The Da’wah of Yusuf (AS) | From Trial to Triumph Ep. 13

The Da'wah of Yusuf (AS) | From Trial to Triumph — Episode 13

As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah, good to see everyone, insha'Allah. We're going to get going. Who can tell me where we stopped last week? Who remembers what we covered in the last session? The story of Yusuf. The dream. He looks like someone of excellence. Yes, he looks like someone of excellence — we focused on that in last week's session. So insha'Allah we'll go ahead and continue from verse 37, whoever's following along.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alameen, wa 'ala 'aqibatil muttaqeen, was-salatu was-salamu 'ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammadin Nabiyyil 'Alameen.

Verse 37: Knowledge Is a Gift from Allah

Allah continues in verse 37 of this beautiful story in Surah Yusuf. After the two cellmates — the inmates that were in the same prison cell as him — prompted him regarding their dreams, Yusuf alayhi as-salam says to them:

Before the food — our next meal — comes to us, I will inform you of the interpretation of this dream. Meaning, I don't need much time to reflect upon the meaning of your dream; rather it's quite simple, because Allah had given him the ability to interpret dreams.

Every prophet that came to each and every nation, Allah honored them with excellence in the skill of those people — so that they don't seem inferior in the most prominent facets of that community. So in the story of Musa alayhi as-salam, people used to be in awe of magic and sorcery. Allah didn't give him magic, obviously, but He gave him the ability to enact miracles through the staff and through other aspects as well. By doing this, the people of Fir'aun and the people of Bani Israel were able to lean towards becoming followers of Musa. All those magicians — the 70,000 magicians said to have competed against Musa in that first face-off, where he brought all the magicians of Misr — when his staff defeated their staffs, each and every one of them fell into sujud and said:

"We believe in the Lord of Musa and Harun."

Similarly, at the time of Isa alayhi as-salam, people used to marvel at powers of healing and medicine. So Allah granted him the power — bi-idhni rabbi, by the permission of Allah — that when he would touch people he would cure them of leprosy, he would grant them shifa. And also the Prophet ﷺ — in his era, what was prominent among the people of Mecca and the people of the Hijaz was eloquence and poetry. So Allah honored him with the greatest form of eloquence, which is wahi, and they couldn't compete with it.

At the time of Yusuf alayhi as-salam, what they recognized as something of virtue and a great skill set was the ability to interpret dreams. That was like the greatest asset a person could have in that society. That was the most honorable quality to have — the most conducive thing to be seen as someone superior. So Allah had granted that to Yusuf alayhi as-salam as well.

Da'wah Through Your Field of Excellence

The condition is not that you have to be the best in your field to give da'wah, but there is great virtue and merit in being able to give da'wah to people in your field if you are equal to them or superior. It allows you to have some level of relatability. This is why, even in the framework of da'wah, we are taught that when you give da'wah to people, try to send people who are in the same scope of work. If you want to give da'wah to a physician, send someone who is also a physician — so they don't have a leg up on them and they can connect at that level. Someone wants to give da'wah to an engineer? Ask an engineer to go to them. It's easier because they can relate better.

Nonetheless, he says to them: I can interpret this dream for you before the food comes to you. Then he adds:

This ability of mine has been granted to me by Allah. It is not something that I earned; it is something that I was gifted. And every blessing is a gift from Allah. Allah gives people their talents and abilities. This is not from my own effort, not from my training — this is from Allah. And even if we do train for something, even if we work ten years in university to complete a degree — even in that case, مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي — this is what Allah granted me. If Allah had not given me the ability to memorize, how could I ever go to school? If Allah had not given me the ability to write, how would I ever pass an exam?

This idea of being "self-made" is very anti-ubudiyyah — it goes against the entire framework of being a slave of Allah. Because ultimately, for the slaves of Allah, we recognize that بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْر — every goodness that reaches us comes from Him. This is why the Prophet ﷺ taught the companions:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2516)

If the entirety of humanity were to gather to bring you some benefit, they would not be able to bring it to you if Allah had not ordained it to be a part of your decree.

So مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي is something so simple, yet it sets the framework for how we engage with our blessings. If this is a blessing that Allah gave me, perhaps I should try my best to use it in a way that doesn't disobey Allah. If wealth is a blessing that Allah gave me, it's Allah's blessing — so I want to try my best to uphold this blessing in a way that the One who gave it to me doesn't get upset.

If someone lets you drive their car and you start drifting with it or misusing it, the guy is going to be really upset: "Hey, I gave you my car to drive, not to mess up." Someone gives you their house and you live there for a week while they're gone for Umrah, and they come back and it's a mess — "Yo, I gave you my house to use, not to trash it." Similarly, every blessing that we have is Allah's blessing. Even life is Allah's — He gives life and He gives death. No one has the power of removing a blessing except for Allah.

Identifying Who Your Lord Is: The Da'wah Continues

He makes that clear to set the discussion for what is to come, because right after that he says:

He's saying: look, who is my Lord though? Because they could have said, "Okay, your Lord taught it to you — your Lord and my Lord are the same." It's like, anywhere in the world, if you say to someone "praise the Lord," the person will say "amen" — why? Because they'll think, "I'm praising the Lord as well." But the Lord in their head that they're praising is different from our Lord. So when you say "my Lord has blessed me," the person you're speaking to — unless you're identifiable as a Muslim — might assume that the same Lord is blessing them too.

So he says: my Lord taught me this. And then he clarifies that my Lord is not the one you're assuming. I left the religion of the people — those people who لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ, they don't believe in Allah, وَهُم بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ, and they also disbelieve in the Day of Judgment. He removed any potential confusion about who that Lord is. You now know that Lord is not the Lord you worship — it's the One I follow: the religion of my forefathers.

I follow and I concede my entire life to my Lord, which is the pathway and the religion of my forefathers: Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Ya'qub.

Using Recognition as an Opportunity for Da'wah

Look — when someone recognizes a blessing within us, we have an opportunity to let them notice the individual, or we have an opportunity to use that moment to let them notice who Allah is — the One who gave us that blessing. It's very easy to take that moment and just let people recognize the individual. But greatness is when an athlete is not recognized by his name alone — he's recognized by his team. "Oh, you're a great athlete — you play for such-and-such team." Similarly, we are great people because we are slaves of Allah.

Yusuf alayhi as-salam takes that opportunity — he doesn't lose out on the opportunity of giving da'wah. When you love something, or when you believe that this is the source of all your ability, you don't hide it. Allah doesn't give us the ability only to pray — Allah gives us the ability to work, to be parents, to be good students, to be good civilians. Every aspect of goodness is tawfiq from Allah. Tawfiq is not confined to worship; it is inclusive of any form of being a slave. Every aspect of the movement of a slave of Allah comes from tawfiq.

So when you say that the goodness I have is from Allah, it's not speaking only about praying in the masjid — it refers to every blessing I have. He changes the eye level from himself to Allah. He allows this to be an opportunity to give da'wah.

People come to us and they may recognize something within us — and this is why it's so important to be identifiable. When they recognize something good within us, we can use that as an opportunity to bring them to Allah. Without being overwhelming or cringey — just the subtle forms of giving da'wah. For example, someone says, "Man, you opened the door for me — thank you so much, I don't know where you learned this from." That's an opportunity to say: we learned this from our Prophet ﷺ. He taught us to respect elders, to honor our neighbors, to take out trash for your neighbor.

We have such a great incentive to be good to people — because that goodness means people will recognize Allah and they'll preserve their akhirah.

The Incentive of Da'wah

Why are salesmen so nice to us? Why are waiters and waitresses so kind? They're not nice just because they're nice — they have an incentive. Without that incentive, perhaps they'd be the rudest people. But that incentive makes them kind. Even if you are someone they're biased against — because they see you as a potential customer — they'll treat you with respect, because there's an incentive. And that incentive is a commission, or a small tip at the end of the meal. That's it. Nothing more.

Dear friends — the Prophet ﷺ once stood up for the janazah of a Jewish man who had passed away. And he started to cry. The Sahaba saw this and said, "Ya Rasulullah, do you know this is the janazah of a Jewish man?" And the Prophet ﷺ said: Yes, I know that. But this is one more person who slipped away from my grasp. He's going to go to Jahannam. I wish I could have reached him too. I wish I was able to get him to go to Jannah as well.

The incentive of an ambassador of the Prophet ﷺ is to preserve people in the akhirah. Imagine your friends and neighbors don't know who Allah is — and we are good in character towards them, very kind in our dealings with our co-workers — but they assume that all of that kindness is because of you as an individual. There is no incentive in people simply recognizing the individual. The individual is flawed — and you and I both know it. So what's the incentive of people knowing that I'm great? Even I know that I'm not that great.

The incentive is that people know who Allah is — the only deity completely at the peak and epitome of perfection. Allowing people to recognize us can only be a pathway to connect them to Allah. If they stop at us, we've stunted their growth. Because no one grows from just knowing each other. Yes — that's a starting point, a pathway. Or else, if people were not important, we would not have had prophets. People are important. You and I are all ambassadors of prophets.

This is why the Prophet ﷺ speaks about the idea that the scholars and people who preach and give da'wah are the inheritors of the prophets — because after the Prophet ﷺ we don't have prophets in this ummah, and we go straight to the Day of Judgment. But the people on the Day of Judgment will be asked: did people come and give da'wah to you?

The people of Jahannam will be asked: was there someone who came and warned you about this day? And the people of Jahannam will say:

The warner came to us. I encourage everyone to memorize it — we recite it on a nightly basis, and it protects us from the punishment of the grave. The warner came to us. But which warner came to people living in Warren, Michigan — in Troy, or Sterling Heights, or anywhere in America? No prophet came here. The warner was you and I.

The responsibility of giving da'wah does not fall upon the imam alone — the imam doesn't have access to your neighbor. The imam's responsibility is to give you and I da'wah. And our responsibility is to take it and use our presence in the community — not for the betterment of myself, but for the betterment of others.

True Goodness vs. Calculated Behavior

If we can only be good in character when we benefit from it, that's not being a good person — that's being a calculated person. Being calculated is a quality of hypocrites. They were calculated in their goodness. They knew when to smile at people because that smile meant they would benefit. They knew who to invite to their wedding reception because inviting that person added to their social status. They knew who to take a photo with and post it because that person's fame added something. But how about taking a photo with someone from whom you get no benefit?

Being good only when I'm the beneficiary is simply being calculated. True goodness is being good to people when the other party is the one who benefits.

The Prophet ﷺ never personally benefited from anyone's wealth. The deen benefited, but the Prophet ﷺ was a poor man. Aisha radiallahu anha, when asked by her nephew Urwa ibn al-Zubayr why there were no lamps lit in the room where the Prophet ﷺ had passed away — she said: "Oh my nephew, Wallahi, if I had enough oil to light a lamp, I would have used it to drink it. We would see one moon pass, then a second, then a third — and the stove in the home of the Prophet ﷺ would not be lit. Meaning we had nothing to cook, so we would not ignite the fire. We would simply rely on the two black things — aswadayn — water and dates."

But you have Abdur Rahman ibn Auf and Uthman ibn Affan radiallahu anhuma in your community — why not take from them? Because when you are an ambassador of this deen, you are not simply looking to be a beneficiary of people's talents and blessings — you are there to give to them.

Allah says:

You are always at the elite level if you are a believer. You are not a receiver at that point — you are a giver. Even the poor believer is a giver, because they have guidance — they have hidayah.

Allah says in the Quran about the poor companions:

Even the poor companions — the Muhajirun — if you were to see them, you would think they were wealthy, from their modesty and self-respect. You would only know they were poor from the pallor in their faces, their backs hunching as they walked, struggling to stand — like Abu Hurairah who would faint from hunger. Or else you couldn't tell they were poor. They would never openly ask people, because they understood they had something to give.

The responsibility of the Muslims of Michigan — the responsibility of its residents to learn about Islam — does not fall on Fox News. It falls on us.

Verses 38–40: Yusuf's Rational Argument for Tawhid

Yusuf alayhi as-salam in this moment could have simply said: "I'll tell you what the dream means — make sure you free me as well." That would have meant he was a beneficiary. But instead, his da'wah continues. He hasn't finished yet:

O my companions of prison — are many gods better, or Allah the One, the Prevailing? Who is better — multiple gods or one God? He's giving them a rational argument. Da'wah is not just "I believe in Allah" — it's about making people think. He asks them a question and allows that thought to marinate in their minds.

All of what you worship other than Allah — they are just names that you have made up. You and your forefathers. The things you worship are not actually real. And there is no proof of that which you worship. There is no proof.

And that's the reality even today. Anyone who worships other than Allah, there is no proof. Even if it's not idols — if it's ideologies. Atheism, nihilism, whatever it may be. Anything else is an experimental theory being tested. Allah is not to be tested. Allah is proven.

So da'wah doesn't mean you just speak about what you believe in — it's to also negate what the other person believes in. Allah says:

Say: O you who disbelieve — I do not worship what you worship. It makes a clear distinction between your belief and their belief. He doesn't just give da'wah and stop there — he makes it clear: what you worship is not real. Imagine telling someone, "This is a real Rolex — it's a beautiful, genuine watch." And they say, "Yeah, mine's real too." And you say: "No, yours is actually fake." That's what he's telling them.

This is why our kalima has negation and then affirmation:

The negation comes before the affirmation. First: there is no god. Then: the affirmation of Allah. So giving da'wah by identifying the greatness of Allah is a start — but the other person could say, "Well, my Lord is also great." So we have to also convey that what they're worshipping has no proof.

The command belongs to Allah alone. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That is the upright religion — al-deen al-qayyim. And qayyim doesn't just mean it's on the straight path — it means it also corrects every flaw within the person. Islam is there to correct us, to make us understand the mistakes we have in our lives. But most people don't see that to be the reality.

Da'wah as a Natural Act

And then finally, after all of this da'wah — imagine you are a mechanic and someone comes to get their car fixed, and you have a few moments with them. The guy's talking about his life, and you just put it in there: "You know who Allah is? This is who Allah is." A person who sees that Islam is value-added doesn't mind sharing it with people. Because whatever brings value is very difficult to hide. You want people to know about it.

Why would we be shy about giving da'wah about Allah? Allah is the only One that giving da'wah to is completely natural — because He is perfect. People give da'wah about products, about clothes — and they know that the da'wah they're giving has a level of hyperbole or exaggeration in it. Giving da'wah about Allah is natural. Because Allah is perfection.

I encourage all of us to make it a part of our day: every single day, if I can't give da'wah to a non-Muslim, I will at least give da'wah to a Muslim. And give da'wah to people you know before you give da'wah to strangers — because without a relationship, it seems overwhelming and judgmental. But if you already know the person, giving da'wah to them should be very natural.

Verse 41–42: The Interpretation and the Request

After all of this, Yusuf alayhi as-salam says to them: O my companions of prison — as for one of you, you will serve your lord wine once again — meaning you will be freed, you will not be executed, you will be proven innocent. As for the other, you will be crucified and killed, and birds will eat from your head, because they will leave you out there — in other words, you will be proven guilty.

The matter that you were seeking advice about has already been decreed. This is not going to change. Here is the interpretation of your dream.

Some tafaseer mention that these two people were trying to test Yusuf — that they never actually saw a dream, but it was known that Yusuf was a great dream interpreter, so they wanted to mock him and test him. So they say that even though it may not have been a real dream, because it was interpreted it became a reality. This is why we're told we cannot lie about dreams. The Prophet ﷺ says that whoever lies about their dream is among the greatest of liars.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7042)

People do lie about dreams — it's a grave sin. To say "I saw this in my dream about you" when you didn't — you're presenting that to create a bias in the other person. And if you lie about a dream and get it interpreted, there are grave consequences to that. A stronger opinion in regards to these two inmates is that they were both pulled into prison because one of them had tried to poison the king, and they needed to find out who had done it.

The Request and the Lesson of Relying on Allah First

Then Yusuf alayhi as-salam turns towards the one he knew was going to be freed — the wine bearer — and says:

Remember me in front of your master. Tell the king about me. I'm not asking too much — just let him know that I'm an innocent man seeking freedom from this prison. Just tell the king about me. You know, sometimes when you're looking to get a job or get accepted into a specific program, you tell someone: "Just tell the guy about me. I'm not asking you to sell me — just let him know who I am."

Allah says that when this person left prison, Shaytan made him forget. In other words — Shaytan can't make you forget something on his own, but Allah made him forget. Why? It's very simple. Yusuf alayhi as-salam is a prophet of Allah. The idea of asking anyone else primarily before Allah is a mistake. The primary support of a believer is always going to be Allah. Why are you asking him first? Why aren't you asking Allah first?

Imagine if you're hungry one day and instead of asking your mother or father, you go to the neighbor first. When we were kids, if you went to the neighbor's house first and ate something, your mother might have been furious: "You disrespected me in front of people? You just ate — why are you embarrassing us like that?" A mother feels that way because she's thinking: I'm taking care of you. Why would you ask someone else? You know I'm capable of taking care of you.

So Allah is teaching Yusuf alayhi as-salam — and all of us — a lesson. It's not a sin to ask someone for support. But to ask someone else for support before Allah is considered a mistake for someone who has trust in Allah. After asking Allah, then of course we are allowed to ask people. We first always seek help from Allah.

Even my father — when he was a physician, he would teach us: if you get sick, have you actually sat down and asked Allah to grant you shifa? Because when I drink what I drink I say Bismillah — but have I actually said, without drinking anything:

O Allah, You are the source of cure — there is no cure except Yours, a cure that leaves no illness behind. Allah can give us cure without medicine if He wishes to. So actually ask Allah before you take the medicine — and then we still take the medicine. We're not people who abstain from using our resources. There's no abstinence in our religion as long as it's permissible — we can make use of it. But the primary ask has to always be Allah.

If I'm going to go to someone else and ask them for something before I ask Allah — that's disrespectful. Allah is saying: you should have asked Me first. Why did you ask that person?

فَلَبِثَ فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ — And because of this he remained in prison for bid'a sineen. Bid'a means anywhere between three to eleven years. They say he was in prison for seven to nine years — that's why generally people say the prison time of Yusuf alayhi as-salam was seven years. That is the most common and well-known opinion. But it could have been nine, or even eleven. We say seven because that is the most popular opinion in tafsir.

The Lesson: Don't Seek Returns for Favors

What happened the second time — seven years later — when the man returned and asked Yusuf alayhi as-salam to interpret the dream of the seven fat cows being eaten by the seven skinny cows? Did he ask him: "Hey, when you go back, can you tell the king about me?" No. He had learned his lesson. He gave him the interpretation of the dream and said: I'm good. Allah will take care of this. And this time, the man came running back himself, saying: my king wants you to leave prison.

One of the lessons found in the tafsir of this story is this: a believer does not ask for returns on favors. "I did you a favor — now you owe me." We don't hold one up on people all the time. The reason we don't seek favors from people is because we don't want them to have leverage over us later — because الإنسان عبد الإحسان — a human being will always be a slave to whoever has done them a favor, because that person has helped them.

So we are very careful about who we take help from — because if I take it from you, you may use it against me later. The idea is: when I do something for someone as a favor, that's not a means for me to ask them for something else in return. Just let it be. I did this for you and I have absolutely no incentive. Not "hey, tell your king I should be freed." Not "I did this for you, can you do me a favor?" The moment someone sees that you had something in it for yourself, the sincerity of the act is diminished.

I'm not saying we shouldn't seek help for ourselves — but that shouldn't be the process of helping people. We don't help only because we're going to be helped in return. And that's where we'll end insha'Allah. May Allah bless you and reward you all. We'll continue from here next week insha'Allah. JazakAllah Khair everyone.