The statesman continued, "O young man, all prophets were humans, not angels. Ibn Abbas, radhiyallahu 'anhu, said, "They were not from among the residents of the heaven (angels), as you claimed.” This statement of Ibn ‘Abbas is supported by Allah’s statements,
And Allah says,وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلا إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِي الأسْوَاقِ وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًا"And We did not send before you, [O Muhammad], any of the messengers except that they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have made some of you [people] as trial for others - will you have patience? And ever is your Lord, Seeing." – (QS.25:20)
Then Allah said, "Have not these people who rejected you, O Muhammad, traveled in the land and seen the earlier nations that rejected the Messengers, and how Allah destroyed them?" A similar end is awaiting all disbelievers. When they hear this statement, they should realize that Allah destroyed the disbelievers and saved the believers, and this is His way with His creation. This is why Allah said, "Just as We saved the faithful in this life, We also wrote safety for them in the Hereafter, which is far better for them them the life of the present world."وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَمَا كَانُوا خَالِدِينَ"And We did not make the prophets forms not eating food, nor were they immortal [on earth]." – (QS.21:8)
ثُمَّ صَدَقْنَاهُمُ الْوَعْدَ فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُمْ وَمَنْ نَشَاءُ وَأَهْلَكْنَا الْمُسْرِفِينَ"Then We fulfilled for them the promise, and We saved them and whom We willed and destroyed the transgressors." – (QS.21:9)
Allah said next,
Allah's prophet are aided by victory in times of distress and need. Allah states that He sends His aid and support to His Messengers, alayhimussalam, when distress and hardship surround them and they eagerly await Allah’s aid. Mother of believer, Aisha, radhiyallahu 'anha, commented this verse, "This Verse is concerned with the Messengers followers who had faith in their Lord and believed in their Messengers. The period of trials for those followers was long and Allah’s help was delayed until the Messengers gave up hope for the conversion of the disbelievers amongst their nation and suspected that even their followers were shaken in their belief, Allah’s help then came to them."حَتَّى إِذَا اسْتَيْئَسَ الرُّسُلُ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ كُذِبُوا جَاءَهُمْ نَصْرُنَا فَنُجِّيَ مَنْ نَشَاءُ وَلا يُرَدُّ بَأْسُنَا عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ"[They continued] until, when the messengers despaired and were certain that they had been denied, there came to them Our victory, and whoever We willed was saved. And Our punishment cannot be repelled from the people who are criminals." – (QS.12:110)
Our Prophet (ﷺ) was saved multiple times. He was saved on the night of hijrah and the assassination attempt. He was saved in the battle of Badr when there was very little hope otherwise. He was saved in the battles of Aḥzāb and Uḥud. Every single one of these battle situations became very tense.
Then Allah said,
Allah states here that the stories of the Messengers and their nations and how we saved the believers and destroyed the disbelievers are, an ‘ibrah for those of intelligence. ‘Ibrah comes from ‘abara which means to cross over. You cross over the bridge, let’s say. ‘Ibrah is a benefit you derive at a deeper level. You cross over to the hidden or inner meaning. You think about it, cross into an inner meaning, and get an ‘ibrah, a piece of wisdom.لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لأولِي الألْبَابِ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَى وَلَكِنْ تَصْدِيقَ الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ"There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. Never was the Qur'an a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe." – (QS.12:111)
Allah says here that this Qur’an could not have been forged; it truly came from Allah, but a confirmation of that which was before it in reference to the previously revealed Divine Books, by which this Qur’an testifies to the true parts that remain in them, and denies and refutes the forged parts that were added, changed and falsified by people. The Qur’an accepts or abrogates whatever Allah wills of these Books, and a detailed explanation of everything.
The Qur’an deals with the acts of worship, the obligatory and recommended matters, forbids the unlawful and discourages from the disliked. The Qur’an contains major facts regarding the existence and about matters of the future in general terms or in detail. The Qur’an tells us about the Lord, the Exalted and Most Honored, and about His Names and Attributes and teaches us that Allah is glorified from being similar in any way to the creation. Hence, the Qur'an is a guide and a mercy for the people who believe, with which their hearts are directed from misguidance to guidance and from deviation to conformance, and with which they seek the mercy of the Lord of all creation in this life and on the Day of Return. We ask Allah the Most Great to make us among this group in the life of the present world and in the Hereafter, on the Day when those who are successful will have faces that radiate with light, while those whose faces are dark will end up with the losing deal."
The statesman paused for a moment, then said, "O young man, finally, this has been a cursory glance into the story of Yusuf as it has been related in the Qur'an. I don't claim that it has covered all aspects of the story. It is impossible for me or anyone else to do. For the Qur'an is an is an inexhaustible spring. Hence some scholars have said, "The knowledge of the science of Tafsir or Commentary is still a deep sea in which one needs to delve to bring out it invaluable treasures and deduce its wonders and secrets.
So, contemplate, and there is one thing you need to remember, that the stories in the Qur'an are not fabricated fairy tales. The stories are not Hollywood movies and are not fairy tales. They are real stories. Look at it as the way you would look at a real story and a documentary. When we hear a fairy tale, we listen to it from a very different perspective. When we hear a real story, psychologically and subconsciously we listen and hear with a different mind. SubḥānAllāh we all understand. When we watch a Hollywood movie versus a documentary, what is our attitude? Hollywood movie: entertainment. Documentary: it affects you, and you are seeing real images and not acting."
"O young man, we learn from this story is, repentance before committing the sin is not a true repentance. If you commit a sin and say, “Oh, I know I’m guilty. May Allāh forgive me,” that is not a true repentance. Before they committed a crime, the brothers of Yūsuf said, “We’ll do the crime and then Allah will forgive. We are going to make up for it. We are going to be righteous after it.” Their repentance was not accepted at that point in time. It was accepted at the end of the sūrah when they genuinely come and say, “O our father, forgive us. We were sinners.” In the beginning of the sūrah, Allāh glosses over it. This is not repentance; this is a joke. You are going to murder your brother and then say, “May Allah forgive us, we are going to be good after that.” A true repentance has to have the intention not to return to the sin. If you have the intention that you are going to commit the sin, then this is not a true repentance. A true repentance has to have the niyyah or intention that this is the last time you are committing the sin. If it so happens that you do return to the sin, it doesn’t nullify your repentance. The point is that you should have a sincere attempt to not return to the sin. If you do return, you do another repentance. And if you return again, then you repent again. The point is that Allāh does not look at the quantity of sins. Allāh looks at the quality of repentance. It is not the number of times you have committed the sin but the quality of the repentance every single time you commit the sin."
"O young man, the wisdoms of this story is that the believers firāsa is true. Firāsa means intuition and a gut instinct. We believe that a gut instinct is something Allāh sometimes blesses you with. It is not something you can use in a court of law. You cannot consider someone guilty in a court of law because you feel that way. The more righteous you are, the more your moral compass and gut instinct will be rightly guided. This instinct in Arabic is called firāsa. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Beware of the firāsa of the believer because the firāsa of the believer is always true.” Where is the benefit here? When the children came back to Ya‘qūb and said, “Oh, sorry, your son has been eaten by the wolf,” Ya‘qūb knew something was wrong. There was no solid evidence, but his heart is telling him, “My kids are up to no good, and something is wrong. Yūsuf is alive, and they’ve done something wrong.” He doesn’t have any evidence, but he still charges them with a crime. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but you have done something wrong.” The firāsa or inner instinct of the believer is true. When can you use this? You cannot use this to charge anybody with a crime and cannot use it in a court of law. If somebody comes and wants to have a business transaction with you and outwardly he looks like a trustworthy person, but inside you feel that something doesn’t feel right, you are not obligated to engage in a business transaction or in a marriage proposal. If somebody comes and proposes for your son or daughter and you don’t feel about it, it is not a court of law that you have to explain why. If something doesn’t feel right and if this is from Allāh ‘azza wa jall, then there is a reality to it. As we said, the closer you are to Allāh, the more true your intuition is going to be. This is a blessing of being close to Allāh that your intuition will then be rightly guided."
"May Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta‘āla make us amongst the people of īmān and faith. May He make us amongst those who follow the footsteps of the Prophet (ﷺ) as he calls people to the path of Allāh ‘Azza wa Jall. May He make us amongst those who contemplate the Qur'an and extract the wisdoms and benefits and finds the ‘ibrah and make us of the uli’l-bāb. May Allāh ‘Azza wa Jall make us benefit from the wisdom of Ya‘qūb and the patience of Yūsuf and the tawbah of the brothers of Yūsuf. May Allāh ‘azza wa jall make us of the people of the Qur’ān. Amien. Success is from Allah. In Him alone we trust and to Him we turn in repentance."
The wayfarer said, "Amien!" Then he fell asleep.
References :[Part 9]
- Shaikh Shafiurrahman Al-Mubarakpury, Tafsir Ibn Katheer, Abridged Volume 5, Darussalam
- Yasir Qadhi, Behind the Close Door, IOU
- Muhammad Bilal Lakhani, Real Lesson from The Holy Qur'an, Darussalam
- Dr. Mahmood Shakeer Said, A Model for A Muslem Youth in the Story of Yusuf (peace upon him), translated by Khalid Ibraheem Al-Dossary
