Page 78 - Perfected Faith

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PERFECTED FAITH

Taking this dream to be a sign from Allah and realising that Yusuf
(as) would become a noble person in Allah's sight in future, his father
wanted him to keep this dream to himself. His brothers, who felt that
their father held Yusuf (as) more dear, became jealous of their father's
love and hatched a plot against Yusuf (as). They tried to kill him and
draw their father's love to themselves:
In Yusuf and his brothers there are Signs for those who ask.
They declared, "Why! Yusuf and his brother are dearer to our fa-
ther than we are, although we constitute a powerful group. Our
father is clearly making a mistake." Kill Yusuf or expel him to
some far-off land, so that your father will look to you alone and
after that you can be honourable men. One of them said, "Do
not take Yusuf's life, but, if you must, throw him to the bottom
of a well, so that some travellers may discover him." (Surah
Yusuf, 7-10)
His brothers left Yusuf (as) in the depths of a well. Then, they came
to their father, telling him that a wolf had devoured him, and offered
his shirt with false blood stains as evidence. Despite this evidence, the
Prophet Ya'qub (as) realized this incident to be a plot, took refuge in
Allah and asked Him for help. Thanks to countless conditions prede-
termined by destiny, some travellers passing by the well found the
Prophet Yusuf (as) and sold him as a slave to a governor in Egypt:
… Thus We established Yusuf in the land to teach him the true
meaning of events. Allah is in control of all things, though most
of mankind do not know it. And then when he became a full-
grown man, We gave him knowledge and right judgment too.
That is how We reward all doers of good. (Surah Yusuf, 21-22)
The wife of the governor who bought him approached the Prophet
Yusuf (as), who was remarkably handsome, with wicked intentions.
However, she was refused outright by Yusuf (as). Upon this, the wife
of the governor resorted to slandering Yusuf (as) to maintain her in-
nocence: