Juz’ 13 Qu0 r’an 30 for 3
In the thirteenth episode of this Ramadan series, Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh.
Abdullah Oduro, joined by special guest Ustadha Sarah Sultan, explore gems
from the thirteenth Juz’ of the Holy Quran.
As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone, welcome back
to Qur’an 30 for 30. Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wasalam wa
rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Alhamdulillah, Rabbul
Ameen,.we are excited and blessed to have with us Sister Sara Sultan today.
Alhamdulillah, Sister Sara, of course, being one of the original co-authors of
the Trauma Series. If you have not seen the Trauma Series, it is one of the
most important, you know, just collections of work that we have.
Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen. At jfln academy org. I know that a lot of you
have joined jfln recently, started consuming the content recently, and you may
have missed it, but look up the Trauma Series. Sister Sara, can you talk about
it just for a quick 30 seconds, one minute, inshallah? Sure, sure. Jazakumullah
khair. Alhamdulillah, the Trauma Series has been a privilege to work on. It
really, for me and Sister Najwa, it was almost like another child for us.
Alhamdulillah. The intention of the Trauma Series was to really acknowledge
the fact that we go through difficulties in our lives, we go through struggles,
and sometimes those struggles can have a very strong impact on our faith.
And so how can we heal and how can we grow and how can we recover from
these experiences while using Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala as our stronghold
and our faith as well as psychological concepts to begin the recovery process,
inshallah. Mashallah, mashallah. So inshallah, the team will put it in the link,
inshallah, in the comments so that everyone can go check it out as well,
inshallah ta’ala. And we had, subhanallah, we had a webinar, Sheikh
Abdullah, I’m not sure if you remember, we had a webinar together on grief,
you know, in the COVID era, and that was probably one of the better webinars
that we had, you know, a very deep webinar. And subhanallah, Sister Sara has
always brought in quite a bit, alhamdulillah, of richness to this discussion.
And we also learned something about you that your mother is from France,
right? Yes, she is. Alhamdulillah.
So we’ve been talking about the Egyptian Suhoor. What does French Suhoor
look like? Well, you know, I don’t think my mom ever experienced a, you know,
a French Suhoor because she converted in America. So, so, but it would
definitely include croissants, naturally, and a lot of butter. Like what else,
right? That’s, that’s anything, anything with butter. But we typically do more of
an American Suhoor. Subhanallah. So you don’t, you’re not going to defend
the Egyptian Suhoor, or the, even though we, I mean, you know, my mom,
she’s a Christian. Even though we, I mean, you know, my, anything, foul, foul,
I’m not a huge falafel ta’amiyya fan, but foul is a go-to, is for Suhoor. I gotta
defend that one. There you go. We love, we love foul here too. We established
that, alhamdulillah, with Sheikh Yusuf Wahab. Sheikh Abdullah loves carbs,
apparently. I discovered that recently. It was, if any of you have not seen it on
Instagram, him eating rice at iftar. We have iftar. I was shocked. But he would,
you would love a French, French Suhoor, right Sheikh? Yeah, well. And
croissants. Alhamdulillah. Maybe. The croissant, you know, it had to be like,
you know, gluten-free, you know. It’s like the rice was made. It’s not a
croissant. It’s not a croissant anymore. Alhamdulillah. We’re happy to have
you, Sister Sadr. And honestly, so today, we, we have a treat today,
subhanallah, and that is, we’re going to be diving into Surah Yusuf from
multiple perspectives. Surah Yusuf is, of course, a deep, deep, deep surah
that has plenty of healing and lessons for us, bidna nain ta’ala. And I think
that’s what makes Sister Sadr obviously the perfect guest for us here to
discuss, you know, trauma in the story of Yusuf alayhi salam. My portion on
Surah Yusuf is actually focusing on the least covered element of his life,
Which is the very last part of his life when he’s making du’a, when it’s all said
and done. So because of that, inshaAllah ta’ala, we’re actually going to go in a
different order today. So Shaykh Abdullah will start us off inshaAllah ta’ala,
then Sister Sadr, and then I will speak about the last du’as of Yusuf alayhi
salam. So Shaykh Abdullah, inshaAllah, bismillah, hafidhaka Allah, take us
away. Salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Bismillah wa salatu wa
salamu ala rasulillahi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Alhamdulillah wa
ma ba’du. One beautiful thing about the Quran in general is that it’s from Allah
subhanahu wa ta’ala and that He is the all-knowing, the all-wise. Particularly
these two names are very impactful because Allah knows what is, what will
be, and everything that happens, the hypotheticals. But then He appropriates
that knowledge at the right time. And all of that is done for us to be individuals
that turn to Him voluntarily in times of hardship. And we see with the Surah of
Yusuf alayhi salam, subhanAllah, him and his father, Yaqub alayhi salam, that
they were both prophets and they were both human. But with Yaqub alayhi
salam, I want to touch on a particular aspect of Yaqub alayhi salam as a
father, as a father that loves his children, as a father that loved Yusuf, and as a
father that loved the youngest son as well, Bin Yamin, Benjamin. When he was
disclosed, I mean there’s a story of Yusuf alayhi salam particularly, but when
Yusuf alayhi salam was granted after being thrown in the well from his
brothers, and then after being in the castle, and then after being, you know,
tried, trying to persuade it and seduced, then subhanAllah being in jail, and
subhanAllah being someone that was of a level of Izzah, mashaAllah,
tabarakAllah, having the position that he had after he was exonerated. Yet this,
subhanAllah, aspect of Yusuf alayhi salam, of Yaqub, hearing about Bin
Yamin,
When he was told that Bin Yamin was in custody because he apparently stole
a bowler dish, subhanAllah, Ibn Ashur, he mentions very beautifully on this
dua that Yaqub alayhi salam made upon when his children, his sons, came
back because Yusuf told them to go back and tell his father, their father, what
happened with Bin Yamin. So when he heard this, subhanAllah, the children,
subhanAllah, when they told him, Yaqub alayhi salam expressed a level of
sadness, and they saw this. So when subhanAllah, Allah Subhanu wa ta’ala
gets a little descriptive on what happened with Yaqub alayhi salam. When he
says in verse number 84, where he says, ىَّ
َول
َو ْ تَ
َع ا َل ْن ُهم
يَا َسفَى َوقَ
أ ى َ
َوْبيَ ْض ْط َعل يُوسُ ف َ
َعْينَاهُ
ُح ْس ِن ِم َن
ْ
ُهَو ال
م فَ
ظي ِك َAllah Subhanu wa ta’ala says here, he turned away from
them, i.e. the children, after they told him the news about their son
particularly staying in custody because he apparently stole, right, Bin Yamin.
He turned away from them saying, oh Joseph, his eyes went white with grief
and he was filled with sorrow. ط ْضَ ْبيْوَ
َع ِم َن ُح ْس ِن ْينَاهُ
ْ
ُهَو ال
م فَ
ظي ِك َSo Allah Subhanu wa
ta’ala says here that his eyes turned white of sorrow and sadness, okay,
because of what he heard. But what’s interesting is two things I want to
capitalize on here. The first thing Allah says, ىَّ
َول
َو ْ تَ
هم ُنْع َHe turned away. He
turned away from them after hearing this news. How many times when we
see, you know, someone is told about a relative that has, they’re in the
hospital, Allah has decided to take them and, you know, the parent will turn
away and then they may put their hands, their head in their hands or
something like this. So Allah is painting that picture that he turned away and
at the very end, it shows that he, you know, he was crying and he was Kaleem.
And Kaleem means to hold yourself from showing your anger apparently or
sadness apparent. Don’t make it so apparent to people. So holding it,
withholding it for a better purpose. And we’re going to see what that purpose
is. The verse right after that is what the children say to him, وا ُه ِالَق
َّ
تَل وا
ُ
ُروا ْفتَأ
تَ كُ
تَذْ
َف
َح َر ْو يُوسُ َحتَّى تَكُو َن ًضا
َه أ تَكُو َن ِم َن اِل ِكي َن َ
ْ
ال They say, by God, you’re going to ruin your
health if you do not stop thinking of Joseph or even die or الهالكينْ منْتكون .Dad,
relax, relax. You’re going to kill yourself thinking about Joseph. You’re going to
kill yourself thinking about this situation. Relax. So his children, the ones that
plotted against Yusuf, this is what they’re telling him. But then SubhanAllah,
when you can imagine, they’re probably speaking to him and he’s turned away
from them. Allah wala. But we know that he said ل َّوَ
away turned s’he soَ عْن ُهْم تَ
from them. They say this to him. What does he say here? And this is what I
َم قَا َل ا .on capitalize to want
ِنَّ
إ ْشكُوا
أ ي َ
َو ى بَثِ ُح ْزنِي ِّ
لَ
ِ
ُموا
إ ََّللاِ
ْعلَ
َ
َوأ
ُم َل و َن َم ِم َن ََّللاِ ا
Yaqub تَ ْعلَ
says, I only complain my grief and sorrow to Allah and I know from Allah that
which you know not. What I want to talk about here in particular is the cancer
of complaining. We as human beings, SubhanAllah, love to complain. Why?
Because it’s easy. If we want to say someone is not doing something or
something that is disadvantageous to someone else at their expense, we will
talk about it to others. And it may be a form of backbiting. It could fall into a
form of backbiting. And that’s where it could be dangerous. When we
complain, we have to realize that it’s human. It’s human to complain about
something. But SubhanAllah, that complaint is at its pinnacle when it’s a
complaint to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala.
We see that the prophets, they would complain to Allah. As when the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, when he was coming back from Ta’if, he went to
go give them dawah and they rejected him, threw rocks at him to the degree
that it was mentioned that his sandals, his feet were bloody and that his
sandals, for lack of better words, soggy from the blood that was coming down
from him Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam until he ended up at an orchard garden
that was owned by Urtaba ibn Shayban Rabi’ah. And he SubhanAllah, at that
point, there is a hadith that is mentioned where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam made a long dua. And this is Dua for the Musta’dafeen where he
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, Allahumma ilayka ashku da’fa quwati wa
qilla tahilati wa hawwani ala an-nas. Ya arhman ar-rahimin, anta rabbi almusta’dafeen wa anta rabbi. Just this portion. He says, O to you my Lord, I
complain of my weakness, lack of support, and humiliation. I complain, ashku
da’fa quwati, ashku, which is complaint. I complain for my lack of support and
humiliation that I am made to receive. You are the most compassionate, the
merciful, and you are the Lord of the weak. Because at that point he is weak.
At that point he is physically weak and then the Dua was just rejected by a
whole village of people in Ta’if. They were literally expelled from Ta’if for being
thrown stones at and cursed at. SubhanAllah. But then he complained to
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. He didn’t complain to anyone else. We see that
the Prophets complained to Allah in the times of hardship. As Noor said, anni
maghloobun fantasir. He said, I am overpowered so help me. Then Allah
Subhanahu wa ta’ala sent down the rain as we talked about the previous days.
So this complaining to Allah is worship as Tahir bin Ashur even mentions.
Because he says, I complain my grief and sorrow. My grief and sorrow. Bathi
wa huzni. And as mentioned the huzn is that which happens after the actual
waqia or after the actual
11:44
Situation event that takes place. Then he says here, wa a’lamu minallahi ma la
ta’lamoon. Remember Yaqub was a Prophet. So he knows what is going to, he
knows that there may be a faraj that comes, a help that comes from him. But
what we want to capitalize on here is the complaint to Allah Subhanahu wa
ta’ala. When we as human beings complain about something, we
automatically should ask the question, what are we going to do in regards to
that complaint? If you hear your friend complain outside of the masjid or at
home or in a gathering, the next question should be, okay, so what’s the action
plan? What are we going to do about this? You know, what are we planning to
do about this complaint? Because we want it to be something that’s
beneficial. Scholars mentioned that it’s okay to complain if you are venting to
someone that you trust, but hopefully it’s someone that can help make a
difference and make a change in your current state in the way that you’re
feeling. Because complaint after complaint can even lead to bad health within
an individual, psychologically even and spiritually definitely, to where one can
complain and not even trust in Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala and it can even lead
to yes, it can lead to despair, it can lead to asking Allah why, but allowing that
complaint to be something that’s beneficial and not allowing that complaint
to be cancerous because when people hear someone that they respect
complain, it leaves an open door for them to complain. When fathers and
mothers complain, we see the children may complain as well. But most
importantly, brothers and sisters, want to leave with this small benefit that we
see with Ya’qub alayhi salam. After he complained, there was an action plan.
There was something he wanted to do, which was the next verse in verse
number 87, where he told his children, my sons go and seek the news of
Joseph and his brother and do not despair of God’s mercy. Do not despair of
God’s mercy. Only disbelievers despair of God’s mercy. So he’s telling them to
go do something about this, but at the same time, never give up. Don’t give up
on Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala.
So let’s remember that whenever we feel a level of complaint, we want to
complain to someone or something about something, we should ask
ourselves, what are we going to do about it to make the situation better? And
none better than mashallah, here we have an actual therapist here, you know,
one that hears complaints and that complaint inshallah is ibadah from you
and ibadah for her to help inshallah. So that’s what I want to mention
inshallah, may Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala make any complaint that we have a
means of worship by calling on him and trusting in him and taking the means
from the manifestation of those on this earth that can help us with that.
Jazakumullah khayran. Jazakumullah khayran. Sistah Sarah got some.
Jazakumullah khayran for that beautiful reflection. Bismillah wa salatu wa
salam wa rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walah. I wanted to touch
on inshallah the very beginning of Juz 13 where you know, Sheikh Abdullah
touched on all of the different experiences that Yusuf alayhi salam had before
we see you know the culmination of his story, all of the different traumatic
experiences he experienceed and then in the beginning of Juz 13 we see this
culmination where he is exonerated, right, where he is released from jail,
where justice has finally been achieved, alhamdulillah. And the theme that I
wanted to touch on today is on how to reflect on difficult circumstances
through a lens of goodness and an opportunity for growth and to thrive as we
see in the story of Yusuf alayhi salam. And in the field of psychology this is
something called post-traumatic growth and it’s a real phenomenon
subhanallah and we see this, we witness this in the story of Prophet Yusuf
alayhi salam, this ability to thrive in the aftermath of a traumatic event or in his
case multiple traumatic events, to experience a positive psychological change
as a result…
Of a struggle and to go from deep pain to strength. And so you might think as
you hear this that well Prophet Yusuf is a prophet, right, alayhi salam and you
know I’m a regular human being, I can’t be expected to grow through difficult
experiences in the same way that a prophet would, right, and maybe not to the
same extent because the extent that he grows is amazing but I want to
challenge that thought process because there was a study done that found
that nearly 50% of trauma survivors exhibit post-traumatic growth after a
traumatic event, nearly 50% and these are regular people like you and me
subhanallah. And so we can see that this is actually a possibility and so I’m
going to touch on the five qualities that research has found to be
characteristics of post-traumatic growth and as I touch on them I want you to
reflect on the struggles that you have had in life, the struggles that you know
even just a recent struggle it doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience but
just a struggle and see if any of these qualities resonates with you. See if you
can actually identify that you have gained some of these qualities through
some of the struggles that you have gone through and then I want to touch on
a couple of key events toward the end of the story of Yusuf alayhi salam that
really show how he emulates these characteristics and how we can try to gain
these characteristics in our lives as well inshallah. So the five characteristics
of post-traumatic growth are number one a greater appreciation of life. You
know a lot of times after you’ve been through something difficult suddenly the
mundane things that you never thought to look for in your life seem like
blessings. Number two is an increased closeness in relationships this
prioritization of significant people in our lives.
Number three is the identification of new possibilities. Sometimes there are
possibilities and opportunities in front of us that we don’t notice until there is
the risk of them being removed. The fourth is increased personal strength.
Sometimes you can’t imagine that you could go through what you are
currently going through and survive. You would think that that would be
impossible for you but it isn’t right and so sometimes future challenges don’t
seem as daunting because of that. And then number five is greater spiritual
development. An increased connection with Allah and prioritizing a
relationship with Allah. And so in the story of Yusuf one of the places where
we really see some of these qualities is right at the start of just 13. In ayah 54
the king after Yusuf is released from jail the king calls him over and he says
today you are highly esteemed and fully trusted by us SubhanAllah. And after
all the trauma that Yusuf Alayhi Salaam endured in this situation what do you
imagine that he would do? Do you imagine that he would just kind of shyly
thank him that he might cower away and everything because a lot of times
events in our lives can make us feel really shaken. But what does Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam do? He actually advocates for himself SubhanAllah. Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam now in ayah 55 proposes put me in charge of the storehouses of the
land for I am honest and knowledgeable. He is telling the king that I am adept,
I am reliable, I can do this. Yusuf Alayhi Salaam didn’t doubt his capability. He
never gave up. He was he in this situation he’s taking steps to continue to
create positive change in his life and he ended up becoming minister of the
most important department at that time in Egypt because it was a time of
famine. So to be in charge of managing food during a time of famine is an
incredible position right? SubhanAllah.
And so for us in our lives think about when you go through a difficult
experience sometimes it can shake the way that you view yourself and lead to
a sense of self-doubt. But instead consider the strengths and the qualities
that you needed to get through this situation and see yourself through that
lens in the same way that Yusuf Alayhi Salaam saw himself. You may never
have believed that you could survive what you’re surviving right now but you
are. And that capability is something that you’re going to carry forward with
you inshallah. And then I wanted to focus on the event of Yusuf Alayhi Salaam
seeing his brothers. So these are the brothers who attempted who had the
intention to kill him and then change their minds and put him in a well right?
These are the brothers who started this this cascade of difficult events and
traumatic events in his life. He sees them and they don’t recognize him but he
recognizes them and as the story unfolds Yusuf Alayhi Salaam is in a position
of power over his brothers as they were once in a position of power over him.
And he now has a choice in this moment. He can avenge himself. He has the
power to do that but look at what he does instead. When they finally
recognized him they said is that really you Yusuf? And Yusuf Alayhi Salaam
says I am Yusuf and this is my brother referring to Bani Yameen. Allah has truly
been gracious to us. Whoever is mindful of Allah, whoever has taqwa,
whoever is God conscious and whoever is patient has sabr. Then certainly
Allah never fails to reward the good doers and it goes on and Yusuf tells his
brothers SubhanAllah there is no blame on you today. May Allah forgive you.
He is the most merciful of the merciful. In this one interaction Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam manifests every single one of the characteristics of post-traumatic
growth.
We can see the strength. Imagine the strength it takes to see your abusers
come and you have power over them in this situation and you don’t claim that
power. Instead what does he do? He takes this idea of new possibilities in life
being one of these characteristics. What does he do? He says I am Yusuf. He
reclaims his name. He reclaims his identity. He was once a nameless slave.
He was once a child abandoned in a well as something of no value. And now
what does he do? He reclaims who he is as Yusuf, as someone who has been
supported and blessed by Allah SubhanAllah. As someone who has taqwa
and sabr, somebody who is mindful of Allah, somebody who is patient and as
someone whose efforts never go unseen by his Lord SubhanAllah. And then
the appreciation of life or first and foremost appreciation of Allah SubhanAllah
where the Prophet Yusuf Alayhi Salam one of the most profound things in his
story like Sheikh Abdullah was saying about the example of the prophets. He
never attributed wrong or evil or blame to Allah SubhanAllah. Everything that
he went through was never why me. He was at peace with the fact that he was
being tested because he understood that this test was from Allah
SubhanAllah. The Ar-Rahman, the merciful, that because it was from Allah
there was some sort of khair, there was some sort of goodness in it. And that
he was being challenged and that through these struggles he gained strength
and he gained opportunities for growth that he wouldn’t have otherwise had
SubhanAllah. And then finally we see this prioritization of relationships with
others and spiritual growth. One of the most profound manifestations of
spiritual growth in our lives is in how we deal with others. Especially the
people in our lives who are hard to deal with. And so the Prophet Yusuf Alayhi
Salam in this moment he understands that his brothers were being tested and
that they had lost against the whispers of shaitan and their own desires.
And he didn’t seek revenge against them because he also understood that he
needed this test to become who he was meant to be. And so in our lives, right,
we see this example of Yusuf Alayhi Salam didn’t allow his brother’s actions to
determine his reactions. He stayed true to who he was, to himself. He didn’t
allow other people to determine what he was going to do, how he was going to
act. He didn’t give them the power that they don’t deserve. Instead he focused
on his energy toward growth and toward a relationship with Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta’ala. And so knowing that through your struggles your circumstances
don’t define you. Prophet Yusuf Alayhi Salam didn’t define himself as a slave
boy that he once was. As somebody abandoned by others. He defined himself
as a servant of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, as a recipient of the blessings of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. And knowing the promise of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta’ala that every single good that he did was never going to be unseen by Allah.
And so you have the opportunity in the situation that you’re going through to
think, is this something that I’m just enduring? Or is Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta’ala positioning me for something greater? And you have the opportunity to
decide who am I at my core? That I am a servant of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta’ala. I am a beloved creation of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. I am someone
honored by Allah through guidance to this faith. And that no one and nothing
can ever take that away from me. And so I ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala to
bless you all and grant you all peace and healing and growth during this
blessed month through any hardship that you’re facing. Jazakumullahu
khairan. BarakAllahu Fiqi SubhanAllah. If we would have actually planned how
we were going to build this reflection, we could not have done it better.
Everything that you just mentioned, Sister Sara, may Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta’ala bless you, actually leads perfectly into this final du’a that I’m covering,
SubhanAllah. And it was not even planned at least by us in that way.
So I actually want to go to the very end of this surah. And this is where we have
a different side of Yusuf Alayhi Salaam in that, you know, when you think of
Yusuf Alayhi Salaam, you think of the young boy that’s thrown into the well.
What does a Yusuf look like at 120 years old, right, sitting on the throne? What
does Yusuf Alayhi Salaam as an old man look like who has already been given
everything that you could want in this life, but has endured what, you know,
multiple people would not endure in their own, in their collective lifespans.
And Yusuf Alayhi Salaam has endured so much. And SubhanAllah goes just to
this du’a of his when you go to verse 101, Rabbi qad aataytani minal mulk, Oh
my Lord, surely you have granted me authority. So he mentions a favor of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta’ala. He doesn’t mention that you granted me bilaat, that you
tested me with trials, that you tested me with the well, that you tested me with
the prison. No, because that du’a, you know, we already see Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam when he’s put on the throne and he does not attribute any of those
hardships as was mentioned to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. He’s thanking
Allah for getting him out of that. And he’s not mentioning the hardship that his
brothers put him through to them. Right. This is another level of Yusuf Alayhi
Salaam. This is after having settled on the throne for two decades. And he
says, Rabbi qad aataytani minal mulk, As he’s reflecting on life, my Lord, you
gave me kingdom. You gave me dominion. You gave me authority.
Wa’allamtani min ta’weelil ahadith, And you taught me the interpretation of
dreams. SubhanAllah, he does not go through the hardship that was caused
through that. But he mentions these two prominent blessings that you granted
me authority, you granted me kingdom in the end of my life. You taught me the
interpretation of dreams. Fatiha al-samawati wal-ard, anta waleeyi fid dunya
wal-akhira,
Originator of the heavens and the earth. You are my walee. You are my
guardian in this life and in the next. And some of the scholars say,
SubhanAllah, first, he only mentioned the blessings. And then he only
mentions his consistent companion. You know, Yusuf al-Islam had a lot of
turnover in his life, right? There were a lot of different people around him
during his lifespan. Right. I mean, think about who he wasn’t with in the well,
who he was with when he was a slave, the loneliness of that experience, who
he was with, his fellow prisoners. I mean, each one of those experiences, the
faces are switching. Right. The people that are involved in his life are
switching. And, of course, more than that, when he was a child and he was the
beloved son of Yaqub alayhi salam, and he had that favor and he had all of
that happening. So all of this has been switching on him. And he mentions his
Consistent companion. So he mentions his blessings only that he mentions
his consistent companion, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, anta waleeyi fid dunya
wal-akhira. You are my consistent companion. You are my companion, my
waleey, my beloved one, my guardian in this dunya and in the hereafter. So
he’s he’s now making a wish in this dua, be my consistent companion in the
hereafter as well, just as you were my consistent companion in this life. Be my
consistent companion in the hereafter, O Allah, be my consistent waleey, my
guardian in the hereafter as well. And then tawafani musliman wa alhikni bis
salihin, let me die as a Muslim and be joined by the righteous ones, meaning
let the other companions that will join me, them in this next transition of mine
into the next life, be the righteous ones. Let it be the salihin. Now,
subhanAllah, there’s so much to unpack here. And I could spend, honestly, an
hour with this dua alone. But I want to speak to just the part the part about
him wishing for death here or seemingly wishing for death.
And hopefully Sister Sara can shed some light on this as well. Yusuf alayhis
salaam has been, according to the mufassirun, who are obviously basing this
primarily on some of the narrations that come from the Israeliyat, you know,
as far as the time spans are concerned. He has remained alive, according to
many of these narrations, for about 24 years on the throne. 23 years in to that,
Ya’qub alayhis salaam passed away. So he lost his father. His father passes
away. And we know that Ya’qub alayhis salaam, you know, the apparent
suggestion is that he did pass away before his children because Allah
subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us about the death of Ya’qub alayhis salaam. So the
end of the life of Ya’qub alayhis salaam is actually in Surat al-Baqarah where
Allah is giving us the scene of Ya’qub alayhis salaam speaking to his sons for
one last time, right? And, you know, impressing upon them the necessity to
believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and to die only as Muslims. So this is a
point in Yusuf’s life alayhis salaam where he no longer has his father. And his
father was pained by the separation from his son all of those years. And now
they just enjoyed these two decades together of ni’mah, of blessing, everyone
under the kingdom of Yusuf alayhis salaam, under his leadership in Egypt. And
he’s attained everything that one could want. And so what more does he have
left in this life? And so the question becomes was he wishing for death? Was
he wishing for death? And this is where you have some powerful aqwas, some
powerful sayings from the scholars. Qatada rahimahullah ta’ala he said,
Lam yatamanna almawta ahadun qat la nabiyun wala ghayruhu illa Yusuf
alayhis salaam hina takamarat alayhi alni’m wa jumi’a lahusham ishtaqa ila
liqai rabbihi azawajal He said, you know, people don’t wish for death,
prophets or people who are not prophets, except for Yusuf alayhis salaam.
Once the blessings were complete for him, everything had come back
together for him. And at that point, ishtaqa ila liqai rabbihi azawajal, he
missed his Lord. He was missing the presence of his Lord. He now was turning
towards the hereafter and desiring the hereafter. There’s a powerful saying
from Sahar ibn Abdillah radiallahu ta’ala anhu rahimahullah, he said, la
yatamanna almawta illa thalath that only three people wish for death. Qala
rajulun jahilun bima ba’da almawt He said, a person who is ignorant about
that which comes after death. So someone who has not really considered the
seriousness of what comes after death or what comes after death. And so,
you know, they they’re thinking about the hardships of this life or what’s
happening in life. And they would prefer the uncertain to the certain because
the certain has not been, you know, what they wanted. OK, the certain being
this life to them, the uncertain being life after death. Most people, of course,
fear going from the certain to the uncertain. They fear what comes after death.
But here he’s talking about a person jahilun bima ba’da almawt, a person who
is ignorant about that which comes after death. Qala aw rajulun yathirru min
aqdarillahi azawajal Or a person who’s running away from the decree of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta’ala, who’s fleeing from the decree of Allah. So obviously this
is referring to once again, the seriousness of hardship, but more so of, you
know, the fear of what is to come next in this life. So either a person who is,
you know, who’s ignorant about what comes after death or a person who fears
what is to come next in this life.
Or mushtaqun, muhibbun liliqa illahi azawajal or someone who is missing,
you know, Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, who is someone who loves Allah
Subhanahu wa ta’ala deeply and who wants to be with Allah azawajal. Now
that’s the same from Sahar radiallahu ta’ala anhu and I want to unpack that
briefly with Sister Sara, of course. But, you know, the majority of the scholars,
they say in the use of alayhi salam, lam yatamanna almawt wa innama
tamanna alwathaata alil islam It’s important here to mention that Yusuf alayhi
salam, the apparent of this is that he wasn’t actually wishing for death per se.
He was wishing for death upon Islam. So it wasn’t the idea of death itself. He
wasn’t saying, Oh Allah, take me now. But rather staying to the covenant that
his father mentioned to him, do not die except as Muslims. And Yusuf alayhi
salam is asking Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, idha ja’a ajari tawafani musliman,
that when my time comes, let me die as a Muslim. Let me die as a Muslim.
And so the combination of this would be that Yusuf alayhi salam is at the end
of his life. Yusuf alayhi salam has experienced the blessings and trials of this
life. He only chooses to mention the blessings here. Yusuf alayhi salam has
experienced the exchange of many companions in his life. He only chooses to
mention one companion being Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala and the desire to be
with Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, to die in a way that’s pleasing to him and to
only be surrounded by the righteous companions that have gone ahead of
him. And of course, don’t you think that he was missing his father? Right. That
part of this, I mean, the intense love that we see between Yaqub and Yusuf
alayhi salam. Don’t you think he was missing his father as well? You know,
SubhanAllah, so many of us have experienced this when you lose a parent or
you lose someone that’s so beloved to you. The sweetness of life is gone.
Right. The sweetness of this life is gone.
And so don’t you think that for him, this was also part of his dua when he says,
adhikni bis salihin, right, to follow and to be joined with the salihin. And of
course, we learn this from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, who, when
he was passing away, Aisha radiallahu ta’ala anha, she says that the Prophet
salallahu alayhi wa sallam said three times, Allahumma firrafiqil a’la,
Allahumma firrafiqil a’la, Allahumma firrafiqil a’la. Oh Allah, you know, I want
the highest companion. I want the highest companion. I want the highest
companion. This was the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam’s way, of course,
of anta waleeyi fid dunya wal akhirah. I want to be with my waleey in dunya
and akhirah. I want to be with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. I want the highest
companion. And of course, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam also
mentioned, ma’a lathina an’amallahu alayhim, he wanted to be with those
who Allah was pleased with. He wanted to be with the Prophets, the siddiquin,
the salihin, wa haswuna ulayka rafiqa. What a great, you know, group of
people to be amongst. What great company to have in the hereafter. So you
see this subhanallah with Yusuf alayhi salam at this point now, the old Yusuf
alayhi salam, 120 years old on the throne, having gone through blessing and
trial. And what does he desire? And of course, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam said not to wish for death. Right. But instead to wish for death to come
at you when you’re in the best state. An’amalu bil khawateen. That actions are
by their ending. Wa idha arata bin nasi fitna. If things are going to become very
difficult, if there’s going to be a fitna to where my faith might be compromised,
then take me back, wallah, without being amongst those that are tried in their
faith. So it’s wishing for a good ending, not wishing for an Imminent ending.
And that is that is actually a very important point here. There’s nothing to
suggest that Yusuf alayhi salam was wishing for his ending to be imminent
now. But rather, ya Allah, you’ve given me what you’ve given me in this life.
Now I seek what I seek in the hereafter. And I know, you know, sister Sara,
we’re blessed to have you here.
Alhamdulillah, I mean, and obviously I’m going to want Sheikh Abdullah’s
comments on this as well. But obviously, you know, these types of texts are
not meant to diminish the feelings that some people might have, where they
want to leave this life and the way that certain people start to incline towards
that due to difficulty. It’s not to diminish that at all, because we do know that
there are multiple texts to draw from, that the Prophet alayhi salam was in fact
showing empathy towards that sahabi, ta tamanna almawt wa a’indak, you’re
wishing for death when I’m with you. Don’t wish for death, but instead ask
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that you live when it’s best and you leave when it’s
best, that he takes you in the best state of things. And with Yusuf alayhi salam,
we see the more optimistic side of that, right, where he’s experienced the
blessing of this life and he wants the greater blessing after the blessing of this
life. So how would you reconcile all of this and what would be some helpful
tips that we take from this experience? It’s such a beautiful point, because I
actually, when I hear that du’a, it actually strikes me as normalizing an aspect
of grief that even at this beautiful point in his life where things have come to
fruition, his life is filled with so many blessings, but it’s also filled with a loss,
an intense loss. And keep in mind that throughout his youth, there was also
that loss of not being able to access his father, not having a family. And now he
has lost his father, and part of grief is a very natural desire to be reunited with
a loved one. And then also in this verse, there’s the natural desire to be united
with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala as well. And how beautifully that’s intertwined
in this du’a.
And then also the fact that he asks Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to allow him to
die as a righteous Muslim. He is a prophet who has gone through such
tremendous change and instability in his life. If anyone would know how easy
it is for a switch to happen, so suddenly it would be Yusuf alayhi salam
subhanAllah, right? Where from one moment he’s in the arms of a loving
father, to the next in a well and a slave, right? And then in one moment he’s in
prison, and the next he is in the highest position in the land. And so what
certainty do we have that we are faithful now, but in the next moment will we
be, right? And so it’s a beautiful du’a that’s something that we should really
make sure we embody in our own du’a and shalma. And that’s kind of what
really stood out to me. But also just the validation that I think even in the midst
of this, and this is an optimistic du’a and it’s a beautiful du’a, but you hear the
sadness and the grief laced in it. And so they are not opposed to one another.
You can be sad and grateful at the same time. You can be grieving and grateful
at the same time. You can wish to be reunited with your loved one while being
grateful that you have the opportunity to live now and even perform more
sadaqah jariyya for that loved one, subhanAllah, right? So they can all be
intertwined. And that’s what I was hearing when I was listening to you speak,
subhanAllah. JazakAllah khair. SubhanAllah, by the way, verse 109. So that
was 101, verse 109, Allah Azza wa Jalla says, wala daarul aakhirati khayrun lil
ladheena taqaw, afalat aqilun. Surely the eternal home of the hereafter is far
better for those people of taqwa, for those people who are mindful of Allah.
And this was of course, something we’ve been covering in the last few ajzaat,
that, fa bi dhalika fal yafwahu. That’s what you find happiness in, that’s where
you find joy and that’s where you long towards.
And so Yusuf A.S. also was not deceived by the throne of this world and
deluded from the ultimate pursuit of the throne in the hereafter. Allahumma
ameen, may Allah grant that to us. Ya rabbal alameen. Sheikh Abdullah, any
takeaway message? No, no, mashAllah, it’s very, very nice. We may have to
transcribe Sister Sara’s, the five points, how it was summed up in Yusuf’s
statement. MashAllah, it’s beautiful. Just mind blowing, mind blowing.
MashAllah, tabarakAllah. TabarakAllah, I agree. JazakAllah khairan. May Allah
bless you, Sister Sara. We really enjoyed having you here, alhamdulillah, giving
us those dimensions. I’m not gonna ask you to turn it into a paper, but I’m not
going to not ask you to turn it into a paper. So we’ll see if we transcribe it,
maybe make it easy and- Actually, Dr. Safaullah, I talked to Najwa about this. I
talked to Najwa about doing a paper on Yusuf A.S. and his story, Safaullah. So
who knows, maybe we will, inshaAllah, after we do what we’re working on
right now, inshaAllah. So yesterday we told everyone under the pressure of
Sheikh Mustafa Omar, we’re going to gently tell the audience as well to
pressure Sister Sara and Sister Najwa to get a paper done, inshaAllah, on this
topic as well, on Yusuf A.S., inshaAllah. And notice Sheikh Abdullah did not
say my part should be transcribed. I heard that. I think your part should be
transcribed too, Sheikh Abdullah. Oh, mashAllah, that’s so, that’s so,
mashAllah. That’s great, that’s great. I appreciate it. Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah khair, everyone. It’s been a really enjoyable session. May Allah
Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la bless us all with that faith and that strong longing. And
may Allah make us from his Awliya in this life and in the next. Allahumma
ameen. Darukum Allahumma feekum wa salamu ala musalam dharika
anabiyyina Muhammad wa al-alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in wa salamu alaikum wa
rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullahi wa
barakatuhu. When we look online and you start to explore Islamic psychology,
the writings can be very dense. And I’ve been a clinician for a long time. You
have been also.
Reading it is very complicated. It’s very, very hard to understand. And so one
day I was driving, I was like, you know, Allah just show me an easy way for us
to link psychology and trauma. And then I was like, SubhanAllah, like Surah AlDuha is the perfect example. And it’s so easy for people to understand, you
know, and it really, it hits trauma from a clinical perspective on all different
levels. And so we are so happy for people to be able to see that throughout the
series.
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