Page 68 - The Struggle of the Messengers

66 The Struggle of the Messengers

We are also told that Allah sets traps for those who try to entrap a
Messenger:
When those who do not believe were plotting to imprison you,
kill you, or expel you: they were plotting and Allah was
plotting, but Allah is the best plotter. (Surat al-Anfal, 30)

One of Allah's titles is al-Makir, or The Plotter. In other verses
this title is revealed as follows:
They concocted their plots, but their plots were with Allah,
even if they were such as to make the mountains vanish.
(Surah Ibrahim, 46)
They hatched a plot, and We hatched a plot while they were not
aware. (Surat an-Naml, 50)
Note that the title The Plotter, just like the title The Humiliator, is
manifested in the believers and especially in the Messengers.
Allah often uses a Messenger to set a trap for the unbelievers. The
Prophet Joseph (as) is an example of this. His irreligious brothers
threw him in a well when he was a young child. But the Prophet
Joseph (as) was rescued by Allah's choosing and set a trap for

them in turn when he assumed control over the Egyptian
Treasury:
Then when he [Joseph] had supplied them with their needs, he
put the goblet in his brother's bag. A herald called out:
"Caravan! You are thieves!" They turned to them and asked:
"What are you missing?" They said: "We're missing the king's
goblet. The man who brings it will get a camel's load [reward].
Regarding that, I stand as guarantor." They exclaimed: "By
Allah, you know we did not come to corrupt the land and that
we are not thieves." They asked: "What is the reparation for it
if, in fact, it transpires that you are liars?" They answered: "Its