JOSEPH (YUSUF)
Joseph (Yusuf) was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. His mother’s name was Raheel. He had a younger sister and a brother named Benjamin n (Binyamin) from the same mother. Joseph was exceptionally handsome and was very dear to his parents.
The dream of Joseph and its interpretation by his father
One day Joseph told his father about a dream he had the previous night. He saw that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down before him. His father was the prophet of the time and knew the meaning of the dream. He told him that he would be a prophet of God and will be a powerful king over everybody including his parents and his brother.
Ill-treatment of Joseph by his brothers
Interpretation of the dream by Jacob did not go well with his sons who were already distraught due to their father’s special affections for Joseph. They decided to get rid of their brother Joseph. They threw him in a well and brought his shirt. smothered in sheep’s blood. They put up scene upon entering their home, wailing and crying They told their parents that a wolf had devourer their young brother and that they were unable to save him from the terrible fate.
Jacob was so grieved at the story and was so saddened by the apparent loss of his son that he wept profusely all day and all night. It is said that he lost his eyesight due to excessive crying.
Joseph retrieved from the well and sold as a slave
Having thrown their younger brother in the well, the older brothers stayed around to see what might happen. A caravan headed for Egypt stopped at the well for water and for
rest. Seeing a handsome youth in the well they pulled him out and wondered at his beauty and youth. The brothers showed up in front of the leader of the caravan and said that the youth was their slave who had escaped from them and had hidden himself in the well. The leader of the caravan saw the potential of higher sale value for Joseph in the slave market of Egypt and he paid a low price to his brothers for legitimising his ownership.
Upon arriving in Egypt, the caravan leader placed Joseph on the market. His price increased every day. The ruler of Egypt heard about the sale of an exceptionally handsome youth in his city and he came down to see him. He was stunned by the beauty of the lad and paid the highest price at the bidding. He took him to his palace to serve his beautiful wife. Zulaikhah, who had no child.
Joseph in servitude of the Pharaoh of Egypt
Joseph served the king and his wife with such honesty and efficiency that he was made incharge of the ruler’s household. It so happened that Zulaikhah developed infatuation for Joseph and started to love him with increasing passion.
The story of Zulaikhah’s love for Joseph
ashe Zulaikhah fell madly in love with Joseph, but he took every opportunity to avoid her advances. On one occasion was successful in trapping him into her chamber so that she could be alone with him. No sooner did he realize the wicked designs of the queen than he made for the door of the chamber. She lunged after him and was able to grab his shirt from behind. In the short scuffle that followed, Joseph’s shirt was torn from behind. Just as he escaped through the chamber door, he bumped into the king himself. Realizing the acuteness of her situation, the queen yelled for help. The ruler was greatly angered by the rather strange circumstances and looked at Joseph demanding an explanation. Joseph said that he was innocent and that Zulaikhah was the guilty one. One of Zulaikhah’s own relatives from the household came forward to clear the matter. He said that if
Joseph’s shirt was torn from front, then he was the aggressor and culpable for his actions but if it was torn from behind, then Zulaikhah was guilty. As Joseph’s shirt was torn from behind, the ruler found his wife to be culpable for the embarrassing event.
He told Joseph to forget the event and told his wife to refrain from seeing Joseph when alone. However, the story of the scandal got out of the palace and spread far and wide. Women of other nobles maliciously gossiped about this happening.
Zulaikhah arranged a party and invited the women of nobility to her palace. As they were busy cutting and eating fruits, she summoned Joseph into her audience. As he arrived in their presence, the women got totally stunned by his beauty and many cut their fingers instead of the fruits in their hands. They were now convinced about what they had heard about Joseph and his beauty.
Joseph prayed to God to save him from the wickedness of the queen and other women of Egypt.
The imprisonment of Joseph
When the king learnt about the scandalous involvement of the wives of other nobles in his kingdom over Joseph, he considered it best to take Joseph away from his palace and threw him into the prison. However the supervisor of the prisons noted the purity of character and conduct of Joseph and started to treat him with respect. He made him’ his deputy in managing the affairs of the prison.
Interpretation of dreams by Joseph
It so happened that two other young men were thrown in the same prison. Each one of them saw a dream. One saw that he was extracting juice from ripe grapes and the other saw that he was carrying a basket of bread on his head and birds were eating freely from it. They asked Joseph if he could interpret their dreams. He gave them sermon on virtuous conduct and belief in the oneness of God. He then gave them the interpretation of their dreams. He told the one who saw himself extracting juice from.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 