Story Of Prophet Yusuf ✔

8. BROTHERS BROKE THE NEWS TO THEIR FATHER [Surah Yusuf 12:16-17]

16. And they came to their father at ‘Isha (early part of the night) crying.

17. They said, “O our father, we went competing and left Yusuf with our belongings, so he was eaten by the wolf, and you will not believe us even though we have been truthful.”

They came crying to their father at night so that he won't be able to see the truth from their faces. The brothers purposely chose this time to return to their father. There are several reasons for this. One reason is that their father could not have now told them to return and search for Yusuf (as). It was too late because the land was now covered in darkness. And because they hoped that the darkness of the night would cover the expressions on their faces. They knew that they had to lie to their father. They had to pretend as if they were sad when in reality they were very happy. So they had hoped that the darkness of the night would aid them in this deception. Not only did they cry when they spoke with their father, but they were crying as they walked through the door.

Deep down inside they know that what they are saying is a lie and they know that their father will never believe them. So before Yaqoob (AS) actually tells them that he is not going to believe them, they themselves admit this. This once again goes to show us that the deceiver will never be successful. In one way or another, his deception will be discovered. It could even be that he himself will admit to his deception as the brothers of Yusuf (AS) implicitly did here by telling their father that he would never believe them.

LESSONS

1. Never be deceived by the emotions of people. Sometimes people can cry, but their tears are false. Even though what they are showing us is extreme sorrow and regret, what is in their hearts is actually the opposite of this. Their hearts are hiding the opposite of what their faces are showing. So we need to be careful. We should always study the entire situation instead of being fooled by false emotions.

2. Emotions are not the basis of pronouncing judgment on anything.  Simply because someone is crying or emotional does not mean that they are innocent or scot-free.  This is something that we all know from human experience, but yet, unfortunately, we still fall into this.

3. When someone has their mind set on a particular evil, then they would not stop until that evil is accomplished. They have a goal, which is the evil that they want to accomplish and they will not stop at anything until they reach that goal. So we should always ask Allah (swt) to save us from being among those whom Shaitan tricks into evil. From being among those who are blinded by their desire to do evil.

4. The guilt of people will manifest itself in one way or another. No matter how much people try to hide the evil that they have done, it will always show in one way or another. This is because deep down inside they know that they have done wrong and this will eat away at them from the inside. Deep down inside they know that Allah (swt) is Aware of the evil that they have done and they know that they cannot escape Him (swt). So we should realize that any path that we take where we turn away from Allah (swt) is a path in which we will never reach success and never find happiness. May Allah (swt) help us to always remember this fact the next time Shaitan comes to us and prompts us to do evil!

5. We never know when we set out in the morning, what misfortune or calamity may befall us before the night comes. See that happy child leaving home to have some fun with his brothers. He had no apprehension of danger. With a pure heart and a quiet trust in Allah, he went along without fear. He was expecting a warm and fun trip with his brothers. Certainly, he never expected for a moment, the cruel reception they gave him. After a short trip away, he hoped to return to the old home, where there was so much love for him. Yet see to what circumstance, he was blindly going!

So we all go on continually, unaware of what lies before us. We spend today in gladness—not knowing that tomorrow will bring us tears. We move on through the flowers, heedless of danger—not suspecting that at our next step we may fall into some hidden pit. We boast of our sturdy health, our rugged strength—not dreaming that tomorrow we may be stricken down by disease. We rejoice in our prosperity, unconscious of the fact that disaster may come any hour and sweep it all away! We set out on the happy journey, without thought of the possible accident on the way—which may leave us crippled or dead.

It's easy to say; it's okay. Everything will turn out all right in the end. But look at the immediate pain that flowed from a family eaten up with hate. The brothers lied to their father, but never escaped their personal guilt. It's probably true that how we handle success says as much if not more about us as how we handle failure.