Yusuf, a Model for Muslims in the West

Occasion: Summary of a Jumuʿah khutbah delivered at Masjid Salahadeen of North Texas on May 2, 2025Source: transcription of a recorded khutbah by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — watch the original video on YouTubeThe title is inferred from the content of the khutbah. The recording begins mid-khutbah.

Yusuf (peace be upon him) arrived in Egypt as a boy, taken from his land, his family and everything he had. He was forced to move. And the country he arrived in was not a Muslim country: it did not follow the direction of the Prophet ﷺ or of the Qur'an; its people worshipped idols and offered sacrifices to them. What did he do there? That is the question this khutbah asks on behalf of the Muslim in the West.

Character before everything

From the beginning, even as a child, Yusuf gave the impression of what he had received from his family, who were the source of his morals and his ethics. When the lady of the house tried to draw him toward what was wrong, it ran against his manners and against what he had been raised on. He kept all this inside and showed the people around him what identity he carried.

That character carried him into prison. And what wrong did Yusuf do there? You will find none. You will find him trying to help every person around him; everybody who came to him with a need found benefit, advice, and the example of a great man living among them. People came to him for help, one asking one question and another asking another, and he answered immediately by interpreting their dreams.^[1] He did not say, "I've had a hard time, I am here in an unjust situation." He claimed nothing for himself. He went straight to his mission among them.

Our position in America

Why remember this story? Because our role in American society, in the West, is to imitate Yusuf at the beginning, and every one of the prophets after him. They lived among unethical manners, unjust rulers and ignorant people. They did not raise soldiers to fight the people. They showed their manners first, and by doing so told people what identity they carry.

The speaker recalls a friend of his, a physician. One day a nurse asked him how he kept such good manners all the time: "We have never seen you angry, yelling or screaming. And in Ramadan, you fast from dawn to sunset, nothing goes into your body, and you still keep the same level of manners. What is wrong with you?" He laughed, and answered that what is right with him is his religion. A week later the nurse had gone through books about Islam, watched videos, and come back with a list of questions. He answered most of them and went to learn the rest, then returned with the answers.

If we regard such people as enemies, we end up fighting all the time. If we regard them as fertile ground for the words of the Qur'an to touch their hearts, they will either ask about the value of this religion, or at least stop hating.

Are we really concerned with da'wah?

Before asking how to build a strategy for da'wah, ask whether we are interested in it at all. Do we care what happens to the religion, for it or against it? Or are we concerned with dollars and dollars and nothing else: my car, my home, my position, my degree, until all this fills my mind and makes me forget da'wah?

The speaker once asked in that same place: why are we in America? Why did Allah bring him here and not his friends back in Egypt? Because Allah gave us a task. If we are here, it is to carry the word of Allah to a community whose people cannot come to our countries to hear it. Whoever grasps this stops staying at home and relaxing and becomes more active.

The teacher the people are missing

Not everyone has been given the feeling of responsibility. Most people look inward and not outward. But look outward, and you find that Allah created all these people, and He did not create them to put them in the fire; He wants happiness for them in this world and the next.

To make a person knowledgeable, you need three things: a human being, a teacher, and a curriculum. The curriculum we have: the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, his actions, his instructions, and all the books of hadith. The human beings are all around us. What is missing is the teacher. If people lack a good teacher, they will be ignorant, and the ignorant will show us the worst of themselves. The hardship we then face comes from our failure to do our duty toward them.

Even to the Prophet ﷺ at the beginning of his da'wah, in a hard time, Allah said to call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and the best words.^[2] That is our rule: the best way, the best words, the highest manners.

With the people next to us

We have neighbors, colleagues, people in the community. Someone who goes to the same coffee shop every day will see the same faces. How do we build strong relationships with them, relationships that help us show who we are? The alternative is that people change their names from Muhammad to Mike. "I don't want to show my identity." Why are you afraid? Why are you embarrassed? The speaker says he could not meet Allah on the Day of Judgment and say, "I went by another name because I was ashamed of Ahmed." If you cannot do that with Allah, do not do it with people.

Each of us has talents and ways. He cannot force anyone to do what he cannot do, but each can choose his own way to deliver the message.

The next generation

The speaker closes by speaking on behalf of the American Imams Academy. The Academy is preparing its students to be callers to the faith and, in the future, imams. A few years ago its first graduates finished, and they now serve as imams in different places: California, Florida, and other states.^[3]

--- ^[1]: The transcript speaks of Yusuf interpreting dreams for those who came to him, without quoting the verses, so none are added here. Editor's documentation: the story of the two young men in prison and the king's dream is in Sūrat Yūsuf. ^[2]: The words of the verse are not audible in the transcript. Editor's documentation: the meaning corresponds to ﴿ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ﴾ [النحل: 125], "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction." The identification is the editor's. ^[3]: توثيق المحرر: the student number is unclear in the recording, so no figure is given.