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Articles/Submissions > Prophet Yusuf
Prophet Yusuf
By Nosheen S.
Prophet Yusuf (A) Part 1
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Introduction
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Prophet Yusuf (A) was the son of Prophet Yaqub (A) and Prophet Yusuf (A) had 11 Brothers.
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Prophet Yusuf (A) once dreamt the 11 stars and the sun and moon were prostrating to him.
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His Brothers were jealous and planned to get rid of him.
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The brothers took the goats out for grazing and always asked Prophet Yaqub (A) if they could take Prophet Yusuf (A) .
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Finally one day they took H. Yusuf with them and they took his shirt off and threw him in the well.
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They slaughtered a goat and put its blood on Prophet Yusuf (A)'s shirt and went home and told their father that the wolf ate their brother.
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Some caravan traders passed by and stopped at the well to get water and they were surprised to see Prophet Yusuf (A) holding on to the bucket. They took him to Egypt and sold him
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Prophet Yusuf (A) in Egypt
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When Prophet Yusuf (A) arrived in Egypt at the slavemarket all the buyers were attracted to him because he was a very handsome young man.
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The Aziz (governor of Egypt and chief officer of the king) bought Prophet Yusuf (A)
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He told his Wife Zuleikha that they would adopt him as their son
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When Prophet Yusuf grew up Zuleikha got so attracted to his beauty that she sought to have an illegal association with him.
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But a Prophet of ALLAH could never be part of such an evil deed and backed away.
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As he raced for the door she ripped his shirt and the aziz walked in and when she saw her husband she tried to blame Prophet Yusuf (A)
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Then a baby spoke from the cradle and the Holy Quran Says:
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And Witness from her own household testified, “if shirt is torn from the front, then she speak the truth and he is of the liars. And if his shirt is torn from behind then she lied and he is of the truthful ones.
-Yusuf,12:26,27
- The shirt was obviously torn from the back and the Aziz was very angry.
- The women of the city heard and started to talk about Zuleikha
- Zuleikha then called the women to dinner to show them how handsome he was
- They all had knives in their hands to cut fruit
- Then Zuleikha called Prophet Yusuf (A) on some excuse.
- They were so amazed by his beauty they all cut their fingers off.
- H. Yusuf was then sent to prison on false charged of assault.
 Prophet Yusuf (A) part 2
Prophet Yusuf (A) in prison
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The Aziz decided to imprison Prophet Yusuf (A) even though he was innocent so his wife could get her dignity back
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On the same day when Prophet Yusuf (A) got imprisoned so did 2 other men.
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1 used to serve the king wine
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1 was a royal cook
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The next day the wine server and the cook had a dream. The wine server said "I saw that I was crushing grapes to make wine for the king" and the cook said "I dreamt that I was carrying some bread in a basket on my head and the birds were pecking at the bread."
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The two men went to Prophet Yusuf to ask him to interpret their dream. Prophet Yusuf (A) said to the wine server thay he will soon be released and will go back to his previous post and to the one who carried the bread on his head will be executed and the birds will start to eat his brain.
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Prophet Yusuf (A) told the wine server to remind the king of his innocence when he saw him, but the wine server forgot.
Prophet Yusuf's (A) Release from Prison
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 The Holy Quran says:
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The king dreamt that seven lean cows were eating seven fat ones and that there were seven green ears of corn and seven dry ones. He asked the nobles to tell him the meaning of his dream if they were able to. They replied “it is a confused dream and we do not know the meaning of such dreams.”
-Yusuf 12:43,44
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The king was concerned about this dream and as soon as the wine server heard he told the king that Yusuf could interpret dreams. He then went to ask H. Yusuf to interpret the dream of the king.
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Prophet Yusuf (A) interpreted the dream. He said “for seven years the crops will yield abundant food-grain for the people of egypt. After there will be a famine for 7 years during which all the food grain lying in the storehouses will be finished and people will starve. Therefore the people should try and grow as much extra grain as possible so that it would stand them in good stead during th famine time.”
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After hearing this, the king ordered that Prophet Yusuf (A) be brought to him so he could make good use of his wisdom in solving his problems.
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Prophet Yusuf (A) said he will not leave until he is proved innocent.
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He said to the courtiers “I will not come out untill the king enquires about my case. Tell the king to ask the wives of the noblemen about the time they cut their fingers off on seeing me.
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All the women confessed the truth and so did Zuleikha.
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Thus Prophet Yusuf (A)was released from the prison with dignity and honour.
Prophet Yusuf (A) Part 3
 Prophet Yusuf (A) in the royal court
- The king then made prophet yusuf (A) in charge of the treasuries.
- Prophet Yusuf (A) thus became the Aziz Of Egypt. He was determined that when the famine arrived, no one would starve.
- He decided to make a tour around Egypt to assess the best locations where intensive cultivation could be carried out. He gave extra money to the farmers in the most feritle areas of the nile so that they would be able to grow maximum amount of grain.
- He made huge warehouses to store the food.
- In the first 7 years, he supplied grain to people according to their minimum needs. By 7 years the graineries were full. The water level of the Nile fell, and the country hit a drought.
- But Egypt did not face any shortage.
- The famine also extended to the lands of Palestine and Kanaan where Prophet Yaqub (A) lived with his sons.
- Prophet Yaqub (A) sent his sons to go and get food from the Aziz.
Prophet Yusuf (A)'s Brothers in Egypt
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When they went to Egypt, Prophet Yusuf (A) was happy to see them but they did not recognize him. He asked them to tell him about themselves, so they told them about their father and mother.
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Prophet Yusuf (A) gave them enough wheat and also put their money back into their bags. But he said "Next time, bring your other brother (who was from the same mother as Hazrat Yusuf) so I know you're telling the truth.
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The holy Quran narrated this episode in the following Words:
Yusuf's brothers came to him and when they entered his court, he recognized them. They did not know him. And when he gave then the provisions he said to them "Next time bring me your other brother from your father. As you can see I give each of you a certain amount of grain I am a polite host. If you do not bring him do not come to us for we shall not give you anymore grain.
-Yusuf 12:58-60
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When they returned home they told their father everything that happened.
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Soon they were out of grain so they went back but they had to take their younger brother Binyameen.
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But Prophet Yaqub (A) did not want to send him because of what they did to Prophet Yusuf (A)
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But the brothers promised that they would take care of him and prophet Yaqub (A) allowed him to go.
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When they got to Egypt, they showed Binyameen to Prophet Yusuf. Prophet Yusuf (A) was very happy to see his younger brother.
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Prophet Yusuf (S) invited all the brothers to dine with him.
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He gave them places to sleep and told Binyameen to sleep in his room.
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During the night he told Binyameen the whole story of how he went from a low slave position to having great power because of Allah. But he told him not to tell the brothers anything.
Prophet Yusuf (A) Part 4
Prohet Yusuf's (A) plan to detain Binyameen
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After they received the wheat, they were getting ready to go home.
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Prophet Yusuf (A) put his plan to keep Binyameen in Egypt into action
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He told his men to put a gold cup in Binyameen's baggage.
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The Holy Quran Describes the incident in the following words:
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When he (Yusuf (A) ) had furnished them with provisions (someone) placed the (king's) drinking cup in his brother's baggage. Then someone shouted “people of the caravan, you are most surely thieves.”
-Yusuf 12:70
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The brothers of Yusuf (A) weren’t very far when they were stopped and accused of stealing.
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They denied it and said if anyone was found guilty they could stay back as a slave of Prophet Yusuf (A).
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The caravan was searched and the cup was found in Binyameen's bag.
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The brothers were taken to Prophet Yusuf (A) and he said "According to your words, I will keep Binyameen here now."
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They said please don’t keep him. Our father is old and weak
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They said "You may keep one of us but not him please."
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The eldest brother refused to go back without his brother because he did not want to face his father
The reunion of family of Prophet Yaqub (A)
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When the brothers returned and told their father what happened, he was heartbroken.
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He recalled the loss of his sons and wept.
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He told his sons to go and find his 2 sons.
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The brothers went and pleaded for Binyameen and some grain
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Prophet Yusuf (A) reminded them of how badly they treated their brother Yusuf (A)
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They were amazed and asked if he was Yusuf
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He replied “yes I am” Allah has been gracious to me. One who is pious and patient against hardships is always rewarded by Allah for his virtues.
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After hearing that, the brothers were ashamed and asked for forgiveness.
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He said "You need not be frightened of me. Allah may forgive you your sins."
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He then told them to take his shirt and cover their fathers face so he could get his eyesight back. Then tey could come back with their family.
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The Holy Quran says:
When the caravan had left the town (from Egypt) their father (in Kanaan) said “ I smell Yusuf (A)'s fragrance. I hope you will not think that I am weak in judgement (due to my love for him). They said “by Allah! You are still making the same old error." When someone brought him glad news, Yusuf (A) shirt was placed on his face and his eyesight was restored. He said “did I not tell you that I know about Allah that which you do not know?”
-Yusuf 12:94-96
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After his eyesight came back, they set off for Egypt immediately. Prophet Yusuf (A) was delighted to meet them and embraced his father and mother.
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As a token of their gratitude to Allah at this reunion, his parents and brothers prostrated themselves on the ground.
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Prophet Yusuf (A)'s dream came true.
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At the request of his son, Prophet Yaqub (A) settled in Egypt with his family and their clan came to be known as Bani Israail.
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Prophet Yaqub (A) lived in Egypt for 17 yrs and died at 147 and Prophet Yusuf (A) died at 110
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