Page 66 - The School of Yusuf (as)

THE SCHOOL OF YUSUF

Allah. Throughout their lives, they turn only to Allah in everything
they do, and seek only His help. The features that distinguishtheir
prayers from that of others is the fact that they show gratitude in
their prayer, whether or not they are praying in good or bad times.
Those of weak faith, and those sick at heart, usually pray only sin-

cerely in times of hardship. It is only in those moments that their
hearts are free of arrogance or doubt, and they pray to Allah with the
recognition that only He can help them. For instance, during a devas-
tating earthquake, all realize their powerlessness, and that only
Allah’s help can save them. They therefore turn to Him with a pure
heart. Believers, on the other hand, unlike these others, turn to Allah
with a pure heart through a disaster, but also afterwards, when the

danger has passed.
A believer confined in the School of Yusuf knows that it is only
Allah Who can free him from prison, and that He is the best of judges,
and therefore asks only for His help. He too will do what he can to at-
tain his freedom, as did Yusuf (as) when he asked his friend to men-
tion him to his master, but with the difference being that he knows it
is Allah Who determines the outcome of all things. When Yusuf (as)
was confronted with the conspiracy of the unbelievers, he prayed to
Allah, Who answered his prayers:

He [Yusuf] said, “My Lord, the prison is preferable to me
than what they call on me to do. Unless You turn their guile
away from me, it may well be that I will fall for them and so
become a man of ignorance.” His Lord replied to him and
turned away from him their female guile and deviousness.
He is the One Who Hears, the One Who Knows. (Surah
Yusuf, 33-34)

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