Surat Yusuf & The Final Messenger (S) - Conclusion

 

1. A relative of the Prophet(SAW) who had great political power in Makkah was Abu Sufyan. After Uhud, he hasn't yet accepted Islam so he was mocking the Muslims and said "My people are mutilating your dead bodies, I'm not doing it but I'm not going to stop it either."

2. In the story of  Yusuf(AS), we see that it is not all the brothers that are speaking, only one brother is speaking but everyone is going along with it.

3. Evil doesn't take place because everyone is evil. Evil takes place because some people are evil and the rest of the people go along with the evil plans.

4. Not standing up for truth and goodness in an appropriate way even though you are not engaging in the plan is helping the evil grow.

5. Then way later, after Hudaibiyyah, some part of Quraysh violated the treat so Muslims could rightfully invade Makkah. The Prophet(SAW) camped outside Makkah and was planning to invade the following morning. Abu Sufyan comes to ask the Prophet(SAW) with his young son and a man who is also the cousin of the Prophet(SAW). The Prophet(SAW) initially refuses to meet them. This is not him(SAW) being heartless, this is just that he(SAW) knows that this is not the right time to deal with them and so he(SAW) takes a hard stance.

6. The brothers came to Yusuf(AS) and he(AS) told them to get their brother the next time they came. Or else they won't get provisions. This is not him(AS) being heartless but rather it is him(AS) setting certain boundaries for the brothers.

7. When the narrator sent the message that the Prophet(SAW) didn't want to meet them. Abu Sufyan says "I swear to God, he better give permission to meet me or I will grab this hand of my child here and we will both go into the desert and die out of starvation." Then the Prophet(SAW) felt pity and he(SAW) agreed to meet them. They came and accepted Islam. So, he used his son to plead for going easy on him.

8. When Yusuf(AS) detained Bin Yameen, the brothers said that he has an old father and he needs his son. So they tried to plead to free Bin Yameen by using the father. 

9. After accepting Islam, Abu Sufyan wrote a poem on his conversion to Islam. It is a long poem but there are some similarities between the way he describes what happened and what happens in the story of Yusuf(AS).

10. This is an extract from the Poem, as you read it think about the brothers of Yusuf(AS):

A guide has finally given me guidance and it wasn't myself. He got to me along with Allah and it is someone that I harmed and I got in the way of and I hurt him in every possible way I could. I stopped myself and I stopped him and I created obstacles, struggling against Muhammad at every turn. And I'm being a family by Muhammad even though I never wanted to acknowledge that connection. 

11. Now he is describing the Quraysh, as you read it think about the brothers of Yusuf(AS):

They are what they are. And whoever speaks against their whims, even if he is a person of vision(same word used for the dream in the Qur'an), he will be blamed and he will be considered insane[think about Yaqub(AS)]. I wanted to please them and go along with them(just like the less aggressive brothers) but I'm not stuck with them anymore.

12. Abu Sufyan came to the Prophet(SAW) because he wanted the Prophet(SAW) to give dignity and honor the family ties and pardon him.

The brothers, after knowing that he(AS) was Yusuf(AS), to give them dignity and honor the family ties and pardon them.  

13. Abu Sufyan was humbled before the Prophet(SAW) by circumstances.

The brothers were humbled before Yusuf(AS) by circumstances.

14. The next morning, Abu Sufyan was at the narrow ledge of Makkah where all of the army people were going to pass by. Abu Sufyan was shocked as he saw more and more people of Arabia coming by. Finally he saw the Prophet(SAW) and the elite battalions surrounding him. He finally realized how helpless he was. 

15. The Quraysh who was at the top of the world now felt tiny when they saw this army.

The brothers who said that they were a strong band of people now humble themselves and felt small when they saw that Yusuf(AS) had the entire Egyptian empire at his disposal.

16. In a weak narration, The Prophet(SAW), in a public address to Makkah after the conquest, is said to have said "Praise and gratitude belong entirely to Allah who is true in His Promise."

At the end of the story, Yusuf(AS) said "My Master made my dream come true."

17. The "promise" here can also refer to the dream of doing Hajj that the Prophet(SAW) got.

18. The narration continues and the Prophet(SAW) goes on to say "He aided His slaves and He did away with all that the different factions that were against Him all by Himself.

Yusuf(AS) had different groups of people that were against him(AS) going from the brothers to the tradesmen who sold him(AS) to the wife of the minister and the other women.

19. The Prophet(SAW) addresses the Quraysh and says "What do you have to say and what do you think?"

Yusuf(AS) also asks the brothers "Do you know what you did with Yusuf and his brother?"

20. The Quraysh responded "We say goodness please and we were thinking goodness also. We have a noble brother and he is the son of a noble brother. And you have power now(so you can go easy on us).

21. The Prophet(SAW) says "So I say today as my brother Yusuf said, "no harm at all and no humiliation thereafter shall fall upon you today. May Allah forgive you and He is the one who has the most love and care of any that can show love and care."

22. This is the concluding speech of Yusuf(AS) being tied to the Seerah of the Prophet(SAW). The Prophet(SAW) literally saw himself(SAW) in the same position as Yusuf(AS) at that moment. 

23. The Prophet(SAW) called Yusuf(AS) brother because they were both sons of Ibrahim(AS) and while Yusuf(AS) was staying true to the principles of Ibrahim(AS), the Prophet(SAW) was restoring the legacy of Ibrahim(AS). 

24. The stories of the Prophets in the Qur'an are in many ways commentaries and insights of what the Prophet(SAW) and the people around him(SAW) were going through. And also they become commentaries of what is going on in our lives.

25. We tend to think of events as something that is stuck in history. The Qur'an teaches us that events are timeless principles. The events in the Qur'an are like formulas. If you observe them carefully, you will see the formula being repeated in many different situations. And instead of remembering formulas, you will remember the stories.

26. Kids, who watch a lot of stuff online, do this on a very shallow level. They will be talking to someone and something will remind them about some dialogue from some movie or a line from a song and they will repeat it jokingly. We need to be able to do this with the Qur'an. 

27. Stories should be alive to us, not just a boring history lesson. That is why Allah said, "In it, is your mention." The word "ZIKR" here is used in Surah Maryam when Allah says that "˹This is˺ a reminder of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah." It is as if Allah is saying "I'm talking about Zakariya but at the same time I'm talking about you."