Page 39 - Beauties for Life in the Qur'an

PRUDENT MEASURES IMPLIED BY THE QUR'AN 37

Denying Ill-intentioned People Any Information
That Will Reveal Their Weaknesses
People who harbor hatred or jealousy for believers use any
opportunity to satisfy these feelings. Given this, believers must
not give them any chance to thwart such attacks.
Allah draws our attention to this while relating the story of
the Prophet Yusuf (as), whose brothers attempted to kill him out
of jealousy for the love their father had for him. They thought
that, once their brother was out of the way, their father would
direct all of his love and care to them. To attain this goal, they
carried out the evil plan related in Surah Yusuf, as follows:
They asked: "Our Father, what is wrong with you that you refuse
to trust us with Yusuf, when in truth we only wish him well?
Why don't you send him out with us tomorrow so he can enjoy
himself and play about? All of us will make sure that he is safe."
He said: "It grieves me to let him go with you, for I fear a wolf
might come and eat him while you are heedless, not attending
him." (Surah Yusuf: 11-13)
As we learn from these verses, the Prophet Ya'qub (as) knew
how his sons felt toward Yusuf (as) and did not agree to their
offer, fearing that a wolf would devour him while they were out
playing. His brothers, who eventually took Prophet Yusuf (as)
with them, cast him into a well and then brought his shirt
stained with fake blood to their father saying:
… "Father, we went to run a race and left Yusuf together with our
things. Then, a wolf appeared and ate him. But you will never be-
lieve us now, even though we really tell the truth." They then
produced his shirt with false blood on it... (Surah Yusuf: 17-18)
As the verses maintain, Prophet Yusuf (as)'s brothers at-
tempted to justify their treachery by using the concerns that