Page 27 - The Prophet Yusuf (as)

Prophet Yusuf's Childhood (as)

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As appears quite clearly from these verses, envy was the
principle motivation behind the trap that Yusuf’s brothers laid for
him. It was the thought that their father loved Yusuf (as) and his
brother more which led them to this jealousy. They wanted a love di-
rected only towards themselves, and thought, because of their num-
bers and the way that they encouraged one another, that they had a
greater right to that love.
This is clearly a most twisted way of thinking. According to
the Qur’an, the real measure of a believer’s love is the degree to which
it is motivated by God concsiousness. Whoever is most conscious of
Allah has most fear of Him and scrupulously remains within the limits
of behaviour set by Him. Hence, the people they love the most are
those who exhibit the most upright moral values. That is the be-
liever’s concept of love. It is evident that Prophet Ya’qub (as) adopted
that same criterion when giving love to his sons. It is perfectly natural
that since Prophet Yusuf (as) was more God fearing and possessed
higher moral values than his other sons he should have loved him
most. However, since Prophet Yusuf’s brothers (as) did not share that
perspective they were unable to understand the love their father felt
for Yusuf (as) and their youngest brother. This is an important indica-
tor of how far their characters had deviated from their religion.
Another aspect of their behaviour that is worthy of note is
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