Prophet Ya'qoub and his Beloved Son

Hadeeth Shareef

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:
الكريم ابن الكريم ابن الكريم ابن الكريم: يوسف بن يعقوب بن إسحاق بن إبراهيم عليهم السلام."رواه البخاري

Abdullah Ibn Omar narrated that the Prophet said, The honorable, son of the honorable, son of the honorable, son of the honorable is Yousuf, the son of Ya'qoub, the son of Is'haq, the son of Ibraheem, peace be upon them."
Reported in Al-Bukhari

A Special Family of Faith

In this hadeeth, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was referring to Prophet Yousuf عليه السلام and his ancestors. Yousuf was the son of Prophet Ya'qoub عليه السلام who was the son of Prophet Ishaq عليه السلام who was the son of Prophet Ibraheem, peace be upon them all. Rasoolullah ﷺ was stressing how honorable all these men were. They were truly a family of great faith.

Prophet Yaqoub and his Family

Prophet Ya'qoub was also known as Israel, which means in Hebrew "working hard for God." His father was Is'haq, the younger brother of Isma'eel. Ya'qoub had four wives. From three of them, he had ten sons. One of his wives was very beautiful. Her name was Rahil, which is Arabic for Rachel. In his old age, he had from Rahil two sons: Yousuf and Benyamin. Benyamin was the younger son of Rahil and Ya'qoub.

Ya'qoub lived with his wife and sons in Palestine, near Jerusalem. Yousuf was a righteous child and was extremely handsome. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had said, "Yousuf had half of the beauty in the world." Ya'qoub loved his son Yousuf very dearly. He knew his son was very special. Ya'qoub's ten other older sons were jealous of Yousuf, because their father seemed to love him more. They allowed Shaytan to make them envy their brother and wish that he would lose favor.

Yousuf's Vision

One day, Yousuf came to his father and told him that he had a vision wherein he saw eleven stars, the sun and the moon prostrating to him.

Ya'qoub was wise. He told Yousuf not to tell his brothers about his vision. He knew that the other sons might plot to hurt Yousuf.

Ya'qoub predicted that his son would be a prophet, like him. He told Yousuf that God would teach him the meaning: of stories and events, and that God would give blessings to him and his family.

Yousuf was young and inno- cent and did not know any- thing about his brothers' hatred, But Ya'qoub knew anc warned him. Ya'qoub trusted Allah would do what was best. He knew how his father Is'haq, and grandfather, Ibraheem, had trusted Allah. They both kept their faith through all hardships, and Allah helped and supported them.

Yousuf's Jealous Brothers

Just as Ya'qoub sensed, the ten brothers plotted to get rid of Yousuf. In their mean hearts, they thought that would bring their father's love back to them. They thought that after getting rid of Yousuf by killing him, they would repent and be good again.

One of the brothers, who was less cruel said, "Don't kill Yousuf! Throw him into the well! Some travelers passing by will pick him up and take him to a faraway land. If not, at least we shall not have killed him."

Allah planned to keep Yousuf alive, so the brothers went ahead with their plot. They asked their father to let them take Yousuf to play with them. They argued that he would have a good time in the open air.

Prophet Ya'qoub عليه السلام was suspicious about the situation and did not trust his sons with Yousuf. However, he did not know about their evil plans. Anyway, he didn't want to make them angry. If they became angry, he thought, they may hurt Yousuf. So Ya'qoub decided he must deal with them wisely and cautiously.

He told them that he was old, and would miss Yousuf very much and be sad without him. And after all, Yousuf was not of an age to play with them. They would be busy playing, and a wolf might come and attack Yousuf. When he said this, the wicked sons thought to use the very same excuse when they would come back without Yousuf.

The Evil Plot

The brothers took Yousuf anyway and carried out their evil plan.

They threw him in a well, but not before taking his shirt. Yousuf was betrayed by his brothers. They did not care if he died or if he was sold into slavery. But Yousuf's heart was fearless. He had courage. As a matter of fact, he had the feeling that God would save him.

The plotters went back home, ready with their false tale for their father. They told their father a wolf had attacked and killed Yousuf. To make it look real, they came late in the evening crying, as if they felt bad about losing their brother. They even killed a goat and used its blood to stain Yousuf's shirt. They told Ya'qoub that they were having a race when they left Yousuf with their belongings. They said that when they were racing, they could not see the wolf or save their little brother. They thought that their father's fears about the wolf could make him believe their story.

They were surprised that their father did not believe the story, and he treated them coldly. They pretended to be hurt, to make it look like they were innocent. Even the blood-stained shirt did not convince him.

Prophet Ya'qoub عليه السلام knew that there had been foul play, and he plainly told his sons what he thought. He deeply grieved over the loss of his precious son, but he had faith in Allah and prayed for His assistance. Prophet Ya'qoub showed great patience.

Yousuf Becomes a Slave

Meanwhile, a caravan of travelers came to the well where Yousuf had been thrown. They were surprised when instead of water, they saw a boy, as innocent as an angel, with a face as radiant as the sun. seeing him was a delight.

It was a caravan of mer- chants who thought of every- thing in terms of money. In front of them, they had a beautiful boy who seemed very smart. If he could be sold in the slave market, they would make a lot of money!

They had indeed found a treasure, but they were afraid that he was a lost child or a slave, and that his master would come soon and claim him. So, they hid him all the way to Egypt.

Yousuf in Egypt

Now, Ya'qoub was sorrowful over the loss of his son. The ten brothers were finally rid of the brother they had envied throughout the years. Yousuf was alone in the hands of strangers, and the merchants were excited about the money they would make, This was all part of Allah's plan.

The merchants took Yousuf to Egypt. There, he was sold for only a few dirhams. A high court official, who was called "Al-Azeez," bought him. He took Yousuf to his wife, Zuleikha to be his moth- er. She would treat him as an honored member of the fami- ly. Al-Azeez told his wife that there could be some ben- efit in adopting Yousuf.

The job of Al-Azeez was to handle Egypt's treasury. He taught Yousuf how to manage finances (money affairs) in Egypt. This again was part of Allah's plan. He wanted to prepare Yousuf for his mission. Al- Azeez was powerful, and this helped Yousuf learn about power.

During this time, Allah gave Yousuf the knowledge to understand events and visions.

Yousuf Goes to Prison

After several years, Allah willed for Yousuf to be sent to prison. Yousuf was accused of a crime that he did not com- mit. At the same time, two Egyptian men entered the prison with him. One was the king's servant and the other was his baker. When they met Yousuf, they admired him. They admired his character, morals, guidance, manners, and speech. Mostly, they appreciated his strong faith.

One night, the two men had dreams. The servant told Yousuf that he had a dream. He saw himself pressing grapes to make wine.

The baker saw himself car- rying baskets of bread on his head, and the birds were eat- ing the bread. They knew that Yousuf was honest and knowledgeable. They said, "We can see that you are a good man. Please tell us what our dreams mean."

Yousuf kindly told them that he would interpret their dreams, but he wanted to tell them about himself first.

Yousuf told them that his Egyptian family worshiped many gods. He told them that the only right way was to wor ship the One True God. He called them to the truth. Then Yousef told the servant that he would one day be making wine for the king. This was good news, but he said that the king would soon order the baker to be put to death.

When the servant was leaving, Yousuf asked him a favor. He asked the servant to tell. the king that he was Innocent, so that he could be freed. However, when the servant was let out from jail, he forgot about Yousuf. Shaytan made him forget.

God wanted to teach Yousuf a lesson for depending on the servant without asking Him first. It is said that Jibreel came to Yousuf in prison and asked him, "Who saved you from your brothers?
He said, "Allah."
Jibreel asked, "And who saved you from the well?" He said, "Allah."
"And who saved you from slavery?" He said, "Allah."
"And who protected you in the house of Al-Azeez?"
He said, "Allah."

Jibreel then asked, "Then why do you depend on the king to save you from prison?" Jibreel was teaching Prophet Yousuf that he should always be patient, depend on Allah first, and trust His plan. Allah, for a wise reason, decided that Yousuf would stay in prison for a few more years. That was a real test and trial for Yousuf.