Yusuf (Joseph)

9. “Slay Yusuf, or cast him out to some (far) land, (so that) your father’s attention may be given on you (exclusively), and you may be after that (by repentance) a righteous people.”

With respect to Divine favors, man has four options: to be jealous, to be stingy, to be self - sacrificing, and to be envious of others.

If he enjoys a blessing and is happy that others do not enjoy it as well, this is a case of stingy, this is also the case if he does not enjoy a blessing and is glad that others do not enjoy it as well which is jealousy.

If he lets others benefit from a blessing he enjoys and is not concerned whether he would be deprived of it in the process, this is a case of self-sacrifice. If he thinks that others enjoy a blessing and he doesn’t and he wishes that he enjoys that blessing too, this is envy.

Imam Baqir (as) said:

“I sometimes express my affection towards some of my children, seating them on my lap even though they do not merit all that love, so that they do not become envious of my other children, and the adventures of Yusuf be repeated once more.”1

The feeling of envy, however, eventually led the brothers to conspire with each other. They proposed two schemes, either to kill Yusuf or to send him off to a far distant land so that the love and attention of their father would be evenly distributed among them.

The verse says:

“Slay Yusuf, or cast him out to some (far) land, (so that) your father’s attention may be given on you (exclusively)...”

It is true that they might have trouble with their consciences having condescended to committing such a crime against their brother. However, they thought that it might be possible to compensate for this sin and repent afterwards.

The holy verse continues saying:

“…and you may be after that (by repentance) a righteous people.”

This sentence reveals the fact that they had feelings of guilt for having committed such a barbarous act and were afraid of Allah at the bottom of their hearts.

However, the important problem in question lies in the fact that discussing repentance before the commission of a sin is in actual fact a satanic strategy to cheat one’s own conscience and keep a channel open with Allah, hence, the person in question is not really repenting and by no means it is a reason for his regret.

Explanations

1. Dangerous thoughts lead man to perform dangerous acts and jealousy leads man to such great sin that he will even be prepared to commit fratricide.

2. Man seeks popularity and affection, the lack of which leads to the most dangerous kinds of behaviors and deviations.

3. Although the holy Qur’an makes the acquisition of popularity and affection upon having faith and righteous conduct, Satan makes it the reward for killing one’s brothers.

4. The jealous person thinks that if others are killed or removed, all the blessings will be given to him.

5. Satan, by holding out the probable possibility of future repentance, opens up the gate for man to commit sin in the present.

6. Being knowledgeable and being aware does not always imply that one has distanced him from deviation.

Despite the fact that Yusuf’s brothers knew and believed that killing their brother was an evil act it did not stop them from committing it.