Joseph

This is the single longest story in the Quran and is not repeated anywhere else in the Book.

The story began when Yusuf saw a dream about himself and his family, which came true at the end of the surah.

Yusuf's half-brothers became very jealous of him so they decided to get rid of him by faking his death.

Because of what the brothers did, Yusuf was sold as a slave and ended up in jail even though he was innocent.

Allah blessed Yusuf with the ability to understand dreams.

This helped him get out of jail, after he explained the meaning of the King's dream.

As the new Chief Minister, Yusuf was able to save Egypt from years of food shortage.

Even though Yusuf came to power, he did not take revenge against his brothers.

Instead, he helped and forgave them.

Yusuf's whole family was reunited in Egypt.

The Prophet (ﷺ) is advised to keep inviting others to Islam, knowing that Allah will always support him.

Even though prophets go through tests and challenges, they always succeed with Allah's help.

Eventually, Yusuf's older brothers were so blinded by jealousy that they decided to get rid of him.

At first, they made a plan to kill him before changing their mind to just throwing him into a faraway well.

He was later picked up by a group of travelers, who sold him as a slave to the Chief Minister of Egypt.

Yusuf had been blessed with beauty and the ability to explain dreams.

When he matured, the Chief Minister's wife tried to attract him to her, but he refused.

She made up a story and complained to her husband to get Yusuf in trouble.

Even though he was innocent, he ended up in jail for many years.

In jail, Yusuf got to know 2 other prisoners.

Each of them had a dream and Yusuf was able to explain their dreams.

One of the prisoners eventually went back to serve the King.

One day, the King had a nightmare that no one was able to explain.

The former prisoner got Yusuf to explain that bad dream.

Yusuf told them that Egypt would go through difficult years caused by the lack of rain and food shortage.

Yusuf was then released and declared innocent.

The King was impressed by Yusuf's character and hired him as the new Chief Minister to manage the food supplies during those difficult years.

Yusuf secretly revealed his true identity to Benjamin and made a plan to keep him back in Egypt.

When his brothers returned to their father and told him the sad news that they couldn't bring Benjamin back, Yaqub (A.

S.

) cried so much that it affected his ability to see.

He told his sons to go back and look carefully for Yusuf and Benjamin.

The brothers came back to Yusuf and begged him for kindness.

They were shocked when Yusuf told them who he really was.

As soon as they offered their sincere apologies, he forgave them.

Yusuf then told them to take his shirt and put it on his father's face so he could see again and asked them to bring their whole family

to Egypt.

They all arrived, then his father, step-mother, and 11 brothers bowed down to him as a sign of respect, so his old dream came true.

Then everyone lived happily in Egypt in the care of Yusuf (A.

S.

).

This surah was revealed at a very difficult time in the life of the Prophet (ﷺ) following the death of his wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib,

only 3 days apart.

Once the Prophet (ﷺ) lost his two main supporters, the idol-worshippers increased their abuse against the small Muslim community in Makkah.

So this surah was revealed to comfort the Prophet (ﷺ) because he could relate to the life of Yusuf (A.

S.

).

Both stories are similar in many ways:

1.

Like Yusuf (A.

S.

), the Prophet (ﷺ) was forced to leave his hometown for many years.

2.

People were jealous of him because Allah blessed him with a special mercy and made him a prophet.

3.

He was falsely accused of being a poet, liar, and crazy man.

4.

Yusuf (A.

S.

) always prayed to Allah in good and bad times, and the Prophet (ﷺ) did the same.

5.

Like Yusuf (A.

S.

), the Prophet (ﷺ) had to go through many difficulties, only to gain full authority at the end.

6.

After many years of abuse, the Prophet (ﷺ) won over Makkah and treated his enemies with kindness.

He even quoted the same words that Yusuf (A.

S.

) said to his brothers when he forgave them in verse 92: "There is no blame on you today.

May Allah forgive you!

He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!

"

7.

The Makkans accepted Islam and, like Yusuf's (A.

S.

) family, they lived in peace afterwards.

Some of the scholars who reflect on the Quran have discovered a new dimension of the beauty of this Book.

They call it the 'Ring Structure,' which is found in many surahs and even verses in the Quran.

The 'Ring Structure' basically means if you fold any of those surahs or verses right in the middle, the first half and the second half would match perfectly.

This is very interesting because the Prophet (ﷺ) couldn't read or write.

This proves that he is not the author of the Quran.

Rather, he just memorized the surahs the way they were revealed to him.

So it was simply impossible for him to structure the surahs in this amazing order.

It is reported that some companions said to the Prophet (ﷺ), "We wish you would tell us stories.

" So the story of Yusuf (A.

S.

) was revealed.

{Imam Ibn Kathir & Imam Al-Qurtubi}

According to Imam Al-Qurtubi, the story of Yusuf (A.

S.

) is very special for the following reasons:

• This story has a happy ending for everyone.

Yusuf (A.

S.

) becomes the Chief Minister of Egypt, he forgives his brothers, the whole family is reunited in Egypt, and they all live happily ever after.

• Unlike the stories of Musa, Salih, Hud, and Lut (A.

S.

), no one is destroyed in the story of Yusuf (A.

S.

).

• Many people can relate to the lessons and the ups and downs in this story.

• This story is very comforting, especially to those who have been treated unfairly.

One of the main lessons we learn from this surah is that sometimes life will throw dirt at you, no matter how good you are.

Many people get angry when they lose a game or fail a test because they think they have to win or succeed all the time.

But life doesn't work that way.

Life has ups and downs, successes and failures.

So keep in mind that when life throws dirt at you, don't let that dirt bury you.

Instead, put it under your feet and rise.

Turn every challenge into an opportunity.

• Yusuf (A.

S.

) had to deal with many challenges but he became successful.

• The Prophet (ﷺ) went through many difficulties but things turned out in his favor in the end.

• The Muslims lost at Uhud but they had the upper hand in the end.

• Some people are born blind, yet they are able to memorize the Quran and serve Islam.

• Some people fail a test or lose a business but are able to build themselves back up.

• Some people work hard and do good things but they are not appreciated by others.

Allah appreciates them, and that's all that matters.

Yes, we may fall sometimes.

It's not the end of the world.

We have to stand up and keep moving.

It's okay to lose or fail sometimes, because this will give meaning and value to winning and succeeding.

The most important thing is to believe in yourself, put your trust in Allah, do your best, and never lose hope.

This Surah talks about dreams and how Allah blessed Yusuf (A.

S.

) with the ability to explain those dreams.

As we mentioned in Surah 63, the Prophet (ﷺ) said that there are 3 types of dreams:

• A dream from Allah—for example, when you see yourself happy, enjoying life, or in Jannah.

You may tell family members or close friends about your dream, but don't share it with everyone because some people might become jealous.

• A nightmare from Shaytan—for example, when you see yourself suffering, choking, or dying.

It's better not to share this with anyone, because those who love you will be worried about you, and those who don't like you will be happy that

you had a bad dream.

• A vision from yourself—for example, if you are having a final exam next week and you keep thinking about the exam, you might have dreams of yourself

going to school and taking the test.

If you have dreams of your grandmother who passed away 2 years ago, this may be because you miss her so much.

{Imam Muslim}

Anyway, don't be distracted by dreams.

Always keep in mind that Allah does what is best for you, and you are always under His care.

We can easily understand why Yaqub (A.

S.

) asked Yusuf (A.

S.

) not to share his dream with others.

Privacy is one of the most important things that many people don't take seriously these days.

With social media taking over people's lives, it's becoming more and more difficult to keep any secrets.

People share information about their location, personal life, kids, pets, friends, food, clothes—basically, everything.

They don't always know who is following their posts and don't realize that someone may misuse this information.

You may have noticed that when you search online for an item (let's say a phone), suddenly your social media is flooded with ads about phones!

And since you are so innocent, you start thinking, "Whoa, subhan-Allah, magic!

" Not really.

The truth is that big companies take advantage of the data they collect about you and make billions of dollars.

I've read many stories about people whose houses got robbed after making posts on social media showing off their fancy lifestyle or sharing details about their vacation away

from home.

By the time they came back, their expensive jewellery, furniture, and electronics were gone.

They learned this lesson the hard way.

As we can see throughout this surah, Allah would send His support to Yusuf (A.

S.

) when he needed it the most.

• When Yusuf's brothers wanted to kill him, suddenly one of them said no.

• When the travelers sold him as a slave, the Chief Minister treated him like a son.

• When he was falsely accused, a witness came forward to prove his innocence.

• When he went to jail, the King had a dream which led to Yusuf (A.

S.

) being released.

• When the women made plans against him, the King honored him.

The lesson here is that we don't see the full picture.

Maybe good things lead to bad things, and maybe bad things lead to good things.

We never know.

You can find several examples in the story of Yusuf (A.

S.

).

Verse 57:23 teaches us that we shouldn't be too happy when good things happen, and we shouldn't be too sad when bad things happen.

Verse 2:216 tells us that maybe we love something but it turns out to be bad for us, and maybe we hate something but it turns out to

be good for us.

Allah sees the whole picture; we just see a small pixel.

At the end of the day, we should trust that Allah does what is best for us.

Someone may ask, "Why did Yusuf (A.

S.

) see a dream of something good, but not the horrible things that were going to happen to him?

" We need to understand that Allah blessed Yusuf (A.

S.

) with this dream so he could see the great end result and not become distracted by the challenging events that would happen along the way.

Maybe if he saw those horrible things, he might have lost hope in success.

In the same way, seeing a dream about how you will be honored at a graduation ceremony is a better motivation than seeing a dream about how tired

you will be while studying.

The dreams of prophets always come true.

For example, the dream of the Prophet (ﷺ) entering Makkah came true (48:27).

Prophet Ibrahim's (A.

S.

) dream about the sacrifice came true (37:102).

Prophet Yusuf's (A.

S.

) dream also came true at the end of this surah.

As for regular people, their dreams may or may not come true.

The dreams of the 2 prisoners and the King also came true in this surah.

Not everyone is able to explain dreams.

Prophets like Yusuf and Muhammad (ﷺ) were blessed with this knowledge.

Some scholars like Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Ibn Sirin also had this gift.

Scholars look for clues when trying to explain the meaning of dreams.

Sometimes 2 scholars will give 2 different explanations for the same dream.

Maybe one scholar will explain the same dream in 2 different ways.

One day, two men came to Imam Ibn Sirin and both of them said they dreamt of someone making an announcement.

He told the first man that he was going for hajj and told the second one that he was a thief!

After the 2 men left, the people asked Ibn Sirin, "Why did you explain their dream differently?

" He said, "When I looked at the first one, I saw the light of faith on his face, which reminded me of Ibrahim (A.

S.

) announcing hajj.

But when I looked at the second one, I saw the darkness of sin on his face, which reminded me of the guards of Yusuf (A.

S.

) announcing the theft of the royal cup.

" {Imam Ibn Sirin in Tafsir Al-Ahlam 'Explaining Dreams'}