Prophet Yusuf 1

He was the son of Ya'qub (Alayhis salam) and the grandson of Ishaaq
(Alayhis salam). He was thenext to youngest of twelvesons and a
favorite of his father.
One day he had a dream inwhich eleven planets, the sun, and the moon
were bowing down in front of him. When his father learned of this
vision, he interpreted it as meaning that Allah would prefer Yusuf
(Alayhis salam), would teach him the interpretation of dreams , and
would perfect His grace upon him. But Ya'qub warned Yusuf (Alayhis
salam) not to tell the dream to his brothers, because they would be
extremely jealous and might wish to do harm to him.
The older brothers were indeed jealous of Yusuf (Alayhis salam) and
his younger brother. They decided that, with Yusuf (Alayhis salam) out
of the picture, their father would look upon the rest of themwith more
favor. Some wanted to kill him and some favored abandoning him in some
distant land. One of the brothers suggested leaving him in apit so
that some caravan would pick him up and carry him away. That was the
plot upon which they eventually agreed.
Yusuf's brothers went to their father and asked if they could take
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) out in the pastures with them on thefollowing
day, so that he could play and enjoy himself. At first Ya'qub (Alayhis
salam) dissented, because he feared that Yusuf (Alayhis salam) would
be devoured by a wolf. But the brothers assured him that the wolf
would not have a chance against so many of them. Finally Ya'qub agreed
to let Yusuf go with them.
The following day, the brothers led Yusuf (Alayhissalam) away and left
him in the bottom of a deep pit. Allah revealed to Yusuf(Alayhis
salam) at that time that one day he would tell them of this deed, when
the brothers would not recognize him. After the brothers had left
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) in the pit, a caravan came along and a
water-drawer was sent to look for water at the bottom of the pit. He
was delighted to find instead a healthy young man. Yusuf (Alayhis
salam)was taken away in the caravan to be sold into slavery. The
traders attached very little value to him and sold him for a very
small amount of money.
Meanwhile the brothers stained Yusuf's (Alayhis salam) shirt with the
bloodof some animal and returned, weeping and wailing, to their
father, concocting a story about how a wolf had, after all, managed to
slip past themand devour Yusuf . Their father recognized that their
grief was not sincere, and he prayed to Allah to help him bear his own
grief over the loss of Yusuf(Alayhis salam).
To be continued.

Repentance (tawbah) when a sin involves the rights of another person

If the sin involves a rights of another person then what form should
repentance take?
The basis for the answer is the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon
him) who said: "He upon whom his brother has a right, be it of the
nature of money or honor, let him compensate for it before he is made
to compensate for it on a day when there will be neither dinar nor
dirham to deal with. Instead, if hehas a good deed in his account it
will be taken away from him and given to the person he had wronged.
And if he has nogood deed in his account, sins of the other person
will be taken from him and added to his account"(Bukhari).
Accordingly, therepentant can escape the questioning only by
eithergiving back the people wronged their due or seeking their
forgiveness. If they forgive, he need not worry, but if they do not,
then he must return their dues.

Repentance (tawbah) from accepting bribes

A man used to accept bribes. Then Allah guided him to righteousness.
What shall he do with what he used to earn as bribes?
There can be two situations. Either the bribes he used to accept were
from thosethat had been wronged who had to offer bribe as a means of
obtaining what was their right, in which case the repentant should
return them their amounts or articles or whatever. For what he took
from them is considered as having been taken by force or through
deceit. Or, the bribe was taken from an unjust (zalim) man like
hehimself was before repenting. (That is, someone who achieved
orattained things via bribes which were not his right.) This amount is
not be returned to him. Instead the repentant should spend it in a
charitable way, such as on the poor and the destitute. Likewise, he
must repent the harm he caused to people by giving their right away to
others who had no right to them, but rather obtained them via the use
of bribes.

What to do with forbidden items after having repented

I have repented. But in my possession are some of the forbidden things
such as musical instruments, cassettes, films etc. Is it permissible
for me to sell them, particularly since they are worth a large amount?
Sale of such banned articles is not permissible in Islam. The Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: "When Allah forbids a thing then He forbids
its price (as well). " (i.e., its sale/purchase/trading.) [Abu Dawood,
and it is sahih] Also you know wellthat whomever you sell it to will
use it in a forbidden act; thus, it is not permissible for you tosell
it to him as Allah has prohibited this in commanding us: "laa
ta-'aawanu ala al-ithmi wal-'udwaan." (a translation of the meaning
being 'do not assist one another in sins and enmity')
And no matter how much you lose in worldly wealth, have faith that
what is in store with Allahis worthier and longer lasting. He will
compensate you with His grace, and His favor and His generosity.