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Practice piety and patience

Practice piety and patience
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July 09, 2020
in Quran Blog
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The bitter pill

There are still many lessons in this surah. There is a long catalogue of troubles and trials that befell Yusuf (peace be upon him).

Our perception is that these are all negative – from being thrown in the well to being falsely accused and imprisoned.

Yet all these bitter events and challenges and different levels of suffering and patience and taqwa, lead him to becoming the ruler of Egypt.

This story always reminds me of the ayah where Allah Almighty says;

But it may be that you dislike something while it is good for you, and it may be that you like something while it is bad for you. God knows, and you do not know. Al-Baqarah:216

The troubles that Yusuf experienced at every level – personal, reputations and community level, made him what he was.

Allah knows and we don’t know. It’s all in His knowledge .

Submission

As Yusuf always submitted to the will of Allah and accepted his destiny, he was able to navigate through his tests with the support of Allah.

Big hearts and big minds

When Yusuf was on the throne and his brothers came and asked for forgiveness. They said,

By God, God has preferred you over us. We were definitely in the wrong.’ Yusuf:92

Yusuf’s reply was magnanimous and he made this famous statement:

He said, ‘There is no blame upon you today. God will forgive you. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ Yusuf:92

This is similar to the statement that the Prophet (peace be upon him) made in Makkah after he conquered it, and he addressed the same people of Mecca who had persecuted him and the believers. He said:

What do you think I will do with you?’ They appealed to him for clemency, by saying he was the ‘son of a generous brother.’ And he too forgave them, saying: ‘There is no blame on you today. (Bayhaqi)

Big hearts, big minds and big souls treat those who have wronged them with mercy. They take the moral high ground, rather than stoop to a lower level.

Yusuf’s is a very inspiring story. It is summarised in the 3 points of his statement – have the right intention, have patience and have taqwa, for they are never wasted.

He who practices piety and patience—God never fails to reward the righteous. Yusuf:90

Don’t ever think an atom of your taqwa or patience is wasted. If you trust that Allah will never waste your good deeds, then they will be secure in your account.

May Allah enable us to have taqwa and be among the muhsineen. Ameen

Shaykh Haytham Tamim

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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.

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