PROPHET JOSEPH (YUSUF) AND PROPHET BENJAMIN (BINYAMIN) (BLESSINGS AND PEACE BE UPON THEM)

Posted in History

Joseph (Yusuf) and Benjamin (Binyamin) were brothers with the same mother. Their mother, Rahil, first had Joseph. Then she died giving birth to Benjamin. Jacob (Ya^qub) paid special attention to those two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, due to that they lost their mother, and that they had a high degree of obedience and good manners. The other ten brothers envied those two because of this special attention they received from their father.

Jacob and his children lived in the country of Palestine. One time, when he was about 12 years old, Joseph saw a dream. He saw the sun, moon and 11 stars were prostrating to him. Joseph told his father about his dream. Prophet Jacob told Joseph “Do not tell your brothers about this dream, so that they do not harm you out of envy. The devil is a severe enemy to the human.” Despite the warning of Prophet Jacob, the news of the dream got to Joseph’s brothers. When they got this news of the dream, this added to their envy and hatred for Joseph.

JEALOUS BROTHERS

These brothers discussed the matter, and said, “The son of Rahil wants leadership among us. This is why he said he had this dream.” Some wanted to kill him, but Yahudha said “No”. Then he took an oath from the brothers that they would not kill Joseph, but to take him to an open land and leave him there so he could not get back to their father.

They went to their father and said, “Let Joseph come with us tomorrow, while we graze the animals. Joseph can play while we do that.” Prophet Jacob said, “I do not like Joseph to leave me. I fear if you take him that you would get busy, not paying attention to Joseph, and the wolf would eat Joseph.” The brothers kept insisting until Prophet Jacob sent Joseph along with them. Prophet Jacob thought if he said “No”, they would scheme more about Joseph.

When they reached the open land, with a well, they threw Joseph to the ground and took off his shirt. Joseph asked innocently “Why did you take my shirt? I need it to cover my body. They said, “Why don’t you call the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars to help you and keep you company? They put him in the well. When he reached down, they let him go from the rope. Joseph fell to the bottom of the well. They did that wanting to kill Joseph, hoping that he would die as a result of the fall. However, the well had water in it, and Joseph did not die.

At the base of the wells of that time, were cleaning platforms. Joseph got to and sat on that platform. God imparted the knowledge to Joseph that a day would come on which he would face his brothers again, without them even knowing that they were facing him.

Then, the brothers called out to Joseph, checking to see if he died. Joseph hoped that it was a call of rescue, so he responded to them. Instead of helping Joseph, now that they knew he was alive, they threw stones at him. The brother who had originally said not to kill Joseph, stopped those brothers from that. This well is in Palestine and is called Jubb.

After all of those ill deeds, the brothers stained Joseph’s shirt with the blood of a baby lamb. Then those brothers, in their plotting and scheming, decided to wait until the night to go to their father, Jacob, with the bloodstained shirt. They chose the nighttime, thinking that the darkness would conceal their lying to their father.

They came to their father Jacob at night, crying and screaming. Jacob asked them why they were in that condition. They said, “We went to play and race. We left Joseph with our belongings. When we turned around and looked at Joseph, we saw that a wolf had eaten him and only his shirt was left.” They presented the shirt of Joseph to their honorable father. Prophet Jacob was very wise, and knew that they were lying. He looked at that bloody shirt, and saw it was not at all torn. Jacob told them wisely, “According to your story, how gentle that wolf was, that he would eat my son without ripping his shirt.”

Jacob told them, “You have conspired, and did something which your selves desired, and I will be patient.” (Yusuf, 18)

 

THE CAPTURE OF JOSEPH

It is cited that Joseph stayed in the well for three days waiting for the mercy of God. After those three days, a caravan passed by. One of the people in the caravan was nominated to fetch water from the well. He lowered his bucket into the well. When that occurred, Joseph hung on to the bucket, and the man pulled Joseph out of the well. That person was delighted because he found this beautiful young man alone. He wanted to carry Joseph to Egypt to sell him and get some money. He planned to claim that Joseph was a slave that he owned and then to sell him.

When his comrades saw Joseph, they asked to go into partnership with him. They wanted to limit it to them, so the rest of the caravan would not get a share. They claimed that the custodians of the well had owned him and that they had asked them to take him to Egypt and sell him on their behalf.

One of the brothers of Joseph returned to the well to give food to Joseph. This brother saw Joseph out of the well with that man. This brother went back to the other brothers and told them about this. All the brothers, except Benjamin, came to Joseph. They told the man that had Joseph, “This is a slave of ours that ran away.” They took money from the man (saying that they were selling Joseph to him). They took so little money from the man for Joseph, that it was not weighed. It was just counted and given. (Yusuf, 19-20)

Then the caravan men took Joseph to Egypt. There, they put Joseph in the marketplace, where people bid for slaves. The people were amazed by the beauty of Joseph, and started competing a lot to get him. A very wealthy man there, by the name of Qutfir, bought Joseph. Qutfir had the title of “ the ^Aziz”. He was the treasurer of Egypt, controlling the resources and expenditures. The king of Egypt, that Qutfir was under, was Rayyan, the son of Walid. It is said that this king did not die until he believed in Joseph.

When Qutfir brought Joseph to his house, he told his wife, “Be generous to him, so that he would be of benefit to us when he grows up. Maybe we would take him as a son.” It was claimed that this man Qutfir did not have sexual intercourse with women.

Joseph stayed with them, with the people considering him to be an owned slave. God gave Prophet Joseph a lot of beauty. Prophet Muhammad said that he had “half of the beauty”. The wife of the ^Aziz was named Ra’il. It is also said that she had the name Zalikhah. Ra’il was very beautiful, with a high social status. She was very pleased to have Joseph, for she had no children. Joseph was privileged in the household. Qutfir made him in charge of all the servants of the house, and they bestowed a lot of generosity upon Joseph. God saved Joseph from the darkness of the well, and gave him a comfortable setting.

 

A WOMAN TRIES TO SEDUCE

After Joseph had grown into such a handsome man, Ra’il fell in love with him. She had an overwhelming desire to have a sexual affair with Joseph. It is reported that her husband had never had sexual intercourse with her.

One day, with Joseph being about seventeen years of age, Ra’il made a plan. She dressed up and decorated herself, then shut the doors of a room with Joseph. She tried to seduce Joseph and get him to fornicate with her. Joseph said, “I seek refuge with God”. Joseph told her, “God generously gave me good mannerisms and I would never do such a thing with you. Those who are unjust will not succeed. This is abhorrent and serious injustice.” (Yusuf, 23)

When he refused, she tried to hold on to him and force him to do the deed. God inspired Joseph to not fight with her, because if her clothes got torn, later people may see that, and believe that he attacked her. Instead Joseph turned from her, without fighting her, and ran to the door to leave. She grabbed him, and tore his shirt from the back.

God preserved Prophet Joseph from committing this sin at the age of 17. After this incident, God bestowed Prophethood on Joseph at the age of 40. Prophets are protected from committing such a sin, before and after Prophethood. There is a verse in Suratu Yusuf that means, “If God had not protected Joseph from such sins (by making him a Prophet), he would have been swept into that sin”.

Some bad interpreters lie about Prophet Joseph. In their ignorance and evil they accuse Prophet Joseph of having loosened his pants and wanting to do the sin, but that then he saw his father biting on his fingers prohibiting him from that. Then they say, due to that, that Joseph did not complete the act. This is a big lie about Joseph.

A good scholar named Abu Hayyan wrote a book called “Al-Bahrul-Muhit”. In it this scholar vehemently denounced those who put forth this lie about Joseph. He said, “It is not permissible to accuse someone unrightfully of an enormous sin. Joseph did not attempt this sin at all. As stated in the verse, God protected Joseph from even wanting to do such a sin. Those sayings which people attribute to the Salaf (the followers of Prophet Muhammad of the first 300 years of this nation), claiming that Joseph did this, are fabrications, and none of it is valid. These stories are lies. These accusations that they make against Joseph, if made against another Muslim, would degrade a Muslim who does commit enormous sins. What about saying these things about a Muslim who became a Prophet? Prophets are impeccable, and never commit such sins.”

While in the situation of having his shirt torn, and trying to escape, Qutfir opened the door and saw the scene. Quickly Ra’il said, “This man, Joseph, wanted to commit fornication with your wife. I pushed him away and I tore his shirt. What would you do with him (implying that Joseph deserves punishment)?” Joseph said, “No, rather she tried to seduce me! I refused and I went to the door to get away from her. She caught up with me and tore my shirt.”

The cousin of the ^Aziz was with him. This cousin said, “If Joseph’s shirt is torn from the front, she is truthful and Joseph is a liar. If it is torn from behind, then he is truthful and she is a liar.” (Yusuf, 26) According to another narration, it was a small babe that spoke those words, a family member of Ra’il. The ^Aziz saw that Joseph’s shirt was torn from the back. Qutfir knew that the news of this incident leaking out to the public would be very embarrassing for all three of them. Then the ^Aziz said to his wife, “This is a result of the scheming that most of the women do. You accused Joseph in order to cover up your own bad deed. Ask forgiveness of your sin. You were sinful.” Then Qutfir said to Joseph, “O Joseph, do not mention this to anyone”.

Nonetheless, some of the news of this incident got to the women friends of the wife of the ^Aziz and the women started to talk about the incident. The women mocked Ra’il, due to that she lusted after one whom they thought was a young, lowly slave. They had not seen Joseph yet.

The wife of the ^Aziz got news of this whispering of her women friends. Ra’il wanted to pay them back for their gossip. The wife of the ^Aziz got the idea to invite these women to her home. She prepared a sitting place for the women and gave them fruits and knives. When the women started cutting the fruits, the wife of the ^Aziz had Joseph come into the room with the women. When they looked up and saw his beauty, they became so entranced that they began to cut their hands with the knives without noticing. They exclaimed, “This is not a human, but a generous angel!” At that, the wife of the ^Aziz told them, “This is the man about whom you blame me. I tried to seduce him, but he refused.”

 

JOSEPH IS PUT IN PRISON UNJUSTLY

Then the wife of the ^Aziz, out of evil plotting, said, “If Joseph does not do what I order him to do, I will have him put in prison”. Joseph said, “The prison is more dear to me than sinning.” Joseph made supplication (du^a’) to God to relieve him from the scheming of the women, and to make him pure from sin. God fulfilled Joseph’s supplication.

Then, Ra’il said to her husband, the ^Aziz, again lying, “Joseph, this Hebrew slave, made me scandalous among the people, because he spoke about the incident of attempted seduction. Imprison him!” Although the ^Aziz had liked Joseph, he wanted the accusations against his wife to settle down. Hence, Qutfir had Joseph imprisoned for no valid reason.

Immediately, Joseph started to show his excellence to the people in the prison. Everyone was impressed with his good manners, sincerity, trustworthiness, and beauty. Two young men, among those who accompanied the king of that time went to prison with Prophet Joseph. One of the men was a baker for the king and the other prepared the drinks for the king. Those two men had been put in prison due to being accused of trying to poison the king.

These two men saw the worship of God that Joseph performed in prison, and Joseph gained their trust. Then, the two men found out that Joseph had been granted the knowledge of the interpretation of dreams.

Each of these men had seen a dream, and both asked Joseph to explain the meaning of their dreams. Prophet Joseph did not immediately interpret their dreams. Rather, he took the opportunity to talk to them about Islam first. (Yusuf, 38) He called them to the correct belief in God and His Messengers. Joseph ordered them to worship God alone and not to worship other than God.

Then Joseph explained the meaning of their dreams. The baker had seen himself in the dream with three baskets on his head, and birds were eating from the top basket. The one who prepared drinks had seen three grape vines in his dream, and he was squeezing juice from those vines.

Joseph said to the one who saw the grape vines, “You will get out of prison. After three days the king will send for you and give you back your job.” Joseph said to the baker, “As for you, after three days the king will send for you, crucify you, and the birds will eat from your head.” This is the meaning of what God made them see in their dreams (Yusuf, 41).

Joseph told the man who saw that he would be released from prison, “When you get released, tell the king about me and that I am imprisoned unjustly.” When that man was released from prison, the devil made him forget to mention Joseph to the king. Hence, Prophet Joseph stayed in prison for seven more years.

 

THE DREAMS OF THE KING

One day the king saw two dreams in one night that made him disturbed and scared. The king had seen seven fat cows coming out from the side of the sea, being swallowed by seven thin, weak cows. The king awoke, but then slept again. He saw seven green wheat plants and seven that were dry. The seven dry wheat plants also swallowed the seven green wheat plants. When the king awoke from those dreams, he looked to find someone who could satisfy him as to the meaning of these disturbing dreams. All his advisors could not explain the dreams.

The one in charge of drinks heard of these dreams, and finally remembered Joseph. He said, “I can get you the interpretation of your dreams. This is not through my knowledge, but I know someone who knows the interpretation of dreams. Send me to him”. The drink pourer had asked to be sent to Prophet Joseph in the prison.

The king had this drink pourer sent to Joseph in the prison. The man told Joseph the dreams. Joseph told the man the meaning of the dreams. Joseph said, “It means that there will be seven fertile years, with rain and good crops. You will plant every year in this seven years. Hence, leave the wheat grains in the heads, except for the amount that you need for eating. By doing this, the wheat will be preserved. Store it. Then seven years of infertility will come. You need to start eating the stored food, eating first that which was oldest. Most of what you have stored will be consumed. After that, a year of rain will come, and the trees will bear fruits. You will squeeze the juice from these fruits.” (Hajj Riad said: This is a method of wheat storage being taught nowadays.)

When the drink pourer went back to the king and told the king Joseph’s interpretation, he felt in his heart that what Joseph said was true. The king said, “Bring that man to me”. When the messenger of the king came to Joseph, to bring Joseph to the king, Joseph did not go at first. Joseph wanted to meet the king, with the king totally convinced ahead of time of his innocence (Yusuf, 51).

Joseph said to the messenger, “Go back to your king and ask him about the story of the women who cut their hands. Have the king look into this story and know if I was imprisoned rightfully or unrightfully.” The king called those women who had cut their hands. He asked them, “What is your story? What had happened (Yusuf, 51)? They said, “By God, we did not see any wrong doing from Joseph.” Those women openly declared that Joseph was clear of what he was accused. When the wife of the Aziz saw that God saved Joseph, and that Joseph was now important to the king, she confessed. She said, “Now the truth has appeared and it stands out clearly. I tried to seduce Joseph. He did not do anything to me.”

 

JOSEPH IS FREED FROM THE PRISON, CLEARED OF THE ACCUSATIONS

The king then knew the truth of the matter of Joseph. The king was convinced that Joseph was innocent. The king said, “Bring Joseph to me and he will benefit me.”

When Joseph arrived, the king said, “You have a high and deep rooted status with us. We have seen great manners from you and you are trustworthy.” The king wanted Joseph close to him.

Prophet Joseph said, “Make me the treasurer over the treasures of Egypt.” He asked for this office to implement the rules revealed by God and to rule in a just manner. He did not ask for it to show off, or for its prestige. The king assigned Joseph with that responsibility and discharged the ^Aziz, Qutfir.

 

JOSEPH IS THE TREASURER OF EGYPT

Joseph, in his powerful position, invited the people of Egypt to Islam. Many people accepted, and he was well loved by the people. Their love for Joseph increased when they saw how well he filled his position. Joseph was just, applying the rules of the Religion. The king himself, at the hands of Joseph, embraced Islam, as was cited by Mujahid , the student of Ibn ^Abbas.

When the seven fertile years came, Joseph stored the wheat, as he had advised the king to do. Then the seven years of drought came to Egypt and other areas as well. The drought affected the area of Ash-Sham, where Prophet Jacob and his sons were living. The word spread to the land of Jacob that in Egypt there was food available, under the charge of a kind, just treasurer.

 

THE BROTHERS COME TO EGYPT

Prophet Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy food. However he kept Benjamin with him. The sons of Jacob went from Ash-Sham to Egypt to buy food from this just treasurer. These sons did not have an idea that this treasurer was their brother, Joseph. When the brothers came to Joseph, Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

Prophet Joseph made the brothers feel comfortable. He talked with them, and managed to learn from his brothers that they had a brother named Benjamin who stayed back with their father. Joseph started encouraging them to go back to Ash-Sham, and then come back to Egypt, and to bring their brother Benjamin. Emphasizing how accurate he was with his transactions with them, he promised that if they did not bring their brother with them, he would not give them food in the future.

Before the brothers left Egypt to go back to their father with the food they purchased, Joseph ordered the servants to put the money, which his brothers had paid, back in their luggage without them knowing. Prophet Joseph hoped that his brothers would like this surprise and come back.

When the sons returned to their father Jacob, they told him about what had happened. Of course, they did not say they met Joseph, because they still did not know that they had met him. They told their father how the just treasurer wanted to meet their brother Benjamin. Their father, Jacob, said to them, “How could I entrust you with Benjamin when I entrusted you with Joseph before and Joseph did not return?”

Then they opened their luggage and found the money, which they had paid. They told their father, “We have met the best of men! Send our brother with us, so we can go to that man again. We shall protect our brother. We will bring the food to our people. We will gain one more animal load as well, for the animal of Benjamin will enable us to bring more food.”

 

THE BROTHERS’ SECOND TRIP TO EGYPT

Prophet Jacob sent Benjamin with them on their second trip to Egypt after he took their promises that they would protect him. The only justification for not bringing back Benjamin would be if they all were defeated at once.

Prophet Jacob told his sons that they should enter Egypt from separate gates, and not all together. This was to avoid being hit by the evil eye. They were beautiful in appearance, and the sight of all of those beautiful sons together could make for envy among the people.

The brothers went back to Egypt with Benjamin. They went back to Prophet Joseph, and showed Joseph that now they had also brought their brother Benjamin. Joseph fed them and made them feel comfortable. They were to sleep at the home of Joseph. Joseph wanted to talk to Benjamin privately. So, he made the accommodations arranged a certain way. Joseph gave them mattresses to sleep on that were for two men. Since there were 11 of them, one would be by himself. Hence, Joseph said, “Let Benjamin sleep in my quarters, for he does not have a space to sleep.”

When in the quarters of Joseph, Joseph began to talk privately to Benjamin. Joseph managed to get Benjamin to tell that he had another brother that did not come with them from Ash-Sham. Benjamin thought that his brother Joseph had died. At that, Joseph revealed to Benjamin that he was his brother Joseph.

Joseph loaded the camels of the brothers with food and put the jeweled cup of the king in the luggage of Benjamin, after Joseph told Benjamin that he would do it. When the brothers were leaving, and it was known that the king’s special cup was lost. Some of the servants of Joseph and those who worked for him went after the brothers of Joseph. They said, “You are thieves.” The brothers rejected that accusation saying, “We did not come to your land to do evil.”

Joseph said, “What would be your punishment if you were liars?” They said, “You should take as a slave the person with whom you find the king’s cup.” (Yusuf, 76) They looked for the cup and found it among the things of Benjamin.¹

The brothers said, “If Benjamin has stolen, then also his brother before him (Joseph) stole.” The brothers were quick to believe that Benjamin did something unjust, as they still believed that Joseph had been unjust in the past. The brothers did not practice thinking well about these two honorable brothers. The brothers could have said, “Benjamin would not do such a thing. There is some mistake here.” Instead the brothers quickly accepted the idea of Benjamin doing some wrong thing. They still accepted to think that Joseph had stolen long ago, which was not the case. The real story about Joseph, and why they thought that he stole, is as follows:

Joseph, when he was young, was with his aunt who was taking care of him. Jacob wanted to take Joseph. Out of her strong love for Joseph, she did not give him up. This aunt had something, which belonged to her father, Prophet Isaac. She tied it on Joseph, underneath his clothing. Then she said, “Where is that thing, I cannot find it?” When they looked for it they found it in Joseph’s clothing, as she tied it there.

In the rules revealed back then, the victim of thievery could keep thieves as their slaves working for them. The aunt kept Joseph with her until she died. This is the meaning of the brother's statement that if Benjamin stole, his brother Joseph had stolen before.

When the brothers realized that they could not bring their brother back with them, they told Joseph, “Set Benjamin free and keep one of us in his place instead.” Joseph refused. The oldest brother, Rubil, said, “I shall not leave this place until my father permits me to leave or God endows on me an excuse to leave.” The other brothers went back to their father and told him about what had happened.

Jacob felt severely sad about all this (Yusuf, 83) and as a result of his extreme sadness, he cried a lot to the point that he lost his sight. When Prophet Jacob had lost Joseph, the same thing had happened. Prophet Jacob had temporarily lost his sight, out of crying, and then he regained his sight. The Prophets of God are not permanently blind.

When the sons saw their father crying again, this time due to the loss of Benjamin, they showed their harshness to their father. The told their father, “Are you going to get so sad now, just like you did when you lost Joseph?” (Yusuf, 86-87) Jacob told them to go back and get news about their brother Benjamin and not to lose hope of the mercy of God.

 

THE BROTHERS’ THIRD TRIP TO EGYPT

The brothers wanted to get more food from Egypt. They brought along with them inferior merchandise to exchange for wheat. Only some of the brothers went to Egypt on this trip. When they arrived to Joseph, they said to him, “We know that this merchandise of ours will not buy much wheat. Yet, we plead with you to grant us wheat. We also plead that you set our brother Benjamin free, because our father is heartbroken.”

When Joseph heard their story, and that his father Jacob had lost his sight from crying over the loss of his son, Prophet Joseph started to cry out of sadness for his people. At this, Prophet Joseph removed the cover over his honorable forehead, and revealed to them that he was their brother Joseph. He asked them in a reprimand, “You were so unkind to our father, and it is so bad to deprive people of their rights. Do you know what you did with Joseph and his brother Benjamin unjustly?” When Joseph said these words, they knew that he was really their brother Joseph.

They said, “It is you, Joseph!” He said, “I am Joseph, and this is my brother Benjamin. This is the outcome for those who are God-fearing. They will be rewarded for being steadfast to Islam. God blessed us by bringing us back together.”

At that point, God softened the hearts of those brothers and they apologized to Joseph. They said, “By God, God gave you merit over us and we were wrong.” They expressed their repentance.

God had made Joseph now in a position of great power over his brothers. Despite all the power that Joseph now had, Joseph did not retaliate against his brothers. God praised those people in a position to revenge, who instead refrain from vengeance against the believers. These pious people are occupied with praising God, remembering the Day of Judgment. They do not find satisfaction in vengeance against the believers.

Prophet Joseph told his brothers, “I will not punish you today. I ask God to forgive you.” Joseph said, “Take this shirt of mine and put it on the face of our father. His sight will be restored. Then come back to Egypt, bringing back with you all of our people.”

Yahudha said, “Let me bring our father this blessed shirt, especially since I was the one who brought the other shirt to him so long ago. I lied to my father, saying that the wolf had eaten you. Now let me make my father delighted, as I made him sad before.” It is narrated that Yahudha was so eager to take this shirt that he ran off to Ash-Sham with the shirt while he was bare-foot. The other brothers followed after Yahudha in the caravan.

When the caravan of the brothers left the boundaries of Egypt, the wind carried the scent of Joseph to his father Jacob, despite that being 80 farsakhs (~240 km). Jacob said, “I can smell the scent of Joseph. I think that I will be with him soon.” The people around Jacob said, “Are you still heartbroken about being separated from Joseph? Jacob told them, “I have a knowledge from God that you do not have (Yusuf, 94-96)."

When the brothers arrived with the shirt, they put it on Jacob’s face and Jacob regained his sight. Jacob told them, “Didn’t I tell you that I know from God that which you do not know?” (Jacob was remembering that dream which Joseph saw long ago when he was young)

The brothers who had stayed with their father, repented to God also, when they saw the shirt of Joseph and heard the news from the other brothers that Joseph was still alive. Those brothers said to their father, Prophet Jacob, “Ask God to forgive us.” Prophet Jacob said that he would.

 

PROPHET JOSEPH IS REUNITED WITH HIS BLESSED FATHER

Prophet Joseph sent 4000 soldiers to escort his family from Palestine to Egypt. Then Jacob, his wife, and his sons traveled to Egypt. Also, 63 other members of the family traveled with them. When the family got close to Egypt, Joseph went out to receive his father and family. The people of Egypt did the same.

When they came in, Joseph was very generous to his father, Prophet Jacob, and Jacob’s wife. Prophet Joseph invited his father to come onto the royal platform. Jacob, his wife and the brothers prostrated to Joseph (out of respect and salutation, not worship), putting their foreheads on the floor. This was allowed during their time according to the rules that God revealed to them.

Joseph said to his father, “This is the meaning of my dream (the sun, moon and 11 stars prostrated to me).” Between the dream, and the exposing of its explanation there were 40 years. This means that Prophet Joseph was about 52 years old when his father came to Egypt.

It is narrated that eventually Prophet Joseph became the ruler of that area of Egypt, with a king over his position. There is a narration that Joseph lived for 23 years after his father came to Egypt. Another narration says that Joseph lived 110 years after that. Our master Jacob stayed in Egypt and died there. Jacob had left a will to be buried where his father was buried. Prophet Joseph carried out his will. He went to Hebron (Al-Khalil), in Palestine, and buried him there where Abraham and Isaac had been buried. Joseph also left a will to be buried with his parents. It is narrated that Prophet Joseph died 361 years after the birth of his great-grandfather, Prophet Abraham.

Prophet Moses later on carried out the will of Joseph. Prophet Moses took Joseph out of Egypt and buried him with his parents. This happened many years after the death of Joseph.

Here, we draw your attention to some important matter. After knowing what the brothers of Joseph did to Joseph, among all their ill doings, it is not permissible to say that those brothers were Prophets. They hid their brother, were unjust to him, and they harmed him. Also they confronted their father, who was also a Prophet, with dispraise and harsh words, which is blasphemy, as it is stated in a verse of the Qur’an.

Even though the brothers repented, still God would not make those brothers Prophets. Benjamin did not do all those bad things that the other brothers did. It is famous that Benjamin was a Prophet of God. From those brothers, though, came children from among their offspring who were Prophets. They are “Al-Asbat” referred to in the Qur’an.

We ask God to enable us to meet Prophet Joseph and his father, Jacob in the Hereafter.

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 ¹ The answer the brothers gave enabled Joseph to keep his brother. According to the King’s law, Benjamin would be beaten and fined.