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Lessons Learnt from Surah Yusuf

He said: “No reproach on you this day, may Allâh forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!” (Qurʾān 12:92)

This is what Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) said when his brothers came to Egypt from Can’aan and realized who he was.  After all his brothers did to him, Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) didn’t even remind them of all the bad things they did to him.  They threw him in a well to die when he was a little kid just because their father loved him more than he loved them.

Nowadays, it’s very difficult to forgive others when they do something bad to you.  I come across this problem all the time with my siblings, especially during our trip in the South. At home, it’s relatively easy for me to study in my room.  I have my table, a bright lamp, and privacy so I can fully concentrate.  However, for the past few weeks, whenever I try to study, one or more of siblings come barging into the room and make a lot of noise, not caring if I’m trying to concentrate or not. This really drives me nuts, so much so that I start thinking that I should spell my name N-U-T instead of N-U-R.

But Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) did not get angry at his brothers, even though he had full power.  By this point in his lifetime, he had greater influence than the king and could basically do whatever he wanted.  But he forgave his brothers and didn’t even tell them of how much he suffered because of them.

Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) said, ‘La tathreeb alaykumul yawm,’ which means ‘no tathreeb on you today’.  In the Pearls from Surah Yusuf series, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi explained that tathreeb means blame, humiliation, reminding someone of the embarrassing things they did.

When my brothers start reminding me of embarrassing things I did in my life, I start thinking of embarrassing things they did before to remind them of.
But Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) didn’t even do that.  He could have done anything he wanted with them.  They did something wrong to him when he didn’t do anything to them, so he could have paid them back because he was in full power to do anything.  But he didn’t and he forgave them. So thinking about that, I realize that Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām)’s brothers did something much worse to him than what my brothers do to me.

I really admire Yusuf (‘alayhi’l-salām) and I wonder how he really could forgive his brothers so easily. But a good Muslim, or Muslimah in my case, should always be forgiving, so I will try to forgive my brothers the next time they stomp all over my clean clothes with their muddy shoes in the car and my sisters the next time they wear my only clean socks that I brought with me on our trip.

Now, I just have to hope they don’t read this post so they don’t try doing the above on purpose just to test me… ;)