Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah Yusuf Ayah 80 onwards 01022017
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AI: Transcript ©
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed
Satan.
We continue the tafsir of Surah Yusuf and
InshaAllah we are going to start from Ayah
number 80 today.
In the last lesson, we learned that Yusuf
a.s. he kept back his brother Binyamin
by planning to accuse him of stealing something
and this was all pre-planned between him
and his brother Binyamin and basically the plan
went ahead.
Binyamin was accused of stealing and then he
was taken into captivity because of the rules
of the time that the person who is
caught stealing, he becomes a slave of the
victim of the theft and this is basically
how Binyamin was kept behind and the other
brothers were let go.
The story continues that now the brothers have
tried their best to try to persuade Yusuf
a.s. to let their brother go but
Yusuf is saying no, I am not going
to let him go, if I do that
then obviously this will be a wrong on
our part that we are not punishing the
criminal for the theft that he has committed
so we have to keep him in captivity
and you have to go.
So the next ayah that we are going
to continue from today is that they have
now lost hope in taking Binyamin back and
now they step outside and in seclusion they
are talking amongst each other.
When they lost hope from him, meaning when
they lost hope from taking Binyamin back.
So this word istai'asa, it is from
the root letter Ya'isa, Ya'isa means
to lose hope, to be despondent.
But istai'asa, one of the rules in
Arabic is that the more words you add,
the more extra letters you add, two root
letters, it gives more of a meaning.
So the root letter is still Ya'isa
but istai' this extra letters taking it
into people who know Arabic will know the
terminology from mujarrid, three letters, only three letters
to what's known as mazeed fi, three root
letters plus additional letters, it gives the meaning
of losing, more than losing hope.
They basically became very upset, very despondent and
you know they lost hope completely and they
are now completely confused, now they don't know
what to do.
So when they had this feeling of losing
hope, khalasu najiya, they basically set out and
exited and they started talking amongst themselves, they
had munajat, secret talks amongst themselves.
So the word khalasu, it means they basically
escaped outside, this is plural and naji, it
is singular.
So a person may think that how is
it that khalasu is plural and naji is
singular.
So there are actually other examples of that
found in the Quran that we will find
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wal
malaikatu ba'da thalika thahir, al malaika it is
plural and thahir at the end is singular.
So it means the angels after that become
helpers.
So why is it plural, malaika is plural
and thahir is singular?
The answer to that, the mufasireen say, it
means that the angels in helping each other,
they become like one unit and because they
become like one unit, then it is basically
like they are one and that is why
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes them in
singular form.
And there is another verse in the Quran
which Ibrahim a.s. is talking to his
people and telling them the folly and the
foolishness of worshipping statues.
He says, fa innahum aduwwu li illa rabbil
alameen, they are all my enemy.
So innahum, it is plural referring to all
the statues but aduwwu, it is singular.
So basically the meaning is that collectively all
of them, they are my enemy as if
they are one unit together and my enmity
towards them, it's as if they are one
unit.
That's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses
singular terminology.
So here, they started talking amongst themselves in
secret, again as if they are one unit.
That's why they have been described as being
singular even though they are plural.
qala kabiruhum alam ta'lamu anna baakum qad
akhaza alaykum mawthiqan min yusufa wa min qabluma
farrattum fi yusuf.
So the eldest amongst them, he started talking
the first and he started saying that do
you not know that your father, he took
a promise from you and that promise was
an oath with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
mawthiqan min Allah, an oath keeping Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala as a witness.
wa min qabluma farrattum fi yusufa and before
this, you did a lot in terms of
going to extremes with yusuf, our brother.
So seemingly, it seems that he is guilty
and he is upset.
But if you really think about it, so
what did he says?
He says in the next verse, I'm going
to stay outside wandering in the earth, in
the desert until my father gives me permission
to come back or Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, he makes a decision for me.
And he is the best of the judges.
So really, this statement of his, it seemingly,
it is full of guilt and remorse for
what has been done before.
But actually, there is a lot of blame
game going on here in the, if you
look at the wording carefully and also if
you think about it, he's not really thinking
about the feelings of the father.
What he's doing, he is basically trying to
escape from being blamed.
If you look at the wording, he said,
did you not know that your father took
a promise from you?
Now, if you many of you are parents
here and when the parents, the mother and
the father have a dispute about the trouble
that a child is causing, the father says
to the mother, look what your son is
doing.
Look what your son is doing.
At that point, it's not my son.
It's your son.
Look what your son is doing right now.
Take care of your son.
He's fooling around or change the diaper of
your daughter.
Okay, she's messed up the diaper.
So the wording that the this brother is
using said your father took promise from you.
And the extremes you went to in what
you did with Yusuf.
So he's first of all, he is basically
escaping from the fact that he's my father
also and he's also pointing the finger at
all of the rest of the brothers that
you did some wrong when it came to
Yusuf and then he says I'm going to
stay outside.
I'm going to not go back home because
I do not want to be blamed basically.
I'm going to wander around on the earth
until my father gives me permission or Allah
SWT gives a judgment for me and he
is the best of the judges.
Okay, so he doesn't think that the father
he's already lost two sons and now he
will become the third.
So his loss will make it even more
difficult for the father, right?
He doesn't think from that perspective.
So this is again.
If you look at the wording carefully, it
seems like rather than feeling sorry for the
father and feeling bad about the wrong that
they've done with Yusuf.
He's actually trying to save himself from being
blamed by the father.
So again, he says to the energy or
illa be cool return to your father go
back to your father again, not my father
in this case, not our father but go
back to your father for cool.
Yeah a burner in the neck a setup
and tell him tell him all of you
tell him that your son he stole again
your son not our brother stole, but your
son stole.
And we do not witness except for what
we know and we do not we are
guardians of the unseen meaning what we witness
with our eyes was that the cup came
out of the baggage of the luggage and
the backpack of our brother Ibn Yameen and
basically it seems that he actually stole so
we cannot we cannot say anything contrary to
that.
He must have been the thief.
He must have stolen it and we cannot
we cannot stick up for him in this
particular case because it you know, all of
the fingers and all of the evidence is
pointing against him and if there's anything unseen
and something which is different to this only
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala knows and to provide
further proof.
And if the father objects then tell him
to ask the village in which we were
in and the caravan in which we came.
So first of all, can you ask a
village a village is a collection of houses
collection of properties in a small place.
So you cannot ask a village.
So what it means is ask the dwellers
of the village that you know, they are
the witnesses of this but also there's a
fine meaning that some of us have said
and that is that we are so sure
that we are telling you the truth that
even the houses of the village and the
stones of the village and the trees of
the village.
They will even bear witness and they will
provide testimony that we are telling the truth.
This is another fine meaning that we can
derive from the wording that ask the village
meaning that we are so sure of our
testimony and we're so truthful that even the
rocks and the houses and the trees and
everything of the village.
They will provide testimony on our behalf, but
the usual meaning is that ask the dwellers
of the village the people that live in
the village and the caravan in which we
came in meaning the dwellers of the caravan
the people of the caravan not the actual
camels and so on.
But again, you can take the same meaning
here that you even if the camels were
given a tongue they would provide testimony on
our behalf.
What in the last article so again, the
meaning is asked the village in which we
were in and the caravan in which we
came were in the Saudi phone.
We are truthful and again, there's a lot
of emphasis here in now.
It is for stress the lamb is for
stress and Saudi phone.
It is in the form of it's in
the form of a noun which provides even
more emphasis.
So three forms of emphasis saying that indeed
we are truly truthful.
There is no doubt about it.
In the Saudi phone, so this is now
they are actually standing in front of Yaqub
alayhi salam and I've mentioned before that the
Quran doesn't go into useless details.
It goes from point to point straight away.
So the brother told them go to your
father explain the situation to him and basically
now they've done that exactly as the brother
said and now Yaqub alayhi salam is speaking.
So this is known as a jazz of
the Quran keeping the point point to point
and not going into extra detail, which is
useless.
So Yaqub alayhi salam said all of us.
In fact, your nests has made this situation
very easy for you.
There are two meanings of so well, so
well when it is connected to the shaytan,
it means that the shaytan led you astray.
And also in this in this context, we
can use the same meaning that your nests
led you astray meaning when it came to
Yusuf alayhi salam, you are jealous of him
and your nests it led you astray.
But also some water can mean that when
you take something very easy, okay, you lose
a lot of money and you take it
easy and you have a loss of life
and you take it easy like it's no
big deal.
So this can also mean that.
Yaqub alayhi salam is saying that look, I've
lost three sons now three sons.
They are not with me.
And now obviously and you people the rest
of my sons are taking it so easy.
You're not making it.
You're you're thinking that it's not a big
deal.
So sabr jameel is what I need to
adopt which is I have to adopt patience.
Maybe Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is going to
bring all of them back to me.
So the third son is the one that
is being referred to he didn't simply refer
to Yusuf and bin yameen, but the third
one also is referring to that.
Maybe Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is going to
bring them all back to me.
He is al-alim meaning all-knowing and
al-hakim all wise.
And he turned away from them and he
said, oh loss.
Oh, my loss upon Yusuf.
It is a terminology which is used in
Arabic and it is used to denote sorrow
and to denote that a person is very
upset.
So he said, oh woe is me in
the situation of Yusuf.
So again, the question is why again Yusuf
bin yameen has been lost.
The third son is lost, but why Yusuf
again?
So the answer to that question the mufasireen
say that bin yameen was very similar to
Yusuf alayhi salam in his features and so
on and he reminded him of Yusuf.
So now the loss of bin yameen reinvigorated
in him the loss of Yusuf.
So he started thinking of Yusuf again.
Maybe that sorrow had gone down a little
bit, but now the loss of bin yameen
has reinvigorated that sorrow and he's upset about
Yusuf alayhi salam again.
So he said, oh my loss upon Yusuf
and his eyes became white out of sorrow.
Meaning he cried so much that the darkness
of the eyes it became white and according
to some understandings, he actually became blind.
So and this later on we find that
the return of Yusuf alayhi salam and his
shirt made him retrieve his eyesight.
So his eyes became white out of sorrow
while he is it means a person who
swallows his and keeps his sorrow and his
grief inside.
So while he's keeping his grief inside he
is he's also crying and he's also losing
his eyesight at the same time.
So the question some people might ask is
how is it that he is a prophet
and he is crying over the loss of
his sons.
Should he have sabr and should he be
patient?
So the answer to that question is that
there is a natural type of sorrow that
Islam does not forbid us from displaying and
that sorrow is to cry in a natural
way to express one sorrow in a natural
way.
The thing that is prohibited is to make
a sound and scream and shout scratch your
face and slap your face and tear your
clothes put sand on your on your head.
This is what used to go on in
the in the days of Jahiliyyah and even
now if you go to some places, this
is done a lot of times.
It is just women acting and and basically
just making noise because of tradition.
Okay, so that is what is prohibited.
It is mentioned that the prophet aleyhissalatu wasalam
when his son Ibrahim was passing away he
had him in his lap and he was
his son was breathing his last and he
started crying.
So the Sahaba around him.
They said ya Rasulullah didn't you forbid us
from crying at the at the loss of
someone prophet aleyhissalatu wasalam said no, this is
not what I prohibited you from the prohibition
that I prohibited you from the thing that
I prohibited you from was to cry and
to wail and to make noise and to
scratch your face slap your face to rip
your clothes.
This is the thing that I have forbidden
you from and according to another Rewire.
It is a very famous thing of the
prophet aleyhissalatu wasalam when he is addressing Ibrahim
aleyhissalatu wasalam as he's dying.
He said indeed the eye flows with tears
and the heart it is upset.
It is grieving.
Say anything except that is pleasing to our
Lord.
Indeed O Ibrahim, we are upset at your
loss at the fact that we're losing you
O Ibrahim.
We are really upset.
So this is narrated from prophet aleyhissalatu wasalam
when he's losing his son and as we
know as I've mentioned many times before the
prophet aleyhissalatu wasalam actually lost all of his
children except Fatima before he passed away.
So just imagine how many times he had
to go through that same grief over and
over again that difficulty that one has to
endure the natural inclination for one person is
to think that I should pass away before
my children and my children should be the
ones to bury me.
But when you have to bury your own
children, that is extremely difficult for a person.
So the fact that the prophet aleyhissalatu wasalam
had to go through it so many times
and he had to have this grief so
many times.
So this grief is a natural grief at
the loss of one's children and this is
not something that is forbidden and prohibited in
Sharia.
Sharia is about natural instinct and following nature
to stop oneself from crying forcefully.
It is against nature.
It is against what your body wants to
do.
And when a person tries to hold himself
so much and he doesn't let himself go
and doesn't allow himself to cry that is
actually worse for a person.
Mentally a person becomes very disturbed when that
happens.
So the fact that Yaqub aleyhissalatu wasalam is
upset and he's crying.
This is not against nature and it was
perfectly fine and we should not have any
objection to it.
So the people around him they started saying
قَالُوا تَلَّهِ تَفْتَأُ تَذْكُرُ يُوسُفَةَ حَتَّى تَكُونَ حَرَضًا
أَوْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْهَالِكِينَ They said we swear
by Allah.
You're going to continuously remember Yusuf.
تَفْتَأُ تَذْكُرُ يُوسُفَةَ This is known as fa
'il naqis in Arabic.
You're going to continuously remember Yusuf حَتَّى تَكُونَ
حَرَضًا Until you're going to become Harad.
Harad specifically it means that a person becomes
sick to such a degree that he becomes
close to death.
Okay, that that is what the word Harad
means.
So you're going to become so sick that
you're going to take yourself to your grave
أَوْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْهَالِكِينَ Or you're going to
be from the people that are destroyed.
So Haliq also means the same thing to
become destroyed and to die in grief and
the word Harad it is to become sick
so much so that a person becomes close
to death or أَوْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْهَالِكِينَ Or
you will actually die and you will leave
this world.
So basically they told him to calm down
and not to be so upset inshallah.
We'll continue with the next ayah.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us tawfiq
to understand and practice what has been said
and heard.