Reflections from Sūrat Yūsuf

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 16 November 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The story of Yūsuf (peace be upon him), when it is recited to us in the prayer, is truly the longing of hearts, and it has an effect that cannot be compared to the effect of many passages of the Qur'an. And in the story are hundreds of dimensions through which we could approach it, but let me ask: why does Allah recount to us a story this sorrowful?

Not a Sorrowful Story, but the Reality of Life

The answer is that it is not a sorrowful story; rather it is a story from the reality of life. People are exposed to the like of this every day, and the Qur'an came to treat the conditions of people, so it must tell them of what they witness every day. And the principle is that the Qur'an is consistent with itself in all its details: we did not see in it stories about people who are joyful, spread out across the earth, elated by what is in their hands, going out on outings here and there, to whom Allah gave much wealth to do with as they please. Rather, the stories of the Qur'an for the most part come carrying a measure of trials, hardships and confrontations (I do not say violence, but I say a level of crises) that come in the path of those who work for the call to Allah, and through them the Lord of the Worlds, glory be to Him, places kinds of solutions that benefit the community that comes afterward.

Yaʿqūb (Peace Be Upon Him): The Father's Anxiety and His Patience

Imagine a father at ease in his home, calm in his abode, his children around him, and suddenly one of them comes to him and says: ﴿يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ﴾ (O my father, indeed I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me)^[1]. What is the significance of this to the father? Its significance is that radical changes will take place in this family, and that an upheaval will turn over the affairs of this house on many levels. And if you saw your son in a dream with someone trying something against him, you would remain very anxious: what will happen, my Lord? Cover us, make it end well. So imagine the state of Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him) in this scene.

Then after a short time the father watches his children's movements, what they are doing and what is happening to this boy. And suddenly they come with a tone different from their usual manner in dealing with him, saying: Send him out with us, we want to play and amuse ourselves and have fun, and his anxiety grows. Then they return in the evening without their brother. So what is your assessment of the psychology of a man who sees his son snatched from his hands at the hands of his brothers, who are not one, nor two, nor three, but eleven? Is there not a rightly guided man among them? And thinking comes in this pattern: Was I not able to raise them? Did this religion that I carry within myself not affect them? Were they not up to the level of receiving from me, while they see revelation coming to me? For we, in the end, are ordinary people striving in the earth, acquiring a piece of information from here and taking advice from there, and opening a book and reading a ḥadīth; but this is a prophet upon whom revelation descends from the Lord of the Worlds, and yet his children did not learn in his precincts! So how great is the psychological burden for Yaʿqūb, while he knows that they are plotting against their brother?

Imagine the level of grief, sorrow and pain in his heart as he sees the culprits, the real perpetrators, entering upon him every day, morning and evening, going out and coming back, saying: O our father, give us such-and-such, we want such-and-such, and discussing with him general and private matters. And you can imagine Yaʿqūb's situation had he withdrawn from his people, and these are his children, out of renunciation of them, not wanting to see anyone. How much psychological pain was in his soul as he saw the children moving before him, while the lost one, he does not know where he is!

Why Did Allah Not Reassure Him with the Whereabouts of Yūsuf?

I have a question: why did Allah, Exalted is He, not inspire the heart of Yaʿqūb and not tell him where Yūsuf was, and let him know that this was part of the message, so that the father's heart would be at ease? Because He, glory be to Him, wants to give us through Yaʿqūb very great lessons, which are the lessons of bearing what comes to us of harm from the people around us, however close or distant they may be: those of the womb of blood, or the womb of knowledge, or the womb of brotherhood, whoever they may be. There will reach you of harm that which requires a measure of patience like that found in Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him).

Long days and decades pass, and there Yūsuf is being prepared, though he has not seen his father and cannot communicate with him, and the matter is easy for Allah the Able, but it is Allah's wisdom and His decree for the conditions of human beings. Yaʿqūb is in one land, and his son is in a distant land, and there is nothing between them except communication through the heavens: this one supplicates from one side, and that one supplicates from the other. And here we learn that however narrow and severe things become for you, and whoever the culprits in your life may be, the one and most complete way is supplication; that you supplicate to the Lord of the Worlds to guide the disobedient one, to bring the family together, to gather those who are scattered, and to restore the bond among people. Those are our first means.

Yūsuf and His Brother: And the Brotherhood of Religion

Then imagine that Yūsuf's brothers enter upon him while he knows them, and knows that there is an aim not yet completed, and they plot against him a second time, in a statement for which you can find no explanation except that behind it are the whisperings of Satan, we seek refuge in Allah: ﴿إِن يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَّهُ مِن قَبْلُ﴾ (If he steals, a brother of his has stolen before)^[2] and Yūsuf kept it secret within himself and did not reveal it to them. Look at the limit of human and psychological endurance: a capacity that bore words like these and was silent and was patient and answered with a beautiful statement ﴿إِنِّي أَنَا أَخُوكَ فَلَا تَبْتَئِسْ﴾ (Indeed, I am your brother, so do not grieve)^[3]. This sentence that came out of Yūsuf to his brother, who knew that he had no refuge after Allah except this shelter. And here Yūsuf schemes for his brother, not against him; he schemes for his sake, not to harm him.

And here the wisdom of the Lord of the Worlds is manifest in what is called brotherhood, which Allah made on two levels: the brotherhood of the womb, two persons who come out of one womb, carrying the same blood, the same genes, the same characteristics; and a greater, mightier and deeper brotherhood, which is the brotherhood of religion. For the character of the one of the womb from which we came out may be bad, and the woman who bore two sons may be unrighteous, so both come out carrying the same problems. As for the brotherhood of religion, the principle is that it comes from the womb of the religion, and there is no crookedness in the religion, and no deficiency with the One who sent down the Qur'an and sent down the faith; so the principle in the brotherhood of religion is that it is completed with the completeness of that religion, so no blemish mars it. And it has been mentioned in the meaning of brotherhood that the brotherhood of religion is not come between by the differences of the world; meaning that you can put your hand in your brother's pocket and take what is in it and leave without his mind turning to how much you took and how much you left, for what I have for you and what is in your hands is the fullness of my hearing and sight; I find sufficiency in my brother and gain strength through him, and I feel security and tranquility, so no want or need or poverty touches you as long as there is a brotherhood that protects this societal entity and preserves it, and the fabric of religiosity spreads in it.^[4]

All the Prophets Were Tried

And the days pass over this prophet to whom revelation comes and upon whom the verses of heaven descend, and yet he goes through crises like these, and not he alone. If you read what Mūsā (peace be upon him) faced of severe challenges, from the first day he came to exist on the earth until the day he meets Allah, how many days were there in which there was elation, ease and happiness, going out and working, camping trips and barbecues and the like? That did not happen. And Yūsuf was not in these scenes, and you did not see anything like this with him, nor with Mūsā, nor ʿĪsā, nor Ayyūb, nor Sulaymān, nor Dāwūd, nor Yaḥyā, nor Zakariyyā, nor Ādam, nor Nūḥ (peace be upon them). All of these, the Qur'an presents their stories to show you what its word agreed upon: ﴿لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي…﴾ (We have certainly created man in…) and the equation is finished, ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ﴾ (O man, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with great exertion and will meet Him).^[5] A consistent equation. And whoever imagines that he can enjoy life and be happy in it and live in it as a king after a little while, that is nonsense; that is not in the dictionary of vicegerency. You are here on a mission you are accomplishing, and in the course of accomplishing it you meet a series of successive crises that will not cease.

So does a person die of grief? He said: No, I have a different term, called tranquility, and rejoicing in the blessing of Allah, and achieving accomplishments in the call to Allah and in faith: ﴿الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ﴾ (Those who believe and whose hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of Allah. Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquility)^[6].

People Are Human, and Your Safety Valve Is in Your Hand

The people around you, is the principle in them righteousness or corruption? Is the principle that they receive the call of the Lord of the Worlds or the call of the accursed Satan? Is the principle that they listen to the voice of the Qur'an or to the voice of Satan? Their conditions fluctuate and their symptoms alternate, but they are human; expect nothing more of them than that they are human beings who are in a good state and in a wicked state, and their conditions are in the hands of Allah. As for your safety valve, it is in your hand: hold the reins of your soul, and beware of being swept along with the rest of creation in the corruption they pursue.

And Yūsuf (peace be upon him) went through alternating conditions, but he did not leave any of them a way to drag him to its side. Imagine a conspiracy in the palace headed by the lady of the palace to bring him into her arms so as to do with him as she wished; Yūsuf left himself no opportunity to be drawn into this. Then the days follow one another and he is in prison, and it is known who are in prisons, and they try to draw him into what they are in, but his faith and strength stand between him and being swept along behind the likes of these, and he becomes the ideal caller to Allah in their midst: ﴿يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُّتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ﴾ (O my two companions of prison, are separate lords better, or Allah, the One, the Prevailing?)^[7] to the end of what he laid before them.

The Final Moments: The Joy of the Promise

And in the final moments of the story Yaʿqūb enters triumphant and elated; not in joy over a new toy that came to him, nor over a gift brought to him, and it was not joy merely at the meeting of bodies, but rather it was joy at the fulfillment of the promise of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to him. He used to repeat in the hearing of his children: ﴿وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ (and I know from Allah that which you do not know)^[8]. So let us connect ourselves with Allah, let us tie our hearts and minds to Him, and turn our minds from thinking about people to thinking about the Lord of people.^[9] And the hearts of creation are between two fingers of the Fingers of the Most Merciful, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ teaches us.^[10]

Why Did Victory Not Come Early?

Once again: the Qur'an did not present to us stories of people pampered in the world except that they were people of torment in the Hereafter; rather it presented the stories of people who toiled in this life and labored in it and met what they met of hardship and might. Imagine when the Lord of the Worlds speaks to us: ﴿أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ﴾ (Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while there has not yet come to you the like of those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until the Messenger and those who believed with him said, "When is the help of Allah?") then our Lord says: ﴿أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ﴾ (Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near).^[11] If it is that near, why did it not come early? Why did it not come from the beginning? Why did Allah, Blessed and Exalted, not give Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ﷺ a magic wand with which he would point to a man of the people of Makkah and he would become a Muslim, and there would have been no need for all this hardship and this pain and this separation and this travel and all this suffering that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and those after them met? Why was the call not easy, life not smooth, wealth not abundant? Because toil is part of the mission of people in this world.

And whoever has settled his heart and mind on that lives steady like a mountain, knowing that the sun truly shines, but that when the winds come they may take a part of it and move it to another place, until this wind even makes a neighboring mountain, but it does not reach the standing of the first mountain, neither in its steadfastness nor in its loftiness nor in its firmness nor in the striking of its roots into the earth. We are people of a call and people of faith and people of a mission in this life, and these follies that go on around us should not shake the pillars of the caller to Allah, nor crumble his resolve, nor scatter his mind. We are human beings who feel pain, but this pain should pass after a while: it passes with two rakʿahs in the depth of the night, and it passes with a supplication at the door of the Multazam, and it passes with the time of the pre-dawn, in which the mercies of the Lord of the Worlds descend upon people.

I have gone on long with you, so forgive me, and I ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to make our hearts firm and to strengthen them, and to prepare for us and for everyone afflicted in this life the means of deliverance and right guidance. O Allah, amen, O Lord of the Worlds.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat Yūsuf: 4. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat Yūsuf: 77. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat Yūsuf: 69. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: In the transcript the speaker attributed this meaning in general terms to "Abū Hurayra and others," without a text or source, so the attribution was removed from the body because it could not be verified. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: The first verse is Sūrat al-Balad: 4, and its completion is «في كَبَد» ("in hardship"), which the speaker did not complete in the transcript. The second is Sūrat al-Inshiqāq: 6. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd: 28. ^[7]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat Yūsuf: 39. ^[8]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat Yūsuf: 86. ^[9]: Editor's documentation: The wording is garbled in the automatic transcript, and it was phrased according to as much of its meaning as was established. ^[10]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Muslim (2654) from the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, may Allah be pleased with them both, with the wording: «إن قلوب بني آدم كلها بين إصبعين من أصابع الرحمن كقلب واحد يصرّفه حيث يشاء» ("The hearts of the children of Ādam are all between two of the fingers of the Most Merciful, like one heart, which He turns wherever He wills"). The speaker related it by meaning, abridged. ^[11]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Baqara: 214.