Summaries of Nouman Ali Khan Series: Surah Yusuf

  1. The word used for different groups of Ayahs in the Qur'an is called "SOORAH". This word comes from the word "SOOR" which means "the large gates outside a city that are meant for protection."  2. The word "SOORAH" is not the equivalent of "chapter", it is unique to the Qur'an. Similarly, the word "AYAH" is not  the equivalent of "verse", since a verse is always some kind of sentence and Ayah isn't always a sentence. 3. Interestingly, a "SOOR"(protective city wall) is built from down to top whereas Allah says that the "SOORAH" were revealed from top to down. The origin is in the skies, so they can never be scaled and invaded. 4. There are different kinds of studies in the Qu'ran, one of them is "Linear Coherence".  5.  Linear Coherence means how things connect one after the other. Surah Yusuf didn't need much discussion in this area since it is a coherent story and...

  1.   This lecture and presentation are based on the amazing paper on the structure of Surat Yusuf written by Jawad Anwar Qureshi entitled "Ring Composition in Surat Yusuf (Q12)". 2. First let us look at the overall structure. Ayahs 1-3 is the introduction. Ayahs 102-111 are the conclusion. This has been talked about in a very detailed manner in the previous lectures. 3. Ayahs 4-6 are about the dream and it is a conversation between the father and son. A yahs 99-101 are about the dream being fulfilled and it is a conversation between father and son. 4. Ayahs 7-18 are about jealousy, scheming about him(AS) putting in a well which leads to separation. In Ayahs 58-98, the brothers come back again and there is family tension but this time it leads to reunification. 5. Ayahs 19-57 are in the middle. It is about Yusuf(AS)'s life in Egypt. It is all the events from him(AS) being a slave to him(AS) becoming the minister of finance. 6. Now, we are zooming in on the middle part(A...

  1. The pronoun for "you" here is "ANTA" which is a singular masculine. So, Allah is  directly   talking to the Prophet(SAW) and by extension, to us. 2. In these Ayahs, Allah is continuously criticizing the audience of the Prophet(SAW). 3. The most common form of "SHIRK" in Makkah at that time was associating daughters, angels, and saints with Allah so that they could falsely feel safe even though they were messing up. 4.  This shows us that people who do "SHIRK" become clueless because it makes them feel falsely secure. 5. The words of the Prophet(SAW) in Ayah 108 are an echo of his(SAW)'s father Ibrahim(AS). 6. In Ayah 109, Allah is telling that the practice of sending messengers to a nation is not new. It has happened many times before. 5. The Quraysh used to travel by the ruins of Aad, Thamud, and Egypt when trading. So, they must have wondered what happened to these people.  6. The Qur'an came and told them what happened to them and...

  1. Structure and organization is the backbone of communicating. The most effective people in our lives are the ones who speak in an organized manner.  2.  There is a divine organization of the Qur'an. This organization doesn't meet the standard that exists in the human mind.  3.  Science was discovered because we reflected upon the structure and organization of Allah's creation. Mathematics boils down to structure. 4. One of the criticisms against the Qur'an is that there is no structure in the Qur'an, that it is all in chaos. The study of the organization of the Qur'an shatters this illusion. 5. The subjects and the themes in the Qur'an are connected to each other. Something that has been barely mentioned at one place gets explained in another place. 6. The introduction(opening) of Surah Yusuf is the Ayahs 1-3 and the Ayahs 102-110 is the  concluding(closing) passage . الٓر ۚ تِلْكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ  ٱلْمُبِينِ    إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ ق...