Prophet Yusuf meets his brothers

As Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) had predicted, seven years of famine
followed seven years of good harvest, but the storehouses of Egypt
were full because of Prophet Yusuf's skillful management. People
fromall over flocked to Egypt tobuy grain during the famine. Among
them wereProphet Yusuf's (alayhis salam) brothers.
Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) knew his brothers at once but they did
not recognize him. He gave them the grain which theyhad come to buy
but warned them that they would get no more unless they brought a
brother of theirs to him from their father. They agreed that they
would try to convincetheir father to let them take their younger
brotherwith them the next time they came. Then Prophet Yusuf (alayhis
salam) had his servants put their money which they had used to
purchase the grainback into the saddlebags of their camels so that
they would find it when they returned home and would be sure to return
for more grain when they saw how generously Prophet Yusuf (alayhis
salam) had treated them.
Ya'qub (alayhis salam), who still felt deeply the loss of his son
Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam), was reluctant to let the brothers take
his other young son. He made them pledge in the name of Allah that
they would bring him back home unless they were made physically
powerless to do so. He also cautioned themto enter the city in Egypt
by different gates, perhapsso they wouldn't look like a gang of
troublemakers. However, he knew that their fate depended on Allah's
will and no precautions could go against what was willed by Allah.
When the brothers had returned to Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) for
more provisions, Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) lodged his younger
brother with himself, and revealed his identity to him. But he hadto
think of a way in which to keep his younger brother with him when the
others returned home. Allah inspired him with thefollowing plan.
When the brothers' camelshad been loaded with grain, Prophet Yusuf
(alayhis salam) had a cup placed in his younger brother's saddlebag.
Then a cry was raised that someone had stolen the king's cup. The
brothers denied that they had stolen anything. When asked what should
happenif it were to prove otherwise, they said that they would hand
over the person in whose possession the cup was found. A search of the
saddlebags revealed the cup in the younger brother's bag. Then the
bigbrothers said that it wasn'treally surprising, because the boy's
brother (i.e. Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam)) had also been a thief.
But still Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) did not reveal his identity to
them. The brothers asked that one of them be allowed to stay in the
younger brother's place, sothat their father would notgrieve, but
Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) replied thatit would be unjust to keep
back anyone except him inwhose possession the cup had been.
The brothers returned to their father with the story of the theft, and
his eyes turned white with grief from suppressing his sorrow. He sent
them away to search for ProphetYusuf (alayhis salam) and his brother,
so they returned to Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) and asked for more
grain, although they had but little money left. Then Prophet Yusuf
(alayhis salam) revealed his identity to them and forgave them and
asked Allah's forgiveness for all the wrong they had done to him and
his brother. Then he gave them his shirt to place over his father's
face to recover his sight. He told them to go home and return to Egypt
with all of their families.
Prophet Yusuf reunited with his family
As their caravan was leaving Egypt, Ya'qub (alayhis salam), still at
home, smelled the perfume of Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam), but his
household said he was getting senile. When the caravan arrived home
withthe shirt, Ya'qub's (alayhis salam) sight was restored. Then the
entire family moved to Egypt. Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) raised his
parents up on the throne to sit with him and they all bowed down in
obedience to him. In this way, Prophet Yusuf's (alayhis salam)
childhood vision of the eleven planets and the sun and the moon
prostrating themselves before him came true. This is how the
Israelites came to settle in Egypt and lived there for many
generations. The entire story of Prophet Yusuf (alayhis salam) can be
found in Surah 12 of the Qur'an.

7a] Prophet Yusuf 2

7a]
When the king was told of this interpretation, he asked that Yusuf
(Alayhis salam) be brought to him from the prison. But Yusuf (Alayhis
salam) would not leave until his name had been cleared. The king
summoned all the women and they told him that Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
had done nothing wrong. The wife of the chief who had pursued Yusuf
(Alayhis salam) confessed that it was she who had been at fault. When
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) was released, he was relieved that everyone now
knew that he had done nothing deceitful. And he was grateful to Allah
for forgiving any evil thoughtswhich he might have had.
The king called Yusuf (Alayhis salam) to him, and, after they had
spokentogether for some time, the king was so impressed that he wanted
to bestow on Yusuf (Alayhis salam) a position of trust . Yusuf
suggested that he be placed in charge of all the storehouses in the
land, for he felt confident of his ability to administer them wisely.
Thus Allah rewarded Yusuf. He had risen from servantand prisoner to a
very powerful position in the land of Egypt.
To be continued.

7] Prophet Yusuf 2

7]
The Egyptian who bought Yusuf (Alayhis salam) from the caravan gave
him a position of responsibility in his household. As Yusuf (Alayhis
salam) grew to full manhood he became extremely handsome and the wife
of his master fell hopelessly in love with him. One day, when she was
alone in a room with him, she approached him with sinful intentions.
As he attempted to flee from the room to avoid her advances, she
grabbed his shirt from behind and tore it.
At the door of the room they ran into the master ofthe household, who
demanded to know what was happening. The wife accused Yusuf of chasing
her and Yusuf denied it. One of the members of thehousehold suggested
a way to determine who was telling the truth. If Yusuf's (Alayhis
salam) shirt was torn in the front, then the wife had been resisting
Yusuf (Alayhis salam). But if the shirt were torn in the back, thenthe
wife had been pursuing Yusuf (Alayhis salam). Since the shirt had been
torn from behind, Yusuf (Alayhis salam) was shown to be telling the
truth.
The master told him to take no further notice of the matter, and he
reprimanded his wife for having done something wrong.
Despite the husband's attempt to hush up the whole affair, gossip was
soon spreading throughout the city that the wife had fallen in love
with her servant. When she heard the malicious talk, the wife invited
all the women of the town toa meal and gave each of them a knife to
use. She then called Yusuf (Alayhis salam) into the room. All the
women were so overcome by the sight of the handsome young man that
they cut their hands with the knives which theyheld. In this way the
mistress of the house showed them why she hadsought Yusuf (Alayhis
salam) and she vowed thatif he did not yield to her wishes she would
have him imprisoned.
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) was an upright young man, and with the help of
Allah he had been able to resist the advances of any woman. But he
realized the weakness of his human nature and he knew that if so many
women were pursuing him, he might very well yield to temptation. And
so he prayed to Allah that he would rather be imprisoned than accept
any of their invitations, but he needed Allah's help to turn away
their attentions. And Allah heardhis plea and turned their attentions
from him.
But the men of the city, although acknowledging Yusuf's (Alayhis
salam) innocence, feared the commotion which his presence caused, and
thus decided to have him imprisoned. There Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
remained for several years.
Two other young men entered the prison at about the same time as Yusuf
(Alayhis salam). While in prison each of thetwo men had a dream. One
dreamed that he was pressing grapes; the other that he was carrying
breadon his head from which the birds were eating. Eachwas puzzled
about the meaning of his dream, andasked Yusuf (Alayhis salam) if he
could interpretit.
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) promised to interpret their dreams before their
next meal was brought to them, but while he had their attention, he
took advantage of the opportunity to perform some dawa. He told them
about the supremacy of Allah and about belief in the Hereafter. He
told them about the futility of worshipping gods other than Allah. He
told them ofthe right religion about which many people do notknow.
Only after he had given hismessage about Islam did he interpret the
dreams. He said that the man who had dreamed that he was pressing
grapes would be released and would be serving wine to his master,while
the other man would be executed and the birds would eat from off his
head. It happened as Yusuf (Alayhis salam) had foretold, and Yusuf
(Alayhis salam) asked the man who was released to mention Yusuf
(Alayhis salam) to his master, in order that Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
might also be released. But the man forgot and Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
stayed in prison for a few more years.
The king of Egypt then hada dream, in which he saw seven fat cattle
being devoured by seven lean cattle. He also saw seven green ears of
corn and seven withered ears. None of the chiefs in his court could
interpret the dream for him. At this point the king's servant, who had
been Yusuf's (Alayhis salam) cell mate, remembered Yusuf's (Alayhis
salam) ability to interpret the meaning of dreams. So he went to see
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) to ask about the dream.
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) explained that for seven years the crops would
be good, and that much of what had been harvested would be stored
away. Theseven good years would be followed by seven hard years in
which most of what had been stored would be consumed. After that
seven-year period of poor harvests, things would improve again.
:->

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.