his father and he's
a prophet.
He's born in that household.
So how is he saying that I have
left such a people that had no iman
in Allah s.w.t. and they are
denying the hereafter.
Why did he say that?
So what it means is that I didn't
adopt any type of kufr or shirk at
all.
So not adopting it means that I have
left it.
Not adopting it means that I have left
kufr and shirk.
I have not made it part of my
life.
So that means I've left it and it's
not something that I've even touched in my
life.
So إِنِّي تَرَبْتُ I have left the way
of a people that have no iman in
Allah and they deny the existence of the
hereafter.
وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ آبَائِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبُ And I
followed the way of my forefathers Ibrahim, Ishaq
and Yaqub in that order, right?
Yaqub a.s. was the son of Ishaq
a.s. Ishaq a.s. was the son
of Ibrahim a.s. and Yusuf a.s.
is the son of Yaqub a.s. So
once the Prophet a.s. was asked مَنْ
أَكْرَمُ النَّاسِ So at the end of the
hadith he said يُسُفْ إِبْنُ نَبِيِ اللَّهِ إِبْنُ
خَلِيلِ اللَّهِ Yusuf is a prophet.
He is the son of a prophet of
Allah.
He is the son of a prophet of
Allah and he is the son of Khalilullah
Ibrahim a.s. meaning four generations of prophets
in this family tree.
So the fact that he said that I've
left people in the previous ayah it means
that I didn't adopt any type of shirk
in my life.
Not that he was a disbeliever and then
he came back to Islam.
Not that.
He has never touched any type of shirk
in his life.
That is what is meant.
So he says that I followed the way
of my forefathers Ibrahim a.s., Ishaq a
.s. and Yaqub a.s. مَا كَانَ لَنَا
أَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ And there was
no chance that any one of us could
make shirk with Allah s.w.t. And
this again strengthens what I just said earlier
that we didn't commit shirk at all.
We didn't touch shirk at all.
None of us committed shirk.
ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَكِنَّ
أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ This is the fadl
and the blessing of Allah s.w.t.
upon the people, upon us and upon the
people but most people are not grateful.
So why did Allah s.w.t. use
the word وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ Because
the fact that Allah s.w.t. sent
prophets time and again to guide humanity and
to guide them to the truth to guide
them to the straight path.
This is the biggest reason that we should
be grateful to Allah s.w.t. He
didn't just leave us to find our own
way.
The people that were left to find their
own way they, many of them started worshipping
the sun.
Many started worshipping the moon.
Many started worshipping fire.
And many started worshipping idols.
And then Allah s.w.t. He sent
the Prophets s.w.t. to guide them
and tell them that what they're doing is
wrong.
So the fact that Allah s.w.t.
kept on sending prophets this is the biggest
reason why we should be grateful.
So that's why Yusuf a.s. says that
this, the fact that Anbiya Ali s.a
.w. came this is the big fadl of
Allah s.w.t. upon us and upon
the people.
But most people they are not grateful for
this blessing that was given to them.
And then he says, and this is now
after he's fortified this belief in them that
Yusuf a.s. is not a normal person.
He has a high status.
He is, he's coming from a lineage of
prophets.
And he's not touched shirk in his life.
At this point, he starts to give them
da'wah.
And starts to invite them towards Islam.
And for them to leave the shirk that
they're committing.
He says to them, يَا صَاحِبَ يَسِجْنُ أَأَرْبَابٌ
مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِنْ لَهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَحَارُ O my
partners of the prison.
And he says it in such a loving
way.
صاحب, صاحب means companion.
And any person who's a companion of yours
is called صاحب.
صاحب السفر صاحب الفصل صاحب المدرسة And even
your partner, your domestic partner in Arabic is
known as صاحب.
So, he used very endearing terms to get
them close.
And he said, O my partners of the
prison.
O my companions of the prison.
أَأَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ Different and many many gods.
Are they better or one supreme powerful god?
Is that better?
So this is again, when a person has
so many things in his mind, so many
distractions in his mind, he cannot work.
So, for example, when a person is focused
on the job at hand, and he's focused
on one job, he can do that job,
and he can focus on it, and he
can do the best job.
If his manager gives him five or six
different tasks that have to be completed by
the end of the day, then his mind
is confused.
It's going everywhere.
The same thing applies to the oneness of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You know, a person when he believes in
different gods, he thinks, which god am I
supposed to talk to now?
Am I supposed to talk to this god
or this god or this god or this
god?
This confusion, it messes up a person's mind.
So, better, why not, to worship one supreme
Allah that you can turn to on every
single occasion, and he hears you, and you
talk to him, and you confide in him,
and that connection is unique and focused.
So, this is what this ayah means, that
mutafarriq and different gods and confusing gods, are
they better or one powerful supreme god?
In another verse of the Qur'an, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says, لَوْ كَانَتِهِمَا آلِحْتٌ
إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَ In this world, if there
was more than one god, then there would
be corruption on the earth.
There would be turmoil on the earth.
Why?
Because one god says, okay, we need to
make it rain, the other god says, no,
we need to make it sunny, and arguments
would take place between them.
Okay, so this is one point of aqeedah
that we should remember, that if somebody asks
you the question, okay, what if there were
many gods, and they agreed to do something
together, and they stayed united.
Okay, if one says, okay, let's make it
rain today, the other says, okay, let's have
it rain today, and then one god says,
okay, let's make it sunny today, and the
other one agrees, okay, let's make it sunny
today.
So, the answer to this question is, that
the fact that this second god is agreeing
with the first god, this is not what
a god is about.
A god cannot submit to another god.
The fact that he's submitting is a sign
of weakness, and weakness cannot be in a
god.
So, even if they were agreeing with each
other, so still, that cannot be correct, because
one is weak, and the other is strong,
and weakness cannot be part of a god.
So, even with that agreement, that it cannot
be that gods can be more than one.
It can only be one, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So, he goes on to say, he continues
his dawah to these people, and says, ما
تعبدون من دونه إلا أسماءاً سميتموها أنتم وأباؤكم
ما أنزل الله بها من سلطان You have
not been worshipping except names.
Just names.
You've just made up names, and you've just
made them up, and you started worshipping them.
Where did these gods come from?
You see these Hindu gods, and you see
one with a monkey head, and one with
an elephant head, where did they come from?
Mythology.
Made up.
Fabricated.
No history, except human invented gods.
And this we can, wherever there's idolatry, wherever
there's shirk, all of these things are fabricated.
So, Yusuf a.s. is saying that, إلا
أسماءاً سميتموها These are names that you have
made up.
You have fabricated them.
أنتم وأباؤكم You and your forefathers did this.
مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَان Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala never sent any type of
proof that these are your gods.
Allah is the one who is your god.
He's the only one worthy of worship.
And in الحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ Allah says that,
the decision and the judgement is only for
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Not for these gods that you're worshipping other
than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ And He has
commanded that you should not worship anyone except
for Him.
Him and Him alone.
إِيَّاهُ means only Him.
Nobody else.
ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ That is the straight and
the established religion.
That is the straight path.
ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
But most people, they're not aware.
They don't have the knowledge.
And again, the knowledge is what leads to
Tawheed.
True knowledge is what leads to Tawheed.
If a person doesn't have knowledge, that's why
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala used the word
عِلْم here.
True knowledge makes a person recognize Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Recognize His oneness.
Recognize Tawheed.
إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنَ عِبَادِهِ كَالُعُلَمَاءِ The ones
that have the most khashiyah of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala are the ones who are
the true ulama.
So Allah says وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Most people, they don't have knowledge.
They don't have knowledge.
Therefore, they don't have true and complete Tawheed.
That's why they worship gods other than Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
With that, we finish.
And then next week, the first ayah will
actually talk about the interpretation of the dreams
of these young men.
InshaAllah, we'll discuss that next week.
I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives us tawfiq to understand and practice.
Qur'an we said and heard.