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I welcome you all to the first of a series ofhalaqatthat we will have about the tafsiror theexplanation of one of the most interesting, powerful, and movingsurahs in the entire Quran,which is Surah Yusuf. Thissurah is a very, very uniquesurah in the Quran, and a one-of-a-type ofsurah.

Firstly, it is the only place in the Quran where the story of the Prophet Yusuf (alayhisalaam) is mentioned. No othersurah mentions the story of the Prophet Yusuf (alayhisalaam). If you compare this to, lets say, the story of the Prophet Musa (alayhi salaam), thestory of Prophet Musa is mentioned in over 25 different locations. The story of our fatherAdam (alayhi salaam) is mentioned in over half a dozen locations. The story of Isa (alayhi

salaam) is mentioned almost a dozen times. The story of the Prophet Yusuf (alayhi salaam)only exists in thissurah. In fact, even the name of the Prophet Yusuf occurs only once ortwice in passing in Surah Al-Anm and Surah Ghaafir, but there is no story at all. Thestories about what happened with the Yusuf (alayhi salaam) only occur in this particular

surah.

Secondly, it is the onlysurah in the Quran that has a unified story as its theme from thebeginning to the end. The wholesurah is nothing but a story. There is no othersurah oflength in the Quran we are not talking about the smallsurahs at the end ofJuz Amma, butwe are talking about any surah basically more than 10-15 ayahs there is no surah in thewhole Quran that is a unified story from the beginning to the end. This is something that weall know. Read Surah Al-Baqarah, Surah Ale-Imran, and Surah Yunus you will find thestories of lots of people in one paragraph or one page or sometimes even five pages, but thereis no place in the whole Quran where an entire 15 pages is dedicated to one story. It is achronological story from the beginning to the end. This is not just very rare but unique.There is no other place like it in the whole Quran.

We do not know the exact date of when thissurah was revealed, but we know roughly that itwas revealed around the tenth or eleventh year not of the hijrah but of the years of thedawah.

In other words, with the hijrah of course we begin the Madinan phase. Before the hijrah,what do we call it? Some scholars used the term BH (before hijrah) just like the Christianshave AD and BC, Muslims have AH and BH. So if you look at BH, 1 BH means oneyear before the hijrah and 2 BH means two years before the hijrah. Surah Yusuf is revealedaround 2 or 3 BH, in other words right at the end of the Makkan era and the Makkan message.

The timing of revelation is very crucial. Surah Yusuf was revealed after the famous year

called the Year of Sorrow / the Year or Regret / the Year of Difficulty (aam al-huzn). In thatyear, three things happened one after the other which were the most painful for the ProphetMuhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam), and there was no time in theseerah where theProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) was more demoralized than this period, which iswhy the scholars ofseerah call this period aam al-huzn, the Year of Grief. The Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) was feeling grief throughout that year.

What happened? What makes it worse is that these three things happened one after the other.The first of these three devastating things was the most personal and intimate, and that wasthe death of Khadijah (radliya-lLaahu anha). Khadijah (radliya-lLaahu anha) was hissupporter and his moral source of strength. As they say, behind every great man there is agreat woman, and this is exactly applying to the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)and Khadijah (radliya-lLaahu anha). She was his source of comfort and support. Whenever

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anything happened and even when the wahy came down and he was scared, he went runningback to Khadijah (radliya-lLaahu anha). to be calmed down. Zambilooni! Zambilooni!(Cover me up! Cover me up!) Khadijah (radliya-lLaahu anha). was his source of comfortand his source of support. When a man has that comfort and love inside the house, he is ableto face a lot outside. When that is deprived of him, then the problems outside become moredifficult to bear. The death of Khadijah (radliya-lLaahu anha). was something that was verydifficult for him.

Within five or six weeks, a second death followed and that was the death of his uncle AbuTalib. Abu Talib was his support in society. Abu Talib sacrificed his own reputation and

prestige in order to protect the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). When the Qurayshcame to bribe, threaten, and intimidate the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam), initiallyAbu Talib was scared and went to him (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and told him to stopdoing this. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, If they were to give mecontrol of the sun and the moon, I would not give up what I am doing. Abu Talib said, Ohson of my brother, oh my nephew, do as you please, I am never going to come to you again to

tell you not to do this. He was a man of his word for ten years, and not once did he approachthe Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) after that. He never came and said why didyou do this? / look what I have to face now. Not once. He was a man of his word.

Abu Talib did everything he could, so much so that when the Quraysh boycotted the Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and told him he must leave Makkah, Abu Talib went withthe Muslims to live in the valleys outside of Makkah. Abu Talib was not a subject of that

boycott because he was a pagan and a Qurayshi and a mushrik, but because he was a part ofhis nephew and loved him so much, he voluntarily went to live with the Muslims at the timeof the boycott.

He was the only non-Muslim to live with the Muslims at the time of boycott. He voluntarilygave up his privileges and his house in Makkah and gave up everything and suffered alongwith the Muslims because he felt that this was injustice and that he had to do this as the uncleand protector of the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). He did everything he could.As long as Abu Talib was alive, they could not do anything else to harm the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). With his death, the persecution reached its max, which is whyeventually the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) had to leave for Madinah because hecould not live in Makkah anymore.

Khadijah was his internal support in the house. Abu Talib was his external support insociety. The both of them died one after the other, and it was a very difficult time for the

Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). To make matters worse, he suffered the singlemost depressing or difficult day of his whole life after the deaths of Khadijah and Abu Talib.As if there could be no low, there was one low after that, which was the incident of Taif.

Aisha (radhi Allahu anha) said, Oh Messenger of Allah, was there any day that was moredifficult for you to bear than the Day of Uhud? He (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said,Yes. Aisha was too young to know anything about Makkah and did not rememberMakkah. She knows Badr, Uhud, and Tabuk and the problems of Madinah and that the worst

problem of Madinah was Uhud, so she asked, Was there any day more difficult for you thanUhud? Immediately without thinking, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said,The most difficult day for me was the day when I was rejected by the chieftains of Taif.You all know the story, and we will talk about it in a lot of detail inshaAllah in the lectureswe will start on theseerah. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) was humiliated

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and publicly scorned and the children of Taif stoned him. This day was the most difficult forhim.

These three incidents occurred within six weeks of one other within two months, as if thingscould not get any worse. At this point in time, Allah (subhanahu wataala) revealed SurahYusuf. When we understand this frame of revelation, all of a sudden the significance ofSurah Yusuf increases many times. Why? Surah Yusuf is meant to uplift his spirits (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and console him and strengthen him at a time of such trials andtribulations. Surah Yusuf is the light that will lead him out of this depressing time and timeof pain and anguish. This is hope for us when we are feeling down and suffering from

problems of society. This is thesurah that we can turn to for an uplifting moment and to findsome solace and comfort, which is why Allah revealed it to our Prophet (shalla-lLaahualaihi wa-ssalam).

Scholars also mention a number of incidents that also led to the revelation of thissurah. Ofthese incidents is: as the persecution of the Muslims increased and thesahabah in Makkah

were feeling more and more overwhelmed by all of the pressures, they came to the Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and said, Oh Messenger of Allah, why dont you tell us thestories of those before who also suffered? When they wanted these stories, Allah(subhanahu wataala) revealed thissurah. It was perfect timing when the persecutionreaches its maximum, and that is why the hijrah occurs two years after thissurah becausethey could not live in Makkah anymore. An assassination squad was sent for the Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) the night before the hijrah and surrounded his house. Allahmiraculously saved him (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). One of the direct causes of therevelation was that thesahabah wanted something to uplift their spirits as well.

Another direct cause of revelation: it is said that the Quraysh wanted to try to outwit the

Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and show that he was not truly a prophet. Theysent a delegation to the Yahudof Yathrib (the name of Madinah before it was Madinah), andthey asked the Yahud, Tell us a question that only a prophet would be able to answer. Giveus a trick question that we can show once and for all that this man is not a prophet. Tell us aquestion that you know the answer to but nobody else knows. Even though the Yahudwere adifferent religion than the Quraysh, the Quraysh felt that the Yahudwere superior because oftheir Book. The Quraysh did not have a holy book or scripture or revelation. The Yahudhada revelation, and the Quraysh felt a sense of inferiority that the Yahudwere the people of the

book and had knowledge that they did not and believed in prophets while they did not knowany prophets from amongst them.

The Yahudsaid, Ask him about the story of Yusuf and his brothers. Nobody knows this.This is an interesting point that we will come to again. In Makkah, there were no Christiansand Jews. In Makkah, there were only idol worshippers and pagans. There were no centersof Christianity and Judaism. There were one or two private / secret converts to Christianitylike Waraqah ibn Nawfal and others, but they were not inviting others to it and not preachingChristianity. There were no libraries of Christian or Jewish theology. Nobody in Makkahknew these stories. The people in Makkah had not heard of Yusuf because he was not theirancestor. They were descendants from Ismail and not of Ishaaq, and the tribes of Israil hadnothing to do with the Makkans and people of Quraysh. They dont know these stories. TheYahudknew this and said, Ask him if he truly is a prophet to tell you what happened withYusuf and his brothers because nobody knows this of your people. This is something weknow. The Yahudlived far away in Yathrib, so how would anybody in Makkah know this?

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The Quraysh went to the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and asked him, Tell usthe story of Yusuf and his brothers if you are truly a prophet. Allah (subhanahu wataala)answered that question and revealed Surah Yusuf. In one of the last verses of thesurah,Allah (subhanahu wataala) says, This is of the ilm al-ghayb that We sent down to you. InSurah Yusuf, Allah (subhanahu wataala) is telling the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) that He is giving them ilm al-ghayb and that he (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)and his people did not know the story until thissurah came down to him.

Ayah 1:

Alif-laam-ra tilkaayaatu-lkitaabi-lmubien

Thissurah begins with the letters alif-laam-ra. We all know that there are a number ofsurahs in the Quran that begin with letters. Alif-laam-meem, ha-meem, ayn-seen-qaaf,noon, qaaf, kaf-ha-ya-ayn-saad, ta-ha,ya-seen. These letters are called huroof al-muqattaat(broken letters) by the scholars oftafsir. They are called the broken letters

because they do not form words. Ha-meem is not a word. Alif-laam-meem is not a word.Scholars oftafsircall them huroof al-muqattaat broken letters put together.

Scholars have wondered about the meaning of the huroof al-muqattaatsince the verybeginning of time. Since the time of the tabiun and taba tabiun, they began wondering whatthese letters mean.There are over fifteen opinions about what these letters represent. Some ofthese opinions include that these letters represent the Names of Allah (subhanahu wataala),so alifis for Allah, laam is forAl-Lateef, meem is forAl-Muhaymin. They have differentopinions, but this does not seem to have a strong basis.

One opinion is that we will never know what thesehuroof al-muqattaat

mean. This is a validopinion in so far as that we will never know for sure and only Allah knows for sure, but wecan try to think and come forth with some type of opinion because why did Allah reveal theseletters? There must be a wisdom. We can try to think of wisdoms of why Allah (subhanahuwataala) revealed these letters at the beginning of thesesurahs.

One thing that we notice which is very interesting is that almost all the time in the Quranwhen Allah begins asurah with these letters, the very next phrase has something to do withthe Quran. Think about all of thesurahs you know. Ya-sin. Wal-Quran al-hakeem. Kaf-ha-ya-ayn-saad. Dhikru rahmati rabbika This is what I am telling you in the Book.

Alif-laam-meem. Dhaalika kitabu la rayba feehiAlif-laam-ra. Tilka aayaatul-kitabil-

mubeen. Ha-meem. Wal-kitabil-mubeen.

There are some exceptions where it is not the second verse but it is the third or fourth verse.Every single time Allah mentions huroof al-muqattaatwithin the first few verses, somethingto do with the Quran is mentioned. Therefore, it would make sense that these huroof al-muqattaathave something to do with this magnificent Quran. Every time, the Quran is

praised after the huroof al-muqattaat. It is logical to make some connection.

What is this connection? Scholars have tried to think about this and have compiled all ofthese huroof al-muqattaat. The huroof al-muqattaatnumber exactly 14 letters. How manyletters are in the Arabic alphabet? 28. There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet, and 14 is

exactly half of 28, so some scholars have read in some type of symbolic meaning that Allah(subhanahu wataala) is showing us that the Quran is composed of our letters and the

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language that we speak, and yet, mankind cannot produce something similar to it. It is as ifAllah is taunting the rejecters of the Quran by showing them that these are their words andletters, so produce asurah / tensurahs / a Quran similar to it if they are able to it.

There are five verses of challenge (ayaat at-tahaddi) in the Quran. In one of these verses,Allah says, bring the whole Quran. In another verse, Allah says, bring tensurahs.In another verse, Allah says, bring something. In two verses, Allah says, bring one

surah if you can. In these verses of challenge, it is as if there is a linkage with the huroof al-muqattaatand these verses of challenge. It is as if Allah is saying here is half of thealphabet, bring the other half and bring something similar to the Quran.

One of the wisdoms that scholars have tried to derive from the huroof al-muqattaatis toshow the miraculous nature of the Quran. The Quran is composed of words that we speak,language that we know, and letters that we write, yet mankind is not able to producesomething similar to this. Allah knows best. We will never know for sure the meaning of thehuroof al-muqattaat, but it does appear that there is some relationship with the beauty and

the majesty and the miraculous nature of the Quran.these are the verses of the clear / lucid Book.

Tilka is an Arabic word which means this/these. There is a difference between tilka andhaadhihi, which both mean this/these. Haadhihi is used for something close. Tilka is usedfor something far away.

Allah (subhanahu wataala) is talking about the Quran with the far away word. He(subhanahu wataala) does this not only here but also in Surah Al-Baqarah: Alif-laam-meem. Dhaalika kitab la rayba feeh. Kitab is masculine, so the word dhaalikis used.

Aayaatis feminine, so the word tilka is used. Feminine and masculine aside, there is adifference between haadha / haadhihi versus tilka / dhaalika. We would say haadha kitabfor a book here, but to point to something far away, you say tilka (over there, far away).

Allah azza wa jalltalks about the Quran in the pronoun that refers to something far away.Why does Allah mention the far away pronoun when the Quran is in our hands? To show thestatus of the Quran is exalted and to show that the Quran is worthy of being somethingmajestic. Even if you have it, we should thank Allah that we have it, but its status is a highand noble status. Allah says, Tilka aayaatul-kitabil-mubeen.

An ayah is a verse. This shows us that Allah has Himself divided the Quran into ayat.Where does this division come from? From Allah (subhanahu wataala). What about into

surahs? Allah (subhanahu wataala says, when asurah comes down Allah mentionsthe wordsurah and the word ayah. Many other scriptures including the New Testament haveman-made divisions. For us, the Quran is from Allah, and even the divisions within theQuran (meaningsurah and ayah) are from Allah. An ayah also means a sign / indication /miracle. A verse is a sign, and a verse is a miracle. Allah uses the term that is loaded withmeaning. What does ayah mean? Allah calls the miracles of creation ayah. Allah says thatin your creation there is an ayah, and in the sun and the moon there is an ayah. Allah calls theverses of the Quran an ayah. It is not a coincidence, and Allah knows what He is saying, andno one is more eloquent than Allah. The meaning here is that every verse of the Quran has amessage for you and an indication and a miracle.

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Mubeen is a description of the book. Allah calls the Quran many different names, but thereare two names that are the most common: kitab and Quran. Kitab and Quran both occuraround 75 times to describe our Book. Kitab and Quran are complementary to each otherand put together tell us what this book is. Kitab means something that is written down, andQuran means something that is recited. The Quran is something that is written down andrecited simultaneously. No other book from Allah has been preserved to this level. TheQuran has been written down by the commandment of Allah, and it has also been recited byAllah, Jibreel, and the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and is recited to this day,which is of the miracles of the Quran that no other book has. All of the other books werewritten down by men and scribes and people after the times of the prophets. As for us, the

Kitab and the Quran are complementary.

Al-mubeen can have two meanings. The first meaning is the Book itself is a clear Book.Allah says in the beginning ofSurah Al-Baqarah: dhaalika kitab la rayba feeh. There isno doubt / no ambiguity in it. The Book is clear. What does it mean that the Book is clear?It means that anybody who approaches the Quran will be able to get some message from it

and find some level of benefit from it. What this means is that the Quran is a Book that ismeant to be contemplated by every single Muslim. It is not something that only the elite haveaccess to and is not something that only the scholars should read. Even the basic, averageMuslim can benefit from the Quran. There is no doubt that the average Muslim can only

benefit a certain level, and the more they grow in knowledge, the more they can benefit. Thisis a common misconception that alhamdulillah is getting more and more minimal these days,

but once upon a time, it was very common to hear: Oh, anybody can interpret the Quran. Ican open up the Quran and interpret it. No interpretation requires knowledge, but simplehidayah can be obtained immediately and even from a translation. Anyone can read theQuran for personal benefit and personal guidance. There are levels of meaning. QulhuwAllahu ahad. Alhamdu li-lLahi Rabbl-alameen. You understand these, but if you want

to go deep and dissect why Allah said hamdand notshukr, then you need ilm. The averageMuslim can benefit from the Quran, so the Quran is mubeen.

Another meaning of Allah calling the kitabmubeen is that this Book is a clear message fromAllah, and you do not have any doubt where it is from. Mubeen doesnt refer to the language

but to the origin and the source of the Book. The Book has a clear-cut source, and everybodyknows where this Book is from. There is no ambiguity in this Book. This may surprise you,

but to this day, nobody knows who wrote the New Testament, and no one knows thebiographies of these people. They were not the actual disciples of Christ but were anonymouspeople living in the second or third generation after Jesus Christ. To this day, nobody knowswho wrote the Old Testament; it is completely shrouded in mystery. The Orthodox Jews

believe that Musa wrote it, but no other group believes this because the Old Testamentmentions the death of Musa and who buried Musa. People dont know who wrote it.

Allah is saying that this is a mubeen Book you know the origin, you know the source, andeverything is clear about it. There is no question mark. I cannot stress for you O Muslims that we take this for granted as if it is something that is no big deal. There is no otherreligious scripture on the face of this earth that is as unambiguous and as clear anddemarcated fromAl-Fatihah toAl-Nas in the origin of language as the Quran.

There is such a massive confusion about the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and Jewishscriptures. In many religions, you do not even know what the scripture is. In almost allreligions, the language is not the language spoken by the prophets. The original NewTestament was written in Greek, and Isa (alayhi salaam) spoke Aramaic and not Greek. I am

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trying to stress to you that we take these things for granted. Our Quran has no versions. Tothis day, the Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics have different Bibles. They arecompletely different books and different additions and subtractions and different versions.You can belong to any sect of Islam and differ in theology, but the Quran is exactly the samefromAl-Fatihah toAn-Nas, word for word, letter for letter, harakah forharakah you can

purchase a Quran in India, here, or Timbuktu or the hand-written manuscripts.Alhamdulillah this is such a blessing from Allah that we take for granted that our holy Book isclear. All of this proves that as Allah says in a previoussurah in the Quran: We haverevealed this scripture and will protect it.

Another way to understand this is that Allah is saying thissurah in particular is somethingthat is clear. You need nothing else besides this surah. This indicates the importance of this

surah. To emphasize this point, Allah says in the second verse:

We have sent this Quran down as an Arabic Quran so that you may understand.

A question that many Muslims ask is: why does Allah refer to Himself in the plural? Infact, many non-Muslims ask this question. There are two primary interpretations of this. Thefirst of them is that the We is a royal plural, the plural of majesty, and the plural of izzah. Itis allowed in the Arabic language that a singular person (one man) will say we when he isworthy of it, meaning king or royalty. Even in the English language, the Queen of Englandalways says we and never says I, which is the we of royalty. When she says we, shedoesnt mean her and her family, but she means I. She says we to indicate that majesty.In Arabic, this is called the royal plural. It is a permissible interpretation.

Ibn Taymiyyah has another interpretation and says that every time there is a plural in theQuran, it is a reference to Allah (subhanahu wataala ) along with the command of theangels. Allah tells the angels to do something. That is why and this is interesting IbnTaymiyyah says that never in the Quran does Allah say worship us, but He always saysworship Me. Allah says, We revealed the Book because the Book comes down viaJibreel. Allah says, We send the rain because every single drop of rain has an angel takingit right to where Allah said it is going to go. Allah says, We are the ones who blow thewinds because the angels are the ones who take the winds. Allah said, We are the ones whotake the souls because the angel of death comes and takes the souls. This is an interestinginterpretation, which also seems to make sense. When Allah says We, He means, I am

doing this and I am telling the angels to execute this command. The Quran comes down atthe Command of Allah by the hands of Jibreel. Jibreel is the one who brings it down. This isone interpretation as well, and it has a good basis to it.

Anzalah means to descend. Nazalah means to go down / to descend. This shows that theQuran physically came down. We know that the Quran did not come down onto a mountainand the book was there. What does it mean? There are a number of meanings here. Firstly,that Jibreel came down with the recitation of the Quran. Literally, the Quran is comingdown with Jibreel in his memory, and Jibreel is reciting it to the Prophet (shalla-lLaahualaihi wa-ssalam). Secondly, we learn from a hadeeth in the Mustadrakof Al-Hakim that onlaylat al-qadrAllah azza wa jallphysically sent down a divine copy of the Quran (a book),

a part ofAl-Lawh al-Mahfud. There is a copy of the Quran inAl-Lawh Al-Mahfud.According to one hadeeth, which is authentic, on laylat al-qadr, Allah says inna anzalnahu

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fi laylat al-qadr, and in one interpretation, thisAl-Lawh al-Mahfudportion of the Quran wasliterally sent down to the lowest heavens on laylat al-qadrbefore the wahy began upon theProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). Jibreel (alayhi salaam) would take from there aswell. There is a physical descent of a divine copy of the Quran, and so Allah says anzalah.There is also a metaphysical descent, meaning within Jibreel that he brings it down. This isalso one of the many evidences that Allah is above us, which is why the Quran is comingdown. If the Allah was not above us, then the Quran would not need to come down and norwould the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) have to go up in isra wal-miraj tospeak to Him. The Quran is coming down. We have sent down this Quran.

Sometimes Allah says, We have anzalah and sometimes He says, We have nazzalah.What is the difference between these? There is a minor difference, but it is also very

profound and deep. Anzalah means to send down at once. Nazzalah means to send down bitby bit. The Quran is referenced with anzalah and with nazzalah because both occurred. TheQuran is sometimes anzaland sometimes nazzal how is this? Because both occurred. TheQuran came down in its entirety on laylat al-qadr, which is anzalah. For the next 23 years,

Jibreel brought it bit by bit, which is nazzalah. Allah speaks the exact truth, and both of thesethings are valid.

inna anzalnahu Quranan arabiyyan

We have revealed this as an Arabic Quran. This is a very, very interesting verse. Thereare exactly 11 verses in the Quran that characterize the Quran as being Arabic. Allah saysin 11 verses We have revealed an Arabic Quran. From this, there is unanimous consensusamongst all of the scholars of Islam that the Quran can only be in Arabic. Allah describesthe Quran as being an Arabic Quran. This means that when we read a translation, we arenot reading the Quran. We all know this, and this is an evidence of this. What this means isthat when we stand up insalah, we cannot say All praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Ifwe do so, oursalah is null and void. We have to say, Alhamdu li-lLahi rabbl-alameen. Ifwe were to recite it in a non-Arabic language, it is not Quran but is a translation.

This shows us as well that the Quran has been revealed in the language that Allah azza wajallspoke. This is a deep theological point, and I dont want to go to deep. Ahl al-sunnahwal-jamaah believe that the Quran is the kalamullah. Other groups deny this and said it isnot kalamullah. What does it mean that it is kalamullah? It means that literally Allah azza

wa jallspoke and recited the Quran, and Jibreel heard this recitation and brought thisrecitation down to the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam), and the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) recited it after he heard it from Jibreel. From Jibreel to the Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and from the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) tothesahabah up until this day we have a continuous chain, non-stop, and it is from Allah azzawa jallthe recitation begins. This means that when Allah says, We have revealed an ArabicQuran, then that recitation was done in Arabic as well. When we recite the Quran, what wefeel is something that is divine even if you are not Arab. When you recite the Quran, youfeel that it is an amazing speech and a divine speech. When you understand Sunni theology,you understand where this came from. We believe that this recitation was recited by Allahazza wa jall; therefore, when we recite it, there is something divine about the Quran. The

Quran must be respected you cannot put it on the floor and show disrespect to it and it issunnah to respect the Quran. You should put it in a high place in the room, and you should

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have wuduwhen you touch it. There are so many aspects of respect because the Quran isnot just any book but is kalamullah and has a certain status that no other book has.

Allah says, inna anzalnahu Quranan arabiyyan (We have revealed it in an ArabicQuran.) Another question arises: does this mean that all of the words in the Quran areArabic? There are clearly words in the Quran that come from Persian, Greek, and evenRoman. There are clearly words in the Quran that are not Arabic such as istabrakandabaareeq. There are Roman, Persian and sometimes even Sanskrit words. There are evenwords from Latin. These Latin words have also worked their way into English, which is aninteresting point. We are native speakers of English, and English is based on Latin, and Latinis a very ancient language. Some words from Latin made their way to the Arabs as well.What is a word that is Quranic and English at the same time? Story al-saateer(this is not a

pure Arabic word but is a Latin word). The English word story is from the Latin that alsomade its way to the Arabs and we find in the Quran. There are other words as well. Theword justice in Arabic is qistaas. It is from the same root as the Latin root. This is just aside point and something for your benefit.

Allah says that this is an Arabic Quran. Thesahabah and tabioon and tabatabioon readthe Quran and said that not every single word is Arabic, so what do they do? Imam Shafii,said, Anybody who says there is a single word of non-Arabic in the Quran is ajahillanddoes not know what he is talking about. How can there be a non-Arabic word in the Quranwhen Allah says inna anzalnahu Quranan arabiyyan? His love for the Quran was somuch that he did not listen to any argument and said that every single word had to be Arabic.What do we do with these words from other languages? He said that they took the wordsfrom the Arabs. With all respect, it doesnt work that way. Later scholars said that there arelots of non-Arabic words in the Quran and it is not a problem. Imam Al-Suyuti wrote a

book, and over 250 words in this book are claimed to be non-Arabic. He saidsundus is a

Farsi word. There are words from Aramaic and the Ethiopian language such as istabrak.

How do we reconcile this? A great scholar Abu Ubayd Al Qasim ibn As-Salam (d. ~230 AH)said, Both groups are right. Every language interacts with other languages, and itincorporates words from the other language into its own and substitutes the letters of thoselanguages with the letters of its own and changes the word to suit its own grammar. The word

becomes a fluent Arabic word so much so that when an Arab uses the word, no one thinks ofits Greek or Latin or Aramaic origin. It is an Arabic word even if it came centuries ago fromanother language. For example: Story becomes as-saateerand justice becomes qistaas.This is the way languages work; you bring in words from other cultures and then they become

part of your language. They are Arabic words even if they were taken from non-Arabic

languages. Allah has spoken the truth when He said inna anzalnahu Quranan arabiyyan.Imam Al-Shafii has said the truth when he said that every single word was Arabic eventhough his interpretation was a little incorrect.

laalakum taqiloon.

So that you may understand So that you may understand what? The sentence is notcomplete. Why? When you leave the sentence blank, then you encompass all meanings. Ifyou finish the sentence, you limit it. When you leave it blank, it means so that you mayunderstand [everything], and it doesnt need to be limited. This also shows us that there is areason why Allah chose the language of the Arabs, which is because His Prophet is an Arab

prophet and his immediate people are an Arab people. This tells us very frankly that theArabic language is the most eloquent language. The opinion of Imam Al-Shafii and Ibn

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Taymiyyah and many scholars, including non-Arabs, is that the Arabic language is the bestlanguage. Even as non-Arabs we must acknowledge this. The Arabic of today is not thatlanguage, and this is referring tofuhsa (Quranic Arabic). Modern Arabic is a differentlanguage altogether and is not the language of that era. We are talking about that language,and that language was the most eloquent language, and we must believe this as a part ofaqeedah. Imam Al-Shafii said, This is ouraqeedah. Some of the scholars were verystrict. In those days, the only other language that the Muslims spoke was Farsi. If anyonespoke Farsi in front of Imam Maalik, he would have him kicked out of the Prophets Masjid(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and say, This is a place where we speak Arabic.

Those were different times, and there is nothing wrong with speaking another language. Theywanted to preserve the language of the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). I say thisas a non-Arab: we should learn Arabic. It is not wajib to learn Arabic, butsubhanAllah, thisis our religion. The Quran and Sunnah are our religion, and learning Arabic is a big part ofour religion. You cannot become a true student of the Quran until you learn Arabic. This isa simple fact. Reading a translation is meaningless. You have not read the verse yet, much

less the tafsir, if you have to read the translation to understand it. Allah says, I have revealedthis kitabal-mubeen in an Arabic language so that you can understand it.

If somebody were to say, It is not fair that the non-Arabs do not understand the Quran.What do we do as a non-Arab and what are non-Arabs supposed to do with the guidance inthe Arabic language?, the response to this is:

1. One language had to be chosen, logically. Even if Allah chose another language, thenpeople of other languages would have said the same thing. This is not a solid responseto criticize the revelation in Arabic.

2. Also, we say that Arabic is the most eloquent of all languages. All of the languages

we know of that Allah revealed Books in are Semitic languages. He (subhanahuwataala) revealed books in Hebrew and Aramaic and probably in Syriac (thelanguage of Dawud (alayhi salam)). Semitic is a family of languages: Hebrew,Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic. There are Indo-Aryan languages, which is Latin andSanskrit. If you study the differences between those two branches, you will find aworld of difference. [Tangent:Nahw andsarfare a blessing because they show thestructure and precision of the language. It is not found in English grammar and Latingrammar. Sarfis taking a three letter verb and adding an alif, a wow, or a meem. It issaid from one verb you can derive 250 words. Once you learn one word in the Arabiclanguage (one three letter root), you can instantaneously derive at least 250 words ifyou knowsarfproperly. This is an amazing language. This does not exist in English

or any other language.]3. The third response is even if you do not understand its full beauty in Arabic, a

translation will give you a glimpse of it. We give non-Muslims a translation of theQuran, and there is no problem with this whatsoever. Some stricter Muslims say thatwe should not give them a translation of the Quran. [Refutation:] The Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) wrote to the Emperor of Rome, and in the letter, hewrote a verse of the Quran. When the Emperor received the verse, it was translatedin front of him into Latin. This was the first time in history that the Quran wastranslated. This was in the lifetime of the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam).How can anybody say that it is not allowed? It was in the lifetime of the Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam), and he knew it was going to be translated. TheEmperor of Rome did not speak Arabic, and the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) wrote to him in Arabic. It is our duty to translate the Quran into other

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languages. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) had no problem doing it. Itis not the Quran anymore, but the glimpse of beauty will remain.

Why is Allah beginning thissurah by mentioning that He has revealed the Quran to theProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)? One of the reasons Allah (subhanahu wataala)is mentioning this is to remind the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) of the favors thatHe has given to him. This is a standard motif of the Quran. Surah Al-Dhuha: Your Lordhas not left you, nor has He abandoned youDidnt We find you as an orphan and take careof you? Allah is reminding the favors He has done to the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-

ssalam). It is human nature that when you are spiritually down, you need somebody to cheeryou up. Allah azza wa jallis telling the greatest positive thing: He has revealed the Quranto him (one person), and this is the greatest blessing.

Ayah 3:

Nahnu (the plural) occurs because of Allah and the angels. We recite to you the stories.What stories? Ahsanal-qasas. The best of all stories. What is a qisah? The word qisahcomes from qasah, which means to follow the footsteps in the sand. When the bedouins foundsomebodys footsteps, they would follow them in order to catch up to that person. Allah saysabout Musa in the Quran in Surah Kahf[v. 64]: Musa and Yusha followed their ownqassasah (footsteps) back. Why does a story come from following the footsteps? You arewalking in their footsteps and following them. When I tell you the qisah, what happens toyou? You are living it. Why does everybody love a story? A story is mesmerizing. A

person never grows too old to listen to a story. No matter how old you are, you love to listento a story. What do we do when we put children to sleep? We tell them a story, and this iswhat children love. All of us are children in this regard, and we love stories. Allah is saying,We are going to give you the best of stories. It is called a qisah because we are walking thewalk. When we hear the story it is as if we are following their footsteps. Allah is saying,We will give you the best of stories.

If you read any book of how to speak and how to give an effective talk, there is always achapter dedicated to the story. In one of the latest books that I read, it says to always begin alecture with a personal anecdote or personal story. Why? Because it grabs the attention ofthe audience. It is human nature that stories are attractive. Stories are something that you like

to listen to. Also, the lessons in stories are manifested. If I open upRiyadh Al-Saliheen andtell you the benefits of patience, mashaAllah it is good, but now I get to the story of themother of Anas and how she reacted when her son died. Now those ahadith are broughthome. It is not the same as saying, Whoever is patient, mashaAllah he has good iman.When I show you a story, those stories remain with you, and you are affected by them more,which is human nature. Allah azza wa jallis telling us stories.

Another benefit of a story is that they are aqeedah (theology) in action. It is one thing to saythat you put your trust in Allah, but when we hear the story of Ibrahim when he is going to bethrown into the fire and he puts his trust in Allah, it is theology shown in action. Aqeedah ismanifested.

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Another benefit of the story is that it is the reality of what has happened in the past. It is areal thing and not theory anymore. We know this happened to the previous prophets, and sowe sense it more. Another benefit is that stories teach us that Allahs Sunnah is repetitive andwhat has happened in the past will happen again. What is the purpose of a fable or story wetell our children? There is always a moral to the story. There is always a lesson to belearned. The lessons of Allah and these rules of Allah are permanent. When we hear thesestories, the rules are reinforced. One of the fundamental rules of the story of Yusuf is thatrighteousness will win in the end, and evil can never succeed in the long run. This is one ofthe main themes of Surah Yusuf. We are going to come to this. When we read the story, wesee this manifested and in real life; therefore, this maxim is then implanted in us thatrighteousness will win out in the end, and that is why Allah says in the Quran: We will sendyou down stories to strengthen your resolve. It is not childish to find motivation in stories,

but it is part of ouriman. Reading the stories of the prophets and reading theseerah of theProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) is one of the greatest ways to increase iman.Reading the stories of thesahabah brings about a sense oftaqwa and iman and courage in us.Stories are a part of the Quran and Sunnah and part of human nature. This wholesurah is a

story.We will be narrating to you the best of all stories. This has two meanings to it. First,every single Quranic story is the best of its kind. This is for many reasons:

1. They are all true and not legends or fables. A true story is always better than animaginary story.

2. They have the best morals. No other story will give you those types of morals.3. The eloquent manners of presenting these stories. There is no story that can be more

eloquent than the Quranic one.4. Every story that a man writes will have details and information that is not needed, and

it distracts from the story and the moral. Allah azza wa jallwill tell you exactly whatyou need to know and not more or less. This is one of the biggest differences betweenthe story of Yusuf in the Quran and the story of Yusuf in the Old Testament. The OldTestament gives so many details that you get lost. The story of Yusuf [in the Qur'an]even a ten year old can read cover to cover and will understand everything. Thedetails are not there that will cause you to become lost.

Every story in the Quran is the best. A second meaning that has been derived is the fact thatAllah has mentioned this verse in Surah Yusuf is an indication that Surah Yusuf is the best ofall stories. There are two meanings that we derive: 1) Quranic stories are better than allother non-Quranic stories, and the Quran re-emphasizes this; it is pretty obvious. 2) The

story of Yusuf is the best of all of these stories. This is why Allah begins thesurah withnahnu naqussu alayka ahsanal-qasas. We are the Ones who will tell you the best of allqasas

bimaa awhaynaa ilayka

Bimaa means because / through this revelation We have given you the Quran. In otherwords, because We are revealing the Quran to you, it is Our duty to tell you the best of allstories even though before the Quran came down you were from theghaafileen. Ghaafilmeans you did not have knowledge. Ghaflah means to not have knowledge, and sometimes

thatghaflah is intentional, and sometimes it is unintentional. In this case, it is unintentional.The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) did not have access to knowledge. Allah calls

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the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)ghaafilbecause he didnt have the knowledge,not because he did not study but because he could not have studied. Allah is saying,Because We have revealed this Quran to you, it is Our duty to give you the best of stories.

Notice: Allah calls the Book Quran, and in the previous verse, He called it kitab. Kitab andQuran are complementary. The kitab is written, and Quran is recited, and the two puttogether form the reality of our Book. Allah mentions both in the beginning of thissurah.

We have revealed to you the best of all stories because of Our relation to the Quran eventhough before the Quran came down you were from theghaafileen. This shows us anumber of points, and with this inshaAllah we will conclude:

1. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) despite being the greatest human beingbefore the wahy came down did not know these details. What does that show? This isa very profound point for modern philosophers and scientists. The Quran is theultimate source for all of our guidance. We will never know ultimate truth from

falsehood and good from evil without the Quran. The modern philosophy is that ifyou sit in a cave and meditate Im being a bit sarcastic here and if you use yourintellect, you will be able to derive all of the wisdoms you need to know. You will beable to figure out what is right and wrong and what is the best way to govern and whatis the best way to judge and what the best ruling is. The Quran tells us that even

before the Quran came down, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) despitebeing the best of human beings wasghaafil. If ourRasool(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) could not have known all of these truths before the Quran came down, do youthink that me or you or someone else would ever know the realities? Allah says in theQuran: You didnt choose to know what was iman, what was the Book. Allah saysin the Quran, Wa wa jadaka daalan fahada (You were not on the path.) [Surah

Dhuha: 7] The meaning ofdaalhere is not misguided; the Prophet (shalla-lLaahualaihi wa-ssalam) was never misguided. Daalmeans, you werent on the path.You can be misguided or just not have a path, and in the case of the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam), he did not have a path yet. This was the state of theProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) before the wahy (revelation) came down, sowhat then is the state of other than theRasoolwithout wahy? There is no guidancewithout the Quran, and this is a fundamental belief of all Muslims. This is why theQuran is a hidayah andsiraatal-mustaqeem and kitabal-mubeen and kitabal-hakeem. You will never be able to achieve ultimate truth without the Quran. Allahsays, Even though before the coming of the revelation, you were from theghafileen.

2. Allah is saying, You didnt know thesesurahs before I revealed them to you, and you

wereghaafilabout them, so how did you know about them? We mentioned thisbefore. How did he living in Makkah without access to any library and without anyOld or New Testament and without access to Jews and Christians know about thestory of Yusuf? There is only one source and that is Allah (subhanahu wataala).This is of the greatest miracles that we as Muslims many times neglect and do notappreciate. Our Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) was living in anenvironment of complete illiteracy and complete ignorance. There were no libraries,and there were no universities and there were no scholars. The people in Makkahwere bedouins. Imagine: in our times with the internet and cell phones, it is difficultto imagine. For those of you older than fifteen or twenty remember the time beforecell phones imagine in that era coming across a tribe in Brazil or in the jungles ofAfrica, which are completely cut off from civilization, and they have amongst them aman who is talking about the histories of Rome and Persia and the stories of the Old

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and New Testament, and he is in the complete middle of the jungle, and the peoplecant even read and write. They are literally backward tribesmen, lets say, but theyhave a man amongst them who knows all of these things. Isnt this something wecant imagine? It is a miracle of miracles. This was the case of our Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) in Makkah. He came forth with stories, issues, andstatements that people had no access to. The only access could have been from Allah,and this is one of the clear signs that the Quran is indeed from Allah.

Part 2

Last week, we discussed the first three ayatofSurah Yusuf. In these three ayat, Allah(subhanahu wataala) introduces the importance of the Quran. The point of these three ayat

is that Allah is telling us: This is the holiest Book, the clear Book (kitabal-mubeen). This isthe Book that is very clear, and We have given this to you in simple Arabic language so thatyou can understand. And We have narrated to you the best of all stories (Nahnu naqussualayka ahsanal-qasas), and that is the reason why We have revealed this Quran to you eventhough before it came down, you were not of those who knew and were of theghafileen (i.e.you didnt know the story of Yusuf, you didnt know the details of right and wrong, youdidnt know the reality of Islam) until this Quran came down.

These three verses set up the story. Immediately in the fourth verse the story begins.

Idz qala Yusuf

The word idzoccurs in the Quran usually right before a story begins. In English, what thismeans is remember when / recall when. This is usually how stories begin in the Quran.

When Yusuf said to his father

Yusuf is the son of Yaqub who is the son of Ishaaq who is the son of Ibrahim. Yusuf ibnYaqub ibn Ishaaq ibn Ibrahim. The prophet, the son of the prophet, the son of a prophet, the

son of a prophet.

Once a companion came to the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and said, Who isthe most noble of all men? The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, The mostnoble is the one who has the most piety. The man said, I did not mean in that sense. TheProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, Are you asking about the tribes? Are youasking about nobility, meaning the lineage? In that case, the most noble person is Yusuf ibnYaqub ibn Ishaaq ibn Ibrahim (the prophet, the son of a prophet, the son of a prophet, the sonof a prophet).

The bedouin had come and wanted to know which qabeelah was the best. Is it Quryash? Is itThaqif? Is it Kinanah? Which tribe is the noblest tribe? As you know, Islam came toeradicate this type of racism. Basically, it is translating into: which race is the best? Is it the

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whites, is it the blacks, is it the browns? This is the mentality. This person is coming andasking, Which tribe is the best?

Initially, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) did not understand and said the bestperson is the best Muslim and the best righteous man. The man said, I dont mean in thatsense. Immediately, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) understood and said,You mean in the sense that you guys are used to? If you really want to look at lineage, thenwho do you think you are in comparison to the lineage of Yusuf (alayhi salaam)?

Lineage in and of itself has no role in the akhirah. Your father could be the greatest scholaroralim or even a prophet. The son of Nuh had a father who was a prophet. When Nuh(alayhi salaam) called out to his son to come and ride the ship, he said no and that he wouldsave himself, and Allah said he was of those who were destroyed. Your husband or wifecould be the worst human being. Wasnt the best lady on earth, Asiyah, married to the worsthuman being (Firawn)? Lineage plays no role in the akhirah.

In a hadith in Al-Tirmidhi, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, The onewhose deeds pull him back, his lineage will not push him forward. On the Day of Judgment,if your good deeds push you back and you do not have enough good deeds to go forward, then

just because you are the son of so-and-so, it will not push you forward. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) is saying to the bedouin that lineage the way he is thinking of itdoes not matter, but if he really wants to know, then he would tell him that the most noble

person is Yusuf, the son of a prophet who is the son of a prophet who is the son of a prophet.

The story of Ibrahim is well known, and we do not need to repeat all of it over here, but tosummarize for those of you who may be hearing it for the first time, Ibrahim (alayhi salaam)is considered to be one of the greatest of all prophets, and he did not have any children until

old age. He was maybe 90 or 100 years old before he had any children. He was making duato Allah. Allah blessed him first with Ismail from his servant Hajar. When Ismail became ateenager then Allah blessed him with Ishaaq from his wife Sarah. He had two sons: Ismailand Ishaaq.

Ismail is the father of the Arabs, and Ishaaq is the father of Yaqub who is the father of thechildren of Israel. Yaqubs title is Israil or Israel (i.e. Israel is Yaqub), so the children ofIsrael are the children of Yaqub. Bani Israil are Bani Yaqub. Yaqub and Israil are thesame person. Yaqubs children are the Jews.

Ismail is the father of the Arabs. Ismails progeny had no prophets other than our ProphetMuhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). There were no prophets in the whole linefrom Ismail up until our Prophet Muhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) other thanone, and that is our Prophet Muhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam). As for Ishaaq,the Prophet Ibrahim made a dua to Allah: Make me the imam to all of mankind. Hewanted to be the leader of all of mankind. This dua of his was accepted, and all future

prophets came from him. No prophet came after Ibrahim except that he was from hislineage. Because we just said Ismail only had one prophet in his lineage (the ProphetMuhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)), so this means that all of the prophets afterIbrahim other than the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) came from the lineage ofIshaaq. Ishaaq and Yaqub and all of the prophets after him there were hundreds of

prophets or at least dozens for sure. From Yaqub to his son Yusuf to the children of Yusuf,all the way there was a continuous line of prophets. This is something many Muslims are not

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aware of, but Christians and Jews know this because it is a part of their culture and theirbooks mention this.

From the time of Yaqub all the way up until the time of the Prophet Isa (alayhi salaam),there was a continuous string of prophets that was not interrupted, one after another. TheProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, The prophets managed the Bani Israil.Every time one prophet died, another prophet came in his place. This is a great blessing fromAllah, and this is why Allah says in the Quran: I have preferred you [the children of Israil]over all the nations. In this sense, Allah preferred them even over us and that is that theyalways had a continuous prophet amongst them. Overall, we believe that Allahs Favorfinished upon them with the coming of Jesus Christ. When they rejected Isa (or JesusChrist), then Allahs Favor lifted from them and went to the followers of the ProphetMuhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam).

We are talking about Yaqub, who is the grandson of Ibrahim, and the son of Yaqub, and thatis Yusuf. It is said that Yaqub had two wives, and some people say that he also had two

maidservants. Before we get into more detail, we have to mention that the scholars say thatwe should restrict our information to the Quran and Sunnah as much as possible. To look tothe other sources, in particular the Old Testament and New Testament, is not haram, but it is

problematic because you are not sure if it is right or wrong. It could be right or it could bewrong. We will try our best in these series of lectures to minimize turning to other sources.When I do quote you these sources, then I will inform you that this is a source that is not partof our religion.

Somebody may ask Why then do you even quote it? Why dont we just completely rely onthe Quran and Sunnah? The response is found in Sahih Bukhari. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, You may narrate from Bani Israil from the Jews and

Christians. [You can narrate their stories, and there is no sin in doing so.] When you narratefrom the children of Israil, dont believe it but do not deny it. (i.e. be neutral). It might betrue; it might not be true.

According to certain reports in the Old Testament, the Prophet Yaqub (alayhi salaam) hadfour consorts, two were wives and two were maidservants. From these four, he had twelvesons. Yusuf and Benyamin (his brothers name) were from one wife, Rachel. This womanwas the mother of Yusuf and Benyamin two sons only. The other sons were from otherwomen. According to most reports that we have, and even Ibn Abbas said this, the mother ofYusuf died while giving birth to Yusufs younger brother Benyamin. Benyamin was born atthe death of his mother. It was simultaneous; in other words, she died in childbirth in labor.

It is said that Yaqub married Rachels sister. He married Yusufs khalah (aunt), and shebecame the woman who took care of Yusuf and Benyamin. He did not have any childrenfrom this lady.

Yusuf (alayhi salaam) at this point in time is living in Filistin. This is the holy land that Allahchose for Ishaaq and his progeny. Allah (subhanahu wataala) started two holy lands withIbrahim. The first of these was the Kabah, which was before Jerusalem. We know this

because the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, There were 40 years betweenthe establishment of the Kabah and the establishment of Jerusalem. Ibrahim built theKabah first. Most likely, it was Yaqub who really built Jerusalem or perhaps Ishaaq, but weknow that it was not Ibrahim. Ibrahim did not make Palestine holy, but the children ofIbrahim did. It was holy, and we believe that it is still holy. Allah calls it in the Quran ardal-muqaddas, a holy land. Ibrahim and his progeny began two holy lands: Ismail in

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Makkah and Ishaaq in Filistin. Ishaaqs son Yaqub is in Filistin, and Yaqub has children.Yusuf is in Filistin. We are going to learn now that Yusuf will leave Filistin, but for now,they are in Filistin.

Yusuf sees a dream. Idz qala Yusuf When Yusuf said to his father

How old is Yusuf at this stage? Most scholars say he is seven years old. Recall when Yusufsaid to his father, I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon. I saw them prostrating tome. He repeats the verb raaytu twice because first he is setting up the picture of the elevenstars, the sun, and the moon, and then he repeats that he saw all of them prostrating to him.

The story of Yusuf begins with a dream.

Before we go on, we need to talk about dreams. What is so important about dreams? Why dodreams play a role in the story of Yusuf? We learn in the Quran and Sunnah that dreams canoccur from Allah (subhanahu wataala), and they can occur from Shaytan, and they can occur

from your own imagination. Dreams fall into three categories. Dreams can occur from Allah,and this type occurs to the prophets. The prophets dont get the other two types of dreams.The only type of dreams that the prophets have are from Allah. Allah has protected theirdreams from Shaytan, and Allah has protected their dreams from their own imagination;therefore, every time a prophet sees a dream, it is wahy (inspiration from Allah).

We have already seen this in the family of Ibrahim before. Ibrahim (alayhi salaam) sees adream about Ismail and that he is sacrificing him. The Prophet Ibrahim has already told usthe reality of dreams. Now, his great-grandson Yusuf sees a dream. Dreams are somethingrelated to the prophets of Allah, but they are not only related to the prophets. It is possiblethat people who are not prophets also get these types of dreams.

In one hadith in At-Tirmidhi, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, Nothinghas been left ofnubuwwa other than mubashiraat. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-

ssalam) was asked, What are mubashiraat,ya Rasula-lLah? He (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, A dream that you see. Either you or somebody else sees you in it. You seeyourself in it, or somebody else sees you in it and comes and tells you, Akhi, I saw you in adream, and this is what I saw. This is a mubashir. What does mubashirmean? Mubashirmeans good news. From this we learn that the dreams that Allah blesses a person withalways have something positive. There is a positive message in what Allah tells you in yourdreams.

To talk about dreams a little bit more we said dreams are of three types:

1. Haditsl-nafs - Dreams from your imagination.

For example, if one of us wants a very fancy car and wants to by the latest model of theMercedes or Jaguar and is thinking about it and daydreaming, and when you go to sleep, loand behold, you are driving that car. This is yourhaditsl-nafs and imagination.

There is a special group of scientists who study dreams. I find it very tickling thatmashaAllah if they fall asleep on the job, they are the only group of people that can say, We

are working while we fall asleep. There are scientists who study dreams, and these scientiststell us that this type of dream occurs every night. There is a phase in our sleep called REM(rapid eye movement) when everybody dreams. The sign of this dream is that when you

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wake up, the dream is absolutely fresh but within a few seconds it is gone. This is theindication that it is this type of dream; it is your imagination.

External impulses affect this type of dream. If somebody throws water on your face, then youdream that you are drowning. If you hear your alarm clock go off, it will somehow affectyour dream. If somebody is calling you, Wake up! Wake up! It is time forfajr!, in yourdream, it will be translated that somebody is waking you up.

This type of dream has nothing to do with good or bad and is your own imagination. The signof it is that you do not remember it at all. You wake up and by the time it is the middle of theday, you dont remember anything about it.

2. Huloom - a nightmare / evil dream

Huloom is an evil dream, and in English, we call it a nightmare. These types of dream arefrom Shaytan. The sign of this dream is that it terrifies you. You see something evil or

disgusting. You see a loved one die a miserable death. You see yourself in a car accident.You see yourself being chased by evil aliens or beasts or something like this.

This type of dream is just theshayateen wanting to irritate you. They are playing a practicaljoke on you. They are irritating you. Why? Because you are a Muslim, or even if you arenot a Muslim. The non-Muslims have nightmares as well. This is theshayateenplaying withyou at your expense. These types of dreams are never, ever true. Nobody should believethese dreams. Nobody should believe nightmares. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-

ssalam) said that nightmares should not be told to anybody. If you see an evil dream dont gotell other people about it. Why? Because Shaytan is making a fool of you. Once a man cameto the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) and said, Oh Messenger of Allah, I saw my

head cut off in a dream and it was rolling like a ball and I am running after it to pick it up.The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, Dont tell other people how theShaytan played with you last night. He is laughing now when you go tell other people

because you believe this dream.

What is the sign of this type of dream? The sign of this type of dream is that you wake upterrified and in a sweat. Shaytan does not know the future. If you see yourself in a caraccident and the next morning you call and say that you are not going to go to work becauseyou do not want to drive, then Shaytan is the one laughing at you because you believed him.You have to reject nightmares. There is not an element of truth in them. If you follow it and

believe it, Shaytan is the one who will be the winner.

The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said that if you wake up from a nightmare,then seek refuge in Allah from the Shaytan and you are allowed to spit on the left hand side asyou do this. This spit that the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) talked about iswhere the noise is made and nothing comes out. This is to expel Shaytan from you. Say:aoodhu billahi min al-Shaytan al-rajeem. Also, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-

ssalam) said to turn from whatever side you are on to the other side because when theShaytan is teasing you, he is around you or sitting on you, so when you say aoodhu billahand turn around, he has to flee and run away. If it is really bad, then the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said to stand up and pray two rakah to seek refuge in Allah fromthe Shaytan and to establish that relationship with Allah. Whatever you do, you do not tellanyone: not your loved ones and not your spouse and not your friends.

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Dreams of a vulgar nature (wet dreams) are also from Shaytan. A man or woman is not sinfulfrom these types of dreams. Thefiqh is that when you wake up from this type of dream, thenyou must perform an entireghusl. This dream is from Shaytan even though there is no sin onyou because you do not control your dreams. None of the prophets have wet dreams becausethis is from Shaytan. There is no reason for us to feel guilty about this type of dream. It isnatural for a person to go through this, and it is not something to feel any issue about. Weshould realize that this type of dream is coming from Shaytan, and the Shaytan is showing ussuch images in our head and causing this to happen. We wake up in the middle of thisfreezing cold weather and have to go take a shower, and this is not something that is from usor from Allah, but this is from Shaytan. This is another type of evil dream. Once again, wedont tell people about these dreams, but if we wake up in that state, then obviously we haveto doghusl.

3. Mubashiraat/ ruyah - Vision from Allah

The third type is mubashirat, or it is also called ruyah in Arabic, which is a vision from

Allah. It is a positive dream. No dream from Allah will cause you to wake up in a frightenedstate. You will not wake up terrified, or else it would not be a mubashir. What doesmubashirmean? It is from bashirand bashara. Glad tidings, good news, somethingoptimistic. Even if it is not positive, it will be a factual statement. It will be something trueand not something terrifying.

What is the sign of this type of dream? You will wake up and remember the dream vividly,so it is not hadithl-nafs. You will not wake up in a terrified state. When these twoconditions are met, then it is very possible and likely that it is a mubashir. Sometimes youwill wake up in a positive state because you saw something positive. Sometimes you willwake up in a neutral state (not scared and not happy) and you may be confused about what

you saw, but you will never wake up terrified. If you wake up terrified, it is not from Allah,but it is from Shaytan.

Dreams from Allah are one of two types:

1) The first of them, which is less common, is that you see an actual event with you in itwithout any symbolism. You see something that will happen in the future, and there is nosymbolism in it. It is an enactment of the future. The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-

ssalam) saw a dream that he was doing tawafaround the Kabah in the sixth year of thehijrah. There was no symbolism, and when he saw the dream, he knew that it was not asymbolic dream. He (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, Oh Muslims, I saw a dream

that I was doing tawafaround the Kabah. Lets go make umrah. That year they werestopped from entering Makkah, and the Treaty of Hudzaybiyah took place.

[That we will talk about in perhaps maybe one or two years from now inshaAllah if Allahgives us every Wednesday to come, there will be long time ahead to the Treaty ofHudhaybiyah. Maybe even actually three or four years, but we will get there sometimeinshaAllah. We will talk about in detail where the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)was prevented from going into Makkah.]

The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) saw a dream with no symbolism. He sawhimself doing tawafand shaving his hair and it would happen. Allah said in the Quran:This dream that you saw is a true dream. You will enterMasjid Al-Haram. It happened inthe next year.

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This first type of dream where you see an actual enactment of what will happen. This is rarebut happens. It is more common to the prophets. The Prophet Ibrahim saw himselfsacrificing his son there was no symbolism, and it was clear cut.

With regards to such types of dreams, Aisha (radhi Allahu anha) tells us that the Prophet(shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) narrates that for six months before the revelation of theQuran, every single night, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) would see one ofthese dreams. For six months non-stop, every time our Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-

ssalam) would go to sleep, he would dream what was going to happen tomorrow. He mightdream being in thesouqbuying and selling, and the next day the exact same thing happens.He dreams he is going to meet somebody and the next day that person comes and he meetshim. He sees the dream, and the next morning it happens. For six months non-stop, why?Allah (subhanahu wataala) is telling him that something special and great is going tohappen, and He is preparing him for the revelation ofiqra. For six months, this happens, andthen iqra is revealed.

2) SymbolismThis is the more common type. Sometimes the prophets have this type of dream. Morecommonly, non-prophets have this type of dream. In this type of dream, every object that yousee symbolizes and represents something else. For example, an ear of corn represents a yearof water according to the story of Yusuf. A very fat cow and a very thin cow represent a yearof surplus and a year of drought. A tree represents this, or the Kabah represents that. Lightrepresents something else.

In one hadith, the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, I saw men wearing robesof different sizes, and some of the robes were up to their necks and some were up to their

stomachs. I saw Umar ibn Al-Khattab and his shirt was dragging behind him. They said,How did you interpret this? He (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, The religion.People have different sizes of religion. The religion of some is small and the religion ofsome is big. Umars religion was so strong, it was going all the way back there. A shirtmeans religion in this dream. By the way, this does not mean that in every single dream ashirt symbolizes religion, but in this dream it did. This type of dream is a symbolic dream.

We see it right now in the story of Yusuf because he sees eleven stars and the sun and themoon. This is symbolic. Every color, animal, image, plant and inanimate object that youremember represents something. Not everybody can unlock or explain this type ofrepresentation.

This leads us to the topic of interpreting dreams (tafseer ar-ruah ortawilof dreams).Contrary to common perception, interpreting dreams is not something that you can simplylook up in a book and practice. Many books say The Dictionary of Interpreting Dreams, TheEncyclopedia of Dream Interpretation. There is a fabricated book attributed to Ibn Sireentitled Ibn Sireens Dictionary of Dreams, which is a fabrication. Ibn Sireen never wrote anysuch book. It was written 700 years after Ibn Sireen passed away. This book is not correct.In any case, if you go to any Islamic bookstore, in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, or English, you willfind books about interpreting dreams.

Let me be very clear here: The interpretation of dreams is not a science that can be taught bymen to men. It is one of the few sciences that Allah blesses you with innately. There is noway you can study the science of interpreting dreams. For example, I studied in Madinah and

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some scholars studied in Azhar and some scholars studied in Deoband. There are classesthere fortafseer, hadith,fiqh, and there are classes for history andseerah and for Arabiclanguage, but there are no classes for dream interpretation. I studied for ten years there, and Inever heard of any class being offered even privately on interpreting dreams. Why?

Dream interpretation is not a book science. It is a blessing from Allah, which Allah clearlysays in these verses, I will teach you how to interpret dreams. He says it to Yusuf [12:6].

Therefore, dream interpretation is something that Allah blessesthe chosen of His servants with. Some people have it, and some people dont. If you donthave it, you cannot learn it. You can ask Allah to give it to you and you can make dua, butyou cannot read a book. It is not like engineering, and it is not like hadith, and it is not like

fiqh, and it is not like medicine. These are sciences that are codified. Dream interpretation isreal, and the prophets of Allah, especially the Prophet Yusuf knew this science fully. Ofcourse our Prophet Muhammad (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) knew this science.

Not everybody is blessed with it. How do you know if somebodys interpretation is true ornot? By experience. Another point here is the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam)said, When you see such a dream from Allah [the beautiful dream, mubashirat], dont tellanyone except someone whom you trust. You only tell the good dreams to those whom youtrust because people might get jealous like we learn right now in the story of Yusuf and

because people might think evil thoughts. Only tell the ones who are close to you. You areallowed to tell, and you should tell, but you only tell those whom you trust.

When you tell those whom you trust, if you do not know how to interpret dreams, then youshould be quiet. There is a danger for incorrectly interpreting dreams. In one hadith, theProphet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, A dream that has not been interpreted is likea bird flying above you. As soon as someone interprets it, the bird will fall down. You onlywant the most qualified person to interpret the dream. You may tell your loved ones, but theloved ones who are not knowledgeable of dream interpretation should be quiet. You shouldonly go to those whom you trust who are knowledgeable to interpret the dreams.

As we said, this is known by experience. In the community, there might be a person who ismashaAllah muttaqi and praying five times a day by the way, generally speaking, the morerighteous you are, the more likely you will have this knowledge. The closer you are to Allah,the more this knowledge will be innate and natural to you. You go to those people and theyinterpret the dream, and then you will find out whether the dream was true or not.

If somebody sees a dream, the dream interpreter tells him this dream means that he will passthe exam he is studying for, and lo and behold, he passes the exam, or this dream means thatsuch and such will happen, and lo and behold, it happens. From experience we learn that this

person mashaAllah knows dream interpretation.

However, nobodys dream interpretation can be 100% accurate other than the prophets ofAllah. It is only the prophets of Allah who have 100% accurate dream interpretation. What isthe evidence for this? A long hadith in Sahih Bukhari. The Prophet ( shalla-lLaahu alaihiwa-ssalam) saw a dream and he told it to the people. Abu Bakr (radliya-lLahu anhu) raisedhis hand and said, Oh Messenger of Allah, I beg you by Allah to let me interpret the

dream! The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, Okay, interpret it. Abu Bakrtook every symbol and said this means this, and this means this, and this means this and thenasked, Am I right, oh Messenger of Allah? He said, You are right in some and you are

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wrong in others. If Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq could not fully master the science of dreaminterpretation, then no other human being after the prophets can. This means that even thegreatest dream interpreter doesnt have 100% solid dream interpretation.

One of the reasons why dream interpretation is not book knowledge is because symbols varyfrom society to culture to place. Therefore, you cannot just open up a book and look up whatthis symbol means. To give you a funny example, what a coconut symbolizes to a personliving in a desert island is not the same as what it symbolizes to a person living in the city.For the person on the island, the coconut symbolizes life, water, and food. For me, a coconutdoes not symbolize any of those things. It is a very different thing.

For example, in our culture in India and Pakistan, a white elephant symbolizes something those of us who are from there, we know that but if an American sees a white elephant, itdoesnt symbolize to him what it symbolizes to people of other cultures. The point beingsymbols will be relevant to the culture of the people because Allah is communicating to him.There is no concept of a universal dictionary of dreams or a universal encyclopedia of

dreams. Rather, dreams are very personal, and you go to the local people who know you andyour background and tell them your dreams, and if they know they will interpret it.

A very interesting hadith: The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, Dreamsfrom Allah are the only thing that remain from prophethood, and they represent 1/46th of

prophethood. It is a very precise fraction. He (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) is sayingthat to be a prophet, you need 46 things, and one of them is true dreams. The door has beenshut for the other 45 things, and they will not happen anymore in mankind. Maybe Jibreelcoming down was one of them and seeing the angels was another, but we do not know the list.

There are 46 things that all prophets do, and 45 have been shut for everybody until the Day of

Judgment except for one door, and that is the door of good dreams. Where did this fractioncome from? Scholars say that if you look at the life of the Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam), he received wahy for 23 years (13 in Makkah and 10 in Madinah), and for sixmonths before the wahy began, he saw true dreams. Six months is half a year, and 0.5 / 23years = 1 / 46. This is the exact fraction. This is exactly what our Prophet (shalla-lLaahualaihi wa-ssalam) said that nothing is left of prophethood except dreams, and these dreamsare 1/46 of prophethood.

After this tangent into dreams, let us go back to the story of Yusuf:

Yusuf says, I have seen eleven stars and the sun and the moon. I saw them He repeatsthe verb I saw to emphasize that something occurred in the middle of the dream. First theywere stagnant (I saw them), and then: I saw them move and prostrate to me.

Yusuf was a child and did not understand the meaning of the dream. He is seven. Right now,Allah has not taught him to interpret dreams. When he becomes older and in the prison andthe king of Egypt sees the dream, he interprets it immediately. Right now he is a kid, and hedoesnt know, so he goes to his father and says, Ya abati. Abati is a polite way to sayfather. In the Quran, it is generally always abati. Ibrahim tells his father ya abati. It is themost polite way to say father.

He says, Oh my dear father, I have seen eleven stars and the sun and the moon prostrating tome. We all know the interpretation of this: The eleven stars represent his brothers, and thesun and the moon represent his parents. Some scholars say the father is the sun and the

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mother is the moon, so I saw the sun and the moon meaning my father and mother.However, a lot of scholars say, and perhaps this is the majority opinion of earlier scholars,that the mother represents the sun and the father represents the moon because the right of themother is more than the right of the father. A lot of early commentators say that the sunrepresents the mother of Yusuf and not the father because the right of the mother is threetimes more than the father. A minority says that the sun represents the father.

What do the sun and the moon and the stars represent? They represent celestial objects andhigh individuals and individuals of nobility. They represent individuals who are shiningstars. Even in English, we call somebody who is famous a star, meaning someone who isworthy to be looked up to. These are the stars, and the sun and the moon are even brighterthan them. All of these indicate very high beings. The fact that they prostrate indicate thatthere is a being that is higher than them. There is a being that is nobler than all of them andthat is Yusuf. Yusuf in his dream sees that these are not normal people prostrating to him andthese are not average human beings prostrating to him. These are stars and the sun and themoon and the height of humanity at that time prostrating to him. Who else was better than

Yaqub at that time? Nobody. Who else was better than his parents? Nobody. This meansthat eventually Yusuf will outshine the sun and the moon and the stars. Yusuf will becomemore famous and will rise to higher ranks and reach a level of nobility that even his mother,father, and brothers did not reach.

When his father hears this, he says, Oh my dear son, dont tell this dream of yours to yourbrothers. They are going to plot against you a severe plotting. One of the problems of doing

tafseerin any language other than Arabic is that you lose a lot of the balagha.

This type of double cannot really be translated into English. They will plot against you aplotting. It loses the whole beauty. They will plan against you a planning. There is noeloquence in English to say that. The meaning here is: They will plot against you a verymighty / very severe plot. The emphasis is a powerful plot and a strong plot and an effective

plot.

Verily Shaytan is an open enemy to mankind.

From this ayah, we derive many benefits. We can summarize them into seven points:

1. We only tell dreams to those whom we trust. Yusuf went to his father. The first thinghis father said was, Do not tell your dream to others. We only tell our dreams to thosewhom we trust because telling dreams to those whom we dont trust can backfire.

2. We see the dangers of jealousy and envy. This is a common theme throughout thiswholesurah. We are going to come back to this point over and over again. What is jealousyand envy? It is a burning desire that a man or woman has to be given something that

somebody else has. It is a burning desire that why was he given that? I should be given

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that. It is some type of evil desire that the other person is not worthy of it but that you aremore worthy of it than that person.

The Prophet (shalla-lLaahu alaihi wa-ssalam) said, I warn you against having jealousy.Jealousy eats up your good deeds like a fire eats up twigs. This is a very interesting hadith

because jealousy is a feeling, and the general rule is that we are not accountable for feelingsand thoughts, but some feelings and thoughts we are accountable for and the number one is

jealousy. Why? You must fight jealousy. If you do not fight jealousy, then the feeling ofjealousy will eat up your good deeds because it is a feeling that emanates from an evil heart.Anybody who is jealous is accusing Allah (aoodhubillah) of being ignorant.

This is what my shaykh said to me Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (rahimahullah). He said,Anybody who is jealous is accusing Allah ofdhulm and ignorance. How so? The jealousman is thinking, He doesnt deserve this. I deserve it. Who does he think he is to have that?I am more worthy to have it than him. What he is basically saying is O Allah(astaghfirullah), you have done an injustice and should not have given that to him. I am more

worthy of it than him. Anybody who is jealous has a problem in his aqeedah (theology) andiman, and that is why jealousy destroys your good deeds. You cannot be a true believer inAllah and allow this jealousy to grow. This is why jealousy has to be battled.

This is a disease in men and women. Generally speaking, men are jealous of wealth andpower and women are jealous of beauty. This is just a fact, and Im making a factualstatement here. In either case, this feeling of jealousy is a contradiction ofiman in Allah

because you are saying, O Allah, why did You make her so beautiful? O Allah, why did youmake him the president or the prime minister or give him so much money? I deserve this aswell. It is a problem ofiman. Here in this ayah, we learn of the dangers of jealousy.

3. The third benefit of this ayah: A believer should be wise and not make problems forhimself. Do not boast about any type of blessing. We shouldnt go and flaunt the blessingsthat Allah has given us because this type of flaunting and this type of boasting will cause

people to be jealous even though it may be halal.

That is why when later on in the story, we will learn when Yaqub tells his children to enterEgypt, he tells them, Dont enter from one door. Enter from different because you are allyoung, handsome men and it is obvious that you are all from one family, and everybody isgoing to get jealous. In those days, they liked lots of kids. In these days, the norm is to onlywant two kids generally speaking. In those days, they wanted lots of children, and for oneman to have twelve sons who are mashaAllah grown up and handsome and young and

powerful, Yaqub is worried people are going to get jealous of them. There is nothing haramfor twelve brothers to walk in from one door, but this is wisdom. You dont need to go flauntto make people feel jealous of the blessings that Allah has given you.

There is either a hadith (scholars have differed about its authenticity) or a statement of one ofthesahabah: Help yourselves to achieve your goals by secrecy. In other words, do not

publicize what you are doing to everybody. If you want to purchase a business, or if you wantto do something and you are worried other competitors are going to come and it is halalwhatyou are doing, then dont cause problems for yourself by telling everybody and telling peoplewhom you do not trust. We learn this as well in this ayah.

4. The fourth benefit is clearly mentioned: Shaytan is a clear and open enemy to you.Shaytan is an enemy, and we dont need to go into a whole tangent about why this is the case.

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Allah warned the very first human being about Shaytan. Allah (subhanahu wataala) says inthe Quran, We said, O Adam, this being [He didnt even mention him. Over here, there isan element of despicability.] is an enemy to you and to your wife. The very first human

beings are told this, so make sure that they do not cause you to be expelled from Jannah.

Allah tells us in the Quran: Shaytan is an enemy to you, so make sure you treat him like anenemy. Shaytan is ever eag