S. Yusuf, 111c: All Things Explained

 

لَقَدْ كَانَ فِى قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ ۗ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَىٰ وَلَٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

In their stories, there is truly a lesson for people of reason. This message cannot be a fabrication, rather a confirmation of previous revelation, a detailed explanation of all things, a guide, and a mercy for people of faith. Surah Yusuf, Ayah 111.

1. The word "HADEES" is one of the ways Arabs address speech. Allah also addresses His speech using this word. When that happens, it becomes sacred but if it is about someone else's speech, then it is not sacred.
2. In this Ayah, "HADEES" can be interpreted in two ways. The first way is that it is "speech". In this interpretation, the word "HADEES" is sacred.
3. The phrase "HADEESAN YUFTARA" seems to be a complex "MOWSOOF SIFA" (Noun and Adjective). 
4. Stories are associated with entertainment and glorifying their ancestors. Allah is saying that this is not that kind of talk. 
5. This is also a kind of subtle criticism of the Jews and Christians as to what they did with the stories of the Prophets, especially in the context of Yusuf(AS)'s story.
6. The word "YUFTARA" is a verb that is turned into an adjective. 
7. The purpose of turning a verb into an adjective is to reduce the possibility of the action happening. So, here, Allah says that this couldn't possibly be a made-up speech. That possibility is completely being destroyed here.
8. The word "IFTARA" is a synonym of "IKHTILAAF" which means "to come up with something creative."

9. It comes from the root letters "FA", "RA" and "YA". The word "FARI" is originally used for turning the skin of an animal into something new like a purse or shoe.

10. The word "IFTARA" is from the "IQTARABA" family. This family gives the meaning of "an extremeness in the act."

11. So, "FARA" means "he cut the skin and made something new", "IFTARA" means "he cut it too harshly" or "he went too far while cutting."

12. Overtime, this word started being used when people tell a story that was different from what actually happened, basically when people lied.

13. The word "MAA" and "YUFTARA" show that Allah is talking to the deniers.

14. This speech is given by Allah not only to the Quraysh, but it is also to the Jews living near Makkah. So, the word "FARA" is again confronting them about what they did with the stories, especially Yusuf(AS)'s story.

15. The beauty of learning the Qur'an is that it never stops. Even though Surah Yusuf is ending, if we start over, we will find things that we didn't find this time.

16. As we learn new things, our thought process evolves and if we learn it again, our new thought process will show us new things.

17. Even though we firmly believe that the Qur'an is from Allah, there are highly educated people who do Ph.D. level theses on "Why the Qur'an is man-made." and "How it was copied from the Bible."

18. The problem is that they start with a bias, a conclusion, and then try to morph everything to fit their conclusion.

19. Unlock your heart and discard your biases, then open the Qur'an and read it. Your research on the Qur'an should form a conclusion, not the other way around.

20. The Ayah shows us that the only people who will get the lessons from the stories are the people of sound minds and hearts. So, when you are that way, the stories will begin to unpack little by little and you will see more and more miraculous lessons.

21. This was revealed in the late Makkah period, when the Madani Qur'an came down, Allah decided to talk to the Jews directly as shown in Surah Al-Baqarah. By the time, the Prophet(SAW) moved to Madinah, the Jews had already heard about Surah Yusuf. This was important to them because Yaqub(AS) was their father figure and that was their fundamental identity.

22. Now that we know what it is not, Allah shows us what it is.

23. The word "TASDEEQ" is grammatically considered as a "MASDAR". The "MASDAR" can be an "ISM FA'IL" or it can be "ISM MAF'OOL". 

24. According to this, the phrase can mean "It is confirming what is in front of it." and "It is being confirmed by what is in front of it."

25. This means that if the previous scriptures are studied deeply without any bias, then people will find confirmation of the Qur'an in their own books.

26. The next phrase is "a detailed explanation of all things". The problem with that is that the Qur'an doesn't explain science, mathematics, or geography.

27. At the beginning of the Surah, Allah says that there are signs for those who ask questions. And at the end, He says that the Qur'an has an explanation of all things, meaning an explanation to all the questions that you have.

28. All the explanations that are relevant to you have been explained in the Qur'an. Everything that you will go through in life has been explained in the Qur'an. It will help you with what you need throughout your life. The Qur'an satisfies your struggles, not your curiosity. 

29. The word "TAFSEEL" comes from "FASAL". The word "FASAL" gives the meaning of something that is separated yet connected like the two bones in your arm or the bond of love between a mother and her child.

30. Overtime, it started being used for "making decisions" and "explanation".

31. In Arabic, the idea that two things are mixed together is confusing as you don't know where one ends and the other begins. Clarity is associated with separation as after separating, you can see the two things clearly.

32. So, when you look at something, now you will know all the components because Allah has done "FASAL" to it.

33. And even when you are historically and geographically separated from the stories, you will be able to connect and learn from them.

34. It is like a maths problem, even though the answer is different, the process is the same. The process is more important than the answer.

35. Once you have the process, you can have a million problems and you will still be able to solve them.

36. Allah is teaching us to separate things, analyze things, and then you will understand everything if you have its timeless principles.