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Introduction

I welcome you all to the first of a series of halaqat that we will have about the tafsir or
the explanation of one of the most interesting, powerful, and moving surahs in the entire
Qur’an, which is Surah Yusuf. This surah is a very, very unique surah in the Qur’an,
and a one-of-a-type of surah.

Firstly, it is the only place in the Qur’an where the story of the Prophet Yusuf (‘alayhi
salaam) is mentioned. No other surah mentions the story of the Prophet Yusuf (‘alayhi
salaam). If you compare this to, let’s say, the story of the Prophet Musa (‘alayhi
salaam), the story of Prophet Musa is mentioned in over 25 different locations. The
story of our father Adam (‘alayhi salaam) is mentioned in over half a dozen locations.
The story of ‘Isa (‘alayhi salaam) is mentioned almost a dozen times. The story of the
Prophet Yusuf (‘alayhi salaam) only exists in this surah. In fact, even the name of the
Prophet Yusuf occurs only once or twice in passing in Surah Al-An‘ām and Surah
Ghaafir, but there is no story at all. The stories about what happened with the Yusuf
(‘alayhi salaam) only occur in this particular surah.

Secondly, it is the only surah in the Qur’an that has a unified story as its theme from the
beginning to the end. The whole surah is nothing but a story. There is no other surah
of length in the Qur’an – we are not talking about the small surahs at the end of Juz
‘Amma, but we are talking about any surah basically more than 10-15 ayahs – there is
no surah in the whole Qur’an that is a unified story from the beginning to the end. This
is something that we all know. Read Surah Al-Baqarah, Surah Ale-‘Imran, and Surah
Yunus you will find the stories of lots of people in one paragraph or one page or
sometimes even five pages, but there is no place in the whole Qur’an where an entire
15 pages is dedicated to one story. It is a chronological story from the beginning to the
end. This is not just very rare but unique. There is no other place like it in the whole
Qur’an.

Revelation of Surah Yusuf

We do not know the exact date of when this surah was revealed, but we know roughly
that it was revealed around the tenth or eleventh year not of the hijrah but of the years
of the daw’ah. In other words, with the hijrah of course we begin the Madinan phase.
Before the hijrah, what do we call it? Some scholars used the term ‘BH’ (before hijrah)
just like the Christians have ‘AD’ and ‘BC’, Muslims have ‘AH’ and ‘BH’. So if you look
at ‘BH’, 1 BH means one year before the hijrah and 2 BH means two years before the
hijrah. Surah Yusuf is revealed around 2 or 3 BH, in other words right at the end of the
Makkan era and the Makkan message.

The timing of revelation is very crucial. Surah Yusuf was revealed after the famous year
called the Year of Sorrow / the Year or Regret / the Year of Difficulty (‘aam al-huzn). In
that year, three things happened one after the other which were the most painful for the
Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), and there was no time in the seerah
where the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) was more demoralized than this period,
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which is why the scholars of seerah call this period ‘aam al-huzn, the Year of Grief. The
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) was feeling grief throughout that year. What
happened? What makes it worse is that these three things happened one after the
other. The first of these three devastating things was the most personal and intimate,
and that was the death of Khadijah (alayhi salaam). Khadijah (alayhi salaam) was his
supporter and his moral source of strength. As they say, behind every great man there
is a great woman, and this is exactly applying to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam) and Khadijah.

She was his source of comfort and support. Whenever anything happened and even
when the wahy came down and he was scared, he went running back to Khadijah
(alayhi salaam) to be calmed down. “Zambilooni! Zambilooni! (Cover me up! Cover
me up!)” Khadijah was his source of comfort and his source of support. When a man
has that comfort and love inside the house, he is able to face a lot outside. When that is
deprived of him, then the problems outside become more difficult to bear. The death of
Khadijah (‘alayhi salaam) was something that was very difficult for him.

Within five or six weeks, a second death followed and that was the death of his uncle
Abu Talib. Abu Talib was his support in society. Abu Talib sacrificed his own reputation
and prestige in order to protect the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). When the
Quraysh came to bribe, threaten, and intimidate the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam), initially Abu Talib was scared and went to him (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and
told him to stop doing this. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “If they were
to give me control of the sun and the moon, I would not give up what I am doing.” Abu
Talib said, “Oh son of my brother, oh my nephew, do as you please, I am never going to
come to you again to tell you not to do this.” He was a man of his word for ten years,
and not once did he approach the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) after that. He
never came and said ‘why did you do this?’ / ‘look what I have to face now.’ Not once.
He was a man of his word.

Abu Talib did everything he could, so much so that when the Quraysh boycotted the
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and told him he must leave Makkah, Abu Talib
went with the Muslims to live in the valleys outside of Makkah. Abu Talib was not a
subject of that boycott because he was a pagan and a Qurayshi and a mushrik, but
because he was a part of his nephew and loved him so much, he voluntarily went to live
with the Muslims at the time of the boycott.

He was the only non-Muslim to live with the Muslims at the time of boycott. He
voluntarily gave up his privileges and his house in Makkah and gave up everything and
suffered along with the Muslims because he felt that this was injustice and that he had
to do this as the uncle and protector of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). He
did everything he could. As long as Abu Talib was alive, they could not do anything
else to harm the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). With his death, the persecution
reached its max, which is why eventually the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) had
to leave for Madinah because he could not live in Makkah anymore.
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Khadijah was his internal support in the house. Abu Talib was his external support in
society. The both of them died one after the other, and it was a very difficult time for the
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). To make matters worse, he suffered the single
most depressing or difficult day of his whole life after the deaths of Khadijah and Abu
Talib. As if there could be no low, there was one low after that, which was the incident
of Ta’if.

Aisha (radhi Allahu ‘anha) said, “Oh Messenger of Allah, was there any day that was
more difficult for you to bear than the Day of Uhud?” He (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
said, “Yes.” Aisha was too young to know anything about Makkah and did not
remember Makkah. She knows Badr, Uhud, and Tabuk and the problems of Madinah
and that the worst problem of Madinah was Uhud, so she asked, “Was there any day
more difficult for you than Uhud?” Immediately without thinking, the Prophet (sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam) said, “The most difficult day for me was the day when I was rejected
by the chieftains of Ta’if.” You all know the story, and we will talk about it in a lot of
detail insha’Allah in the lectures we will start on the seerah. The Prophet (sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam) was humiliated and publicly scorned and the children of Ta’if stoned
him. This day was the most difficult for him.

These three incidents occurred within six weeks of one other – within two months, as if
things could not get any worse. At this point in time, Allah (subhanahu wata’ala)
revealed Surah Yusuf. When we understand this frame of revelation, all of a sudden
the significance of Surah Yusuf increases many times. Why? Surah Yusuf is meant to
uplift his spirits (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and console him and strengthen him at a
time of such trials and tribulations. Surah Yusuf is the light that will lead him out of this
depressing time and time of pain and anguish. This is hope for us when we are feeling
down and suffering from problems of society. This is the surah that we can turn to for
an uplifting moment and to find some solace and comfort, which is why Allah revealed it
to our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam).

Scholars also mention a number of incidents that also led to the revelation of this
surah. Of these incidents is: as the persecution of the Muslims increased and the
sahabah in Makkah were feeling more and more overwhelmed by all of the pressures,
they came to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and said, “Oh Messenger of
Allah, why don’t you tell us the stories of those before who also suffered?” When they
wanted these stories, Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) revealed this surah. It was perfect
timing – when the persecution reaches its maximum, and that is why the hijrah occurs
two years after this surah because they could not live in Makkah anymore. An
assassination squad was sent for the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) the night
before the hijrah and surrounded his house. Allah miraculously saved him (sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam). One of the direct causes of the revelation was that the sahabah
wanted something to uplift their spirits as well.

Another direct cause of revelation: it is said that the Quraysh wanted to try to outwit the
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and show that he was not truly a prophet. They
sent a delegation to the Yahud of Yathrib (the name of Madinah before it was Madinah),
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and they asked the Yahud, “Tell us a question that only a prophet would be able to
answer. Give us a trick question that we can show once and for all that this man is not
a prophet. Tell us a question that you know the answer to but nobody else knows.”
Even though the Yahud were a different religion than the Quraysh, the Quraysh felt that
the Yahud were superior because of their Book.

The Quraysh did not have a holy book or scripture or revelation. The Yahud had a
revelation, and the Quraysh felt a sense of inferiority that the Yahud were the people of
the book and had knowledge that they did not and believed in prophets while they did
not know any prophets from amongst them.

The Yahud said, “Ask him about the story of Yusuf and his brothers. Nobody knows
this.” This is an interesting point that we will come to again. In Makkah, there were no
Christians and Jews. In Makkah, there were only idol worshippers and pagans. There
were no centers of Christianity and Judaism. There were one or two private / secret
converts to Christianity like Waraqah ibn Nawfal and others, but they were not inviting
others to it and not preaching Christianity. There were no libraries of Christian or
Jewish theology. Nobody in Makkah knew these stories. The people in Makkah had
not heard of Yusuf because he was not their ancestor. They were descendants from
Isma’il and not of Ishaaq, and the tribes of Isra’il had nothing to do with the Makkans
and people of Quraysh. They don’t know these stories. The Yahud knew this and said,
“Ask him if he truly is a prophet to tell you what happened with Yusuf and his brothers
because nobody knows this of your people. This is something we know.” The Yahud
lived far away in Yathrib, so how would anybody in Makkah know this?

The Quraysh went to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and asked him, “Tell us
the story of Yusuf and his brothers if you are truly a prophet.” Allah (subhanahu
wata’ala) answered that question and revealed Surah Yusuf. In one of the last verses
of the surah, Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) says, “This is of the ‘ilm al-ghayb that We sent
down to you.” In Surah Yusuf, Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) is telling the Prophet (sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam) that He is giving them ‘ilm al-ghayb and that he (sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam) and his people did not know the story until this surah came down to
him.
Ayah 1:

“Alif-laam-ra…”
Huroof Al-Muqatta’at (Broken Letters)

This surah begins with the letters alif-laam-ra. We all know that there are a number of
surahs in the Qur’an that begin with letters. Alif-laam-meem, ha-meem, ‘ayn-seen-qaaf,
noon, qaaf, kaf-ha-ya-‘ayn-saad, ta-ha, ya-seen. These letters are called huroof al-
muqatta’at (broken letters) by the scholars of tafsir. They are called the broken letters
because they do not form words. Ha-meem is not a word. Alif-laam-meem is not a
word. Scholars of tafsir call them huroof al-muqatta’at – broken letters put together.
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Scholars have wondered about the meaning of the huroof al-muqatta’at since the very
beginning of time. Since the time of the tabi’un and taba tabi’un, they began wondering
what these letters mean. There are over fifteen opinions about what these letters
represent. Some of these opinions include that these letters represent the Names of
Allah (subhanahu wata’ala), so alif is for Allah, laam is for Al-Lateef, meem is for Al-
Muhaymin. They have different opinions, but this does not seem to have a strong basis.
One opinion is that we will never know what these huroof al-muqatta’at mean. This is a
valid opinion in so far as that we will never know for sure and only Allah knows for sure,
but we can try to think and come forth with some type of opinion because why did Allah
reveal these letters? There must be a wisdom. We can try to think of wisdoms of why
Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) revealed these letters at the beginning of these surahs.

One thing that we notice which is very interesting is that almost all the time in the Qur’an
when Allah begins a surah with these letters, the very next phrase has something to do
with the Qur’an. Think about all of the surahs you know. Ya-sin. Wa’l-Qur’an al-
hakeem. Kaf-ha-ya-‘ayn-saad. Dhikru rahmati rabbika… “This is what I am telling you
in the Book.” Alif-laam-meem. Dhaalika kitabu la rayba feehi… Alif-laam-ra. Tilka
aayaatu’l-kitabi’l-mubeen. Ha-meem. Wa’l-kitabil-mubeen.

There are some exceptions where it is not the second verse but it is the third or fourth
verse. Every single time Allah mentions huroof al-muqatta’at within the first few verses,
something to do with the Qur’an is mentioned. Therefore, it would make sense that this
huroof al-muqatta’at have something to do with this magnificent Qur’an. Every time, the
Qur’an is praised after the huroof al-muqatta’at. It is logical to make some connection.

What is this connection? Scholars have tried to think about this and have compiled all
of these huroof al-muqatta’at. The huroof al-muqatta’at number exactly 14 letters. How
many letters are in the Arabic alphabet? 28. There are 28 letters in the Arabic
alphabet, and 14 is exactly half of 28, so some scholars have read in some type of
symbolic meaning that Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) is showing us that the Qur’an is
composed of our letters and the language that we speak, and yet, mankind cannot
produce something similar to it. It is as if Allah is taunting the rejecters of the Qur’an by
showing them that these are their words and letters, so produce a surah / ten surahs / a
Qur’an similar to it if they are able to it.

There are five verses of challenge (ayaat at-tahaddi) in the Qur’an. In one of these
verses, Allah says, “…bring the whole Qur’an.” In another verse, Allah says, “…bring
ten surahs.” In another verse, Allah says, “…bring something.” In two verses, Allah
says, “…bring one surah if you can.” In these verses of challenge, it is as if there is a
linkage with the huroof al-muqatta’at and these verses of challenge. It is as if Allah is
saying ‘here is half of the alphabet bring the other half and bring something similar to
the Qur’an.’

One of the wisdoms that scholars have tried to derive from the huroof al-muqatta’at is to
show the miraculous nature of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is composed of words that we
speak, language that we know, and letters that we write, yet mankind is not able to
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produce something similar to this. Allah knows best. We will never know for sure the
meaning of the huroof al-muqatta’at, but it does appear that there is some relationship
with the beauty and the majesty and the miraculous nature of the Qur’an.

“…these are the verses of the clear / lucid Book.”

Tilka is an Arabic word which means ‘this/these.’ There is a difference between tilka
and haadhihi, which both mean ‘this/these.’ Haadhihi is used for something close.
Tilka is used for something far away.

Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) is talking about the Qur’an with the far away word. He
(subhanahu wata’ala) does this not only here but also in Surah Al-Baqarah: “Alif-laam-
meem. Dhaalika kitab la rayba feeh.” Kitab is masculine, so the word dhaalik is used.
Aayaat is feminine, so the word tilka is used. Feminine and masculine aside, there is a
difference between haadha / haadhihi versus tilka / dhaalika. We would say “haadha
kitab” for a book here, but to point to something far away, you say tilka (over there, far
away).

Allah ‘azza wa jall talks about the Qur’an in the pronoun that refers to something far
away. Why does Allah mention the far away pronoun when the Qur’an is in our hands?
To show the status of the Qur’an is exalted and to show that the Qur’an is worthy of
being something majestic. Even if you have it, we should thank Allah that we have it,
but its status is a high and noble status. Allah says, “Tilka aayaatu’l-kitabi’l-mubeen.”

An ayah is a verse. This shows us that Allah has Himself divided the Qur’an into ayat.
Where does this division come from? From Allah (subhanahu wata’ala). What about
into surahs? Allah (subhanahu wata’ala says, “…when a surah comes down…” Allah
mentions the word surah and the word ayah. Many other scriptures including the New
Testament have man-made divisions. For us, the Qur’an is from Allah, and even the
divisions within the Qur’an (meaning surah and ayah) are from Allah. An ayah also
means a sign / indication / miracle.

A verse is a sign, and a verse is a miracle. Allah uses the term that is loaded with
meaning. What does ayah mean? Allah calls the miracles of creation ayah. Allah says
that in your creation there is an ayah, and in the sun and the moon there is an ayah.
Allah calls the verses of the Qur’an an ayah. It is not a coincidence, and Allah knows
what He is saying, and no one is more eloquent than Allah. The meaning here is that
every verse of the Qur’an has a message for you and an indication and a miracle.

Mubeen is a description of the book. Allah calls the Qur’an many different names, but
there are two names that are the most common: kitab and Qur’an. Kitab and Qur’an
both occur around 75 times to describe our Book. Kitab and Qur’an are complementary
to each other and put together tell us what this book is. Kitab means something that is
written down, and Qur’an means something that is recited. The Qur’an is something
that is written down and recited simultaneously. No other book from Allah has been
preserved to this level. The Qur’an has been written down by the commandment of
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Allah, and it has also been recited by Allah, Jibreel, and the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi
wa sallam) and is recited to this day, which is of the miracles of the Qur’an that no other
book has. All of the other books were written down by men and scribes and people
after the times of the prophets. As for us, the Kitab and the Qur’an are complementary.

Al-mubeen can have two meanings. The first meaning is the Book itself is a clear
Book. Allah says in the beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah: “dhaalika kitab la rayba feeh.”
There is no doubt / no ambiguity in it. The Book is clear. What does it mean that the
Book is clear? It means that anybody who approaches the Qur’an will be able to get
some message from it and find some level of benefit from it. What this means is that
the Qur’an is a Book that is meant to be contemplated by every single Muslim. It is not
something that only the elite have access to and is not something that only the scholars
should read. Even the basic, average Muslim can benefit from the Qur’an.

There is no doubt that the average Muslim can only benefit a certain level, and the more
they grow in knowledge, the more they can benefit. This is a common misconception
that alhamdulillah is getting more and more minimal these days, but once upon a time, it
was very common to hear: “Oh, anybody can interpret the Qur’an. I can open up the
Qur’an and interpret it.” No – interpretation requires knowledge, but simple hidayah can
be obtained immediately and even from a translation. Anyone can read the Qur’an for
personal benefit and personal guidance. There are levels of meaning. Qul huwAllahu
ahad. Alhamdulillahi rabb’l-’alameen. You understand these, but if you want to go deep
and dissect why Allah said hamd and not shukr, then you need ‘ilm. The average
Muslim can benefit from the Qur’an, so the Qur’an is mubeen.

Another meaning of Allah calling the kitab mubeen is that this Book is a clear message
from Allah, and you do not have any doubt where it is from. Mubeen doesn’t refer to the
language but to the origin and the source of the Book. The Book has a clear-cut
source, and everybody knows where this Book is from. There is no ambiguity in this
Book. This may surprise you, but to this day, nobody knows who wrote the New
Testament, and no one knows the biographies of these people. They were not the
actual disciples of Christ but were anonymous people living in the second or third
generation after Jesus Christ. To this day, nobody knows who wrote the Old
Testament; it is completely shrouded in mystery. The Orthodox Jews believe that Musa
wrote it, but no other group believes this because the Old Testament mentions the
death of Musa and who buried Musa. People don’t know who wrote it.

Allah is saying that this is a mubeen Book – you know the origin, you know the source,
and everything is clear about it. There is no question mark. I cannot stress for you – O
Muslims – that we take this for granted as if it is something that is no big deal. There is
no other religious scripture on the face of this earth that is as unambiguous and as clear
and demarcated from Al-Fatihah to Al-Nas in the origin of language as the Qur’an.

There is such a massive confusion about the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and Jewish
scriptures. In many religions, you do not even know what the scripture is. In almost all
religions, the language is not the language spoken by the prophets. The original New
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Testament was written in Greek, and ‘Isa (alayhi salaam) spoke Aramaic and not
Greek. I am trying to stress to you that we take these things for granted. Our Qur’an
has no versions. To this day, the Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics have
different Bibles. They are completely different books and different additions and
subtractions and different versions. You can belong to any sect of Islam and differ in
theology, but the Qur’an is exactly the same from Al-Fatihah to An-Nas, word for word,
letter for letter, harakah for harakah – you can purchase a Qur’an in India, here, or
Timbuktu or the hand-written manuscripts. Alhamdulillah this is such a blessing from
Allah that we take for granted that our holy Book is clear. All of this proves that as Allah
says in a previous surah in the Qur’an: “We have revealed this scripture and will protect
it.”
Another way to understand this is that Allah is saying this surah in particular is
something that is clear. You need nothing else besides this surah. This indicates the
importance of this surah. To emphasize this point, Allah says in the second verse:

“We have sent this Qur’an down as an Arabic Qur’an so that you may
understand.”

A question that many Muslims ask is: ‘why does Allah refer to Himself in the plural?’ In
fact, many non-Muslims ask this question. There are two primary interpretations of
this. The first of them is that the ‘We’ is a royal plural, the plural of majesty, and the
plural of ‘izzah. It is allowed in the Arabic language that a singular person (one man)
will say ‘we’ when he is worthy of it, meaning king or royalty. Even in the English
language, the Queen of England always says ‘we’ and never says ‘I’, which is the ‘we’
of royalty. When she says ‘we’, she doesn’t mean her and her family, but she means
‘I’. She says ‘we’ to indicate that majesty. In Arabic, this is called the royal plural. It is
a permissible interpretation.

Ibn Taymiyyah has another interpretation and says that every time there is a plural in
the Qur’an, it is a reference to Allah (subhanahu wata’ala) along with the command of
the angels. Allah tells the angels to do something. That is why – and this is interesting
– Ibn Taymiyyah says that never in the Qur’an does Allah say ‘worship us,’ but He
always says ‘worship Me.’ Allah says, “We revealed the Book” because the Book
comes down via Jibreel. Allah says, “We send the rain” because every single drop of
rain has an angel taking it right to where Allah said it is going to go. Allah says, “We are
the ones who blow the winds” because the angels are the ones who take the winds.
Allah said, “We are the ones who take the souls” because the angel of death comes and
takes the souls. This is an interesting interpretation, which also seems to make sense.
When Allah says “We”, He means, “I am doing this and I am telling the angels to
execute this command.” The Qur’an comes down at the Command of Allah by the
hands of Jibreel. Jibreel is the one who brings it down. This is one interpretation as
well, and it has a good basis to it.
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Anzalah means ‘to descend.’ Nazalah means to go down / to descend. This shows that
the Qur’an physically came down. We know that the Qur’an did not come down onto a
mountain and the book was there. What does it mean? There are a number of
meanings here. Firstly, that Jibreel came down with the recitation of the Qur’an.

Literally, the Qur’an is coming down with Jibreel in his memory, and Jibreel is reciting it
to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). Secondly, we learn from a hadeeth in the
Mustadrak of Al-Hakim that on laylat al-qadr Allah ‘azza wa jall physically sent down a
divine copy of the Qur’an (a book), a part of Al-Lawh al-Mahfud. There is a copy of the
Qur’an in Al-Lawh Al-Mahfud. According to one hadeeth, which is authentic, on laylat
al-qadr, Allah says “inna anzalnahu fi laylat al-qadr,” and in one interpretation, this Al-
Lawh al-Mahfud portion of the Qur’an was literally sent down to the lowest heavens on
laylat al-qadr before the wahy began upon the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam).
Jibreel (alayhi salaam) would take from there as well. There is a physical descent of a
divine copy of the Qur’an, and so Allah says anzalah.

There is also a metaphysical descent, meaning within Jibreel that he brings it down.
This is also one of the many evidences that Allah is above us, which is why the Qur’an
is coming down. If the Allah was not above us, then the Qur’an would not need to come
down and nor would the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) have to go up in isra’
wa’l-miraj to speak to Him. The Qur’an is coming down. “We have sent down this
Qur’an.”

Sometimes Allah says, “We have anzalah” and sometimes He says, “We have
nazzalah”. What is the difference between these? There is a minor difference, but it is
also very profound and deep. Anzalah means to send down at once. Nazzalah means
to send down bit by bit. The Qur’an is referenced with anzalah and with nazzalah
because both occurred. The Qur’an is sometimes anzal and sometimes nazzal – how is
this? Because both occurred. The Qur’an came down in its entirety on laylat al-qadr,
which is anzalah. For the next 23 years, Jibreel brought it bit by bit, which is nazzalah.
Allah speaks the exact truth, and both of these things are valid.

“inna anzalnahu Qur’anan arabiyyan…” “We have revealed this as an Arabic Qur’an.”
This is a very, very interesting verse. There are exactly 11 verses in the Qur’an that
characterize the Qur’an as being Arabic. Allah says in 11 verses “We have revealed an
Arabic Qur’an.” From this, there is unanimous consensus amongst all of the scholars of
Islam that the Qur’an can only be in Arabic. Allah describes the Qur’an as being an
Arabic Qur’an. This means that when we read a translation, we are not reading the
Qur’an. We all know this, and this is an evidence of this. What this means is that when
we stand up in salah, we cannot say “All praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” If we do
so, our salah is null and void. We have to say, “Alhamdulillahi rabb’l-’alameen.” If we
were to recite it in a non-Arabic language, it is not Qur’an but is a translation.

This shows us as well that the Qur’an has been revealed in the language that Allah
‘azza wa jall spoke. This is a deep theological point, and I don’t want to go to deep.
Ahl al-sunnah wal-jama’ah believe that the Qur’an is the kalamullah. Other groups deny
 10

this and said it is not kalamullah. What does it mean that it is kalamullah? It means that
literally Allah ‘azza wa jall spoke and recited the Qur’an, and Jibreel heard this recitation
and brought this recitation down to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), and the
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) recited it after he heard it from Jibreel. From
Jibreel to the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and from the Prophet (sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam) to the sahabah up until this day we have a continuous chain, non-
stop, and it is from Allah ‘azza wa jall the recitation begins.

This means that when Allah says, “We have revealed an Arabic Qur’an,” then that
recitation was done in Arabic as well. When we recite the Qur’an, what we feel is
something that is divine even if you are not Arab. When you recite the Qur’an, you feel
that it is an amazing speech and a divine speech. When you understand Sunni
theology, you understand where this came from. We believe that this recitation was
recited by Allah ‘azza wa jall; therefore, when we recite it, there is something divine
about the Qur’an. The Qur’an must be respected – you cannot put it on the floor and
show disrespect to it – and it is sunnah to respect the Qur’an. You should put it in a
high place in the room, and you should have wudu’ when you touch it. There are so
many aspects of respect because the Qur’an is not just any book but is kalamullah and
has a certain status that no other book has.

Allah says, “inna anzalnahu Qur’anan arabiyyan…” (“We have revealed it in an Arabic
Qur’an.”) Another question arises: does this mean that all of the words in the Qur’an
are Arabic? There are clearly words in the Qur’an that come from Persian, Greek, and
even Roman. There are clearly words in the Qur’an that are not Arabic such as
istabrak and abaareeq. There are Roman, Persian and sometimes even Sanskrit
words. There are even words from Latin.

These Latin words have also worked their way into English, which is an interesting
point. We are native speakers of English, and English is based on Latin, and Latin is a
very ancient language. Some words from Latin made their way to the Arabs as well.
What is a word that is Qur’anic and English at the same time? Story – al-saateer (this is
not a pure Arabic word but is a Latin word). The English word ‘story’ is from the Latin
that also made its way to the Arabs and we find in the Qur’an. There are other words as
well. The word ‘justice’ in Arabic is qistaas. It is from the same root as the Latin root.
This is just a side point and something for your benefit.

Allah says that this is an Arabic Qur’an. The sahabah and tabi’oon and taba tabi’oon
read the Qur’an and said that not every single word is Arabic, so what do they do?
Imam Shafi’i, said, “Anybody who says there is a single word of non-Arabic in the
Qur’an is a jahill and does not know what he is talking about. How can there be a non-
Arabic word in the Qur’an when Allah says ‘inna anzalnahu Qur’anan arabiyyan’?” His
love for the Qur’an was so much that he did not listen to any argument and said that
every single word had to be Arabic. What do we do with these words from other
languages? He said that they took the words from the Arabs. With all respect, it
doesn’t work that way. Later scholars said that there are lots of non-Arabic words in the
Qur’an and it is not a problem. Imam Al-Suyuti wrote a book, and over 250 words in this
 11

book are claimed to be non-Arabic. He said sundus is a Farsi word. There are words
from Aramaic and the Ethiopian language such as istabrak. How do we reconcile this?
A great scholar Abu Ubayd Al Qasim ibn As-Salam (d. ~230 AH) said, “Both groups are
right. Every language interacts with other languages, and it incorporates words from the
other language into its own and substitutes the letters of those languages with the
letters of its own and changes the word to suit its own grammar.

The word becomes a fluent Arabic word so much so that when an Arab uses the word,
no one thinks of its Greek or Latin or Aramaic origin. It is an Arabic word even if it came
centuries ago from another language.” For example: Story becomes as-saateer and
justice becomes qistaas. This is the way languages work; you bring in words from
other cultures and then they become part of your language. They are Arabic words
even if they were taken from non-Arabic languages. Allah has spoken the truth when
He said ‘inna anzalnahu Qur’anan arabiyyan.’ Imam Al-Shafi’i has said the truth when
he said that every single word was Arabic even though his interpretation was a little
incorrect.

“…la’alakum ta’qiloon.” (“So that you may understand…”)

So that you may understand what? The sentence is not complete. Why? When you
leave the sentence blank, then you encompass all meanings. If you finish the sentence,
you limit it. When you leave it blank, it means “so that you may understand
[everything]“, and it doesn’t need to be limited. This also shows us that there is a
reason why Allah chose the language of the Arabs, which is because His Prophet is an
Arab prophet and his immediate people are an Arab people. This tells us very frankly
that the Arabic language is the most eloquent language.

The opinion of Imam Al-Shafi‘i and Ibn Taymiyyah and many scholars, including non-
Arabs, is that the Arabic language is the best language. Even as non-Arabs we must
acknowledge this. The Arabic of today is not that language, and this is referring to
fuhsa (Qur’anic Arabic). Modern Arabic is a different language altogether and is not the
language of that era. We are talking about that language, and that language was the
most eloquent language, and we must believe this as a part of aqeedah. Imam Al-
Shafi‘i said, “This is our aqeedah.” Some of the scholars were very strict. In those
days, the only other language that the Muslims spoke was Farsi. If anyone spoke Farsi
in front of Imam Maalik, he would have him kicked out of the Prophet’s Masjid (sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and say, “This is a place where we speak Arabic.”

Those were different times, and there is nothing wrong with speaking another
language. They wanted to preserve the language of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam). I say this as a non-Arab: we should learn Arabic. It is not wajib to learn Arabic,
but subhanAllah, this is our religion. The Qur’an and Sunnah are our religion, and
learning Arabic is a big part of our religion. You cannot become a true student of the
Qur’an until you learn Arabic. This is a simple fact. Reading a translation is
meaningless. You have not read the verse yet, much less the tafsir, if you have to read
the translation to understand it. Allah says, “I have revealed this kitab al-mubeen in an
 12

Arabic language so that you can understand it.” If somebody were to say, ‘It is not fair
that the non-Arabs do not understand the Qur’an. What do we do as a non-Arab and
what are non-Arabs supposed to do with the guidance in the Arabic language?’, the
response to this is:

1. One language had to be chosen, logically. Even if Allah chose another

language, then people of other languages would have said the same thing. This
is not a solid response to criticize the revelation in Arabic.
2. Also, we say that Arabic is the most eloquent of all languages. All of the
languages we know of that Allah revealed Books in are Semitic languages. He
(subhanahu wata’ala) revealed books in Hebrew and Aramaic and probably in
Syriac (the language of Dawud (‘alayhi salam)). Semitic is a family of
languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic. There are Indo-Aryan languages,
which is Latin and Sanskrit. If you study the differences between those two
branches, you will find a world of difference. [Tangent: Nahw and sarf are a
blessing because they show the structure and precision of the language. It is not
found in English grammar and Latin grammar. Sarf is taking a three letter verb
and adding an alif, a wow, or a meem. It is said from one verb you can derive
250 words. Once you learn one word in the Arabic language (one three letter
root), you can instantaneously derive at least 250 words if you know sarf
properly. This is an amazing language. This does not exist in English or any
other language.]
3. The third response is even if you do not understand its full beauty in Arabic, a
translation will give you a glimpse of it. We give non-Muslims a translation of the
Qur’an, and there is no problem with this whatsoever. Some stricter Muslims say
that we should not give them a translation of the Qur’an. [Refutation:] The
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) wrote to the Emperor of Rome, and in the
letter, he wrote a verse of the Qur’an. When the Emperor received the verse, it
was translated in front of him into Latin. This was the first time in history that the
Qur’an was translated. This was in the lifetime of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi
wa sallam). How can anybody say that it is not allowed? It was in the lifetime of
the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), and he knew it was going to be
translated. The Emperor of Rome did not speak Arabic, and the Prophet (sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam) wrote to him in Arabic. It is our duty to translate the
Qur’an into other languages. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) had no
problem doing it. It is not the Qur’an anymore, but the glimpse of beauty will
remain.

Why is Allah beginning this surah by mentioning that He has revealed the Qur’an to the
Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)? One of the reasons Allah (subhanahu wata’ala)
is mentioning this is to remind the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) of the favors
that He has given to him. This is a standard motif of the Qur’an. Surah Al-Dhuha:
“Your Lord has not left you, nor has He abandoned you…Didn’t We find you as an
orphan and take care of you?” Allah is reminding the favors He has done to the Prophet
(sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). It is human nature that when you are spiritually down, you
need somebody to cheer you up. Allah ‘azza wa jall is telling the greatest positive
 13

thing: He has revealed the Qur’an to him (one person), and this is the greatest
blessing.
Ayah 3:

“We will be narrating to you the best of all stories…”

Nahnu (the plural) occurs because of Allah and the angels. “We recite to you the
stories.” What stories? Ahsana’l-qasas. “The best of all stories.” What is a qisah? The
word qisah comes from qasah, which means to follow the footsteps in the sand. When
the bedouins found somebody’s footsteps, they would follow them in order to catch up
to that person. Allah says about Musa in the Qur’an in Surah Kahf [v. 64]: “…Musa and
Yusha followed their own qassasah (footsteps) back.” Why does a story come from
following the footsteps? You are walking in their footsteps and following them. When I
tell you the qisah, what happens to you?

You are living it. Why does everybody love a story? A story is mesmerizing. A person
never grows too old to listen to a story. No matter how old you are, you love to listen to
a story. What do we do when we put children to sleep? We tell them a story, and this is
what children love. All of us are children in this regard, and we love stories. Allah is
saying, “We are going to give you the best of stories.” It is called a qisah because we
are walking the walk. When we hear the story it is as if we are following their footsteps.
Allah is saying, “We will give you the best of stories.”

If you read any book of how to speak and how to give an effective talk, there is always a
chapter dedicated to the story. In one of the latest books that I read, it says to always
begin a lecture with a personal anecdote or personal story. Why? Because it grabs the
attention of the audience. It is human nature that stories are attractive. Stories are
something that you like to listen to. Also, the lessons in stories are manifested. If I
open up Riyadh Al-Saliheen and tell you the benefits of patience, masha’Allah it is good,
but now I get to the story of the mother of Anas and how she reacted when her son
died. Now those ahadith are brought home. It is not the same as saying, “Whoever is
patient, masha’Allah he has good iman.” When I show you a story, those stories remain
with you, and you are affected by them more, which is human nature. Allah ‘azza wa
jall is telling us stories.

Another benefit of a story is that they are ‘aqeedah (theology) in action. It is one thing
to say that you put your trust in Allah, but when we hear the story of Ibrahim when he is
going to be thrown into the fire and he puts his trust in Allah, it is theology shown in
action. ‘Aqeedah is manifested.

Another benefit of the story is that it is the reality of what has happened in the past. It is
a real thing and not theory anymore. We know this happened to the previous prophets,
 14

and so we sense it more. Another benefit is that stories teach us that Allah’s Sunnah is
repetitive and what has happened in the past will happen again. What is the purpose of
a fable or story we tell our children? There is always a moral to the story. There is
always a lesson to be learned. The lessons of Allah and these rules of Allah are
permanent. When we hear these stories, the rules are reinforced. One of the
fundamental rules of the story of Yusuf is that righteousness will win in the end, and evil
can never succeed in the long run. This is one of the main themes of Surah Yusuf.

We are going to come to this. When we read the story, we see this manifested and in
real life; therefore, this maxim is then implanted in us that righteousness will win out in
the end, and that is why Allah says in the Qur’an: “We will send you down stories to
strengthen your resolve.” It is not childish to find motivation in stories, but it is part of
our iman. Reading the stories of the prophets and reading the seerah of the Prophet
(sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) is one of the greatest ways to increase iman. Reading the
stories of the sahabah brings about a sense of taqwa and iman and courage in us.
Stories are a part of the Qur’an and Sunnah and part of human nature. This whole
surah is a story.

“We will be narrating to you the best of all stories.” This has two meanings to it. First,
every single Qur’anic story is the best of its kind. This is for many reasons:
1. They are all true and not legends or fables. A true story is always better than an
imaginary story.
2. They have the best morals. No other story will give you those types of morals.
3. The eloquent manners of presenting these stories. There is no story that can be
more eloquent than the Qur’anic one.
4. Every story that a man writes will have details and information that is not needed,
and it distracts from the story and the moral. Allah ‘azza wa jall will tell you
exactly what you need to know and not more or less. This is one of the biggest
differences between the story of Yusuf in the Qur’an and the story of Yusuf in the
Old Testament. The Old Testament gives so many details that you get lost. The
story of Yusuf [in the Qur'an] even a ten year old can read cover to cover and will
understand everything. The details are not there that will cause you to become
lost.

Every story in the Qur’an is the best. A second meaning that has been derived is the
fact that Allah has mentioned this verse in Surah Yusuf is an indication that Surah Yusuf
is the best of all stories. There are two meanings that we derive: 1) Qur’anic stories
are better than all other non-Qur’anic stories, and the Qur’an re-emphasizes this; it is
pretty obvious. 2) The story of Yusuf is the best of all of these stories. This is why
Allah begins the surah with “nahnu naqussu ‘alayka ahsana’l-qasas.” “We are the Ones
who will tell you the best of all qasas…“…bimaa awhaynaa ilayka…”

Bimaa means ‘because / through this revelation We have given you the Qur’an.’ In
other words, ‘because We are revealing the Qur’an to you, it is Our duty to tell you the
best of all stories even though before the Qur’an came down you were from the
ghaafileen.’ Ghaafil means you did not have knowledge. Ghaflah means to not have
 15

knowledge, and sometimes that ghaflah is intentional, and sometimes it is

unintentional. In this case, it is unintentional. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
did not have access to knowledge. Allah calls the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
ghaafil because he didn’t have the knowledge, not because he did not study but
because he could not have studied. Allah is saying, “Because We have revealed this
Qur’an to you, it is Our duty to give you the best of stories.”

Notice: Allah calls the Book Qur’an, and in the previous verse, He called it kitab. Kitab
and Qur’an are complementary. The kitab is written, and Qur’an is recited, and the two
put together form the reality of our Book. Allah mentions both in the beginning of this
surah.

“We have revealed to you the best of all stories because of Our relation to the Qur’an
even though before the Qur’an came down you were from the ghaafileen.” This shows
us a number of points, and with this insha’Allah we will conclude:

1. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) despite being the greatest human
being before the wahy came down did not know these details. What does that
show? This is a very profound point for modern philosophers and scientists. The
Qur’an is the ultimate source for all of our guidance. We will never know ultimate
truth from falsehood and good from evil without the Qur’an. The modern
philosophy is that if you sit in a cave and meditate – I’m being a bit sarcastic here
– and if you use your intellect, you will be able to derive all of the wisdoms you
need to know. You will be able to figure out what is right and wrong and what is
the best way to govern and what is the best way to judge and what the best
ruling is.

The Qur’an tells us that even before the Qur’an came down, the Prophet (sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam) despite being the best of human beings was ghaafil. If our Rasool
(sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) could not have known all of these truths before the Qur’an
came down, do you think that me or you or someone else would ever know the
realities? Allah says in the Qur’an: “You didn’t choose to know what was iman, what
was the Book.” Allah says in the Qur’an, “Wa wa jadaka daalan fahada (You were not
on the path.)” [Surah Dhuha: 7]

The meaning of daal here is not misguided; the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
was never misguided. Daal means, “you weren’t on the path.” You can be misguided
or just not have a path, and in the case of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), he
did not have a path yet. This was the state of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
before the wahy (revelation) came down, so what then is the state of other than the
Rasool without wahy? There is no guidance without the Qur’an, and this is a
fundamental belief of all Muslims. This is why the Qur’an is a hidayah and siraat al-
mustaqeem and kitab al-mubeen and kitab al-hakeem. You will never be able to
achieve ultimate truth without the Qur’an. Allah says, “Even though before the coming
of the revelation, you were from the ghafileen.”
 16

2. Allah is saying, “You didn’t know these surahs before I revealed them to you, and
you were ghaafil about them, so how did you know about them?” We mentioned
this before. How did he living in Makkah without access to any library and
without any Old or New Testament and without access to Jews and Christians
know about the story of Yusuf? There is only one source and that is Allah
(subhanahu wata’ala). This is of the greatest miracles that we as Muslims many
times neglect and do not appreciate. Our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
was living in an environment of complete illiteracy and complete ignorance.
There were no libraries, and there were no universities and there were no
scholars. The people in Makkah were bedouins. Imagine: in our times with the
internet and cell phones, it is difficult to imagine.

For those of you older than fifteen or twenty remember the time before cell phones –
imagine in that era coming across a tribe in Brazil or in the jungles of Africa, which are
completely cut off from civilization, and they have amongst them a man who is talking
about the histories of Rome and Persia and the stories of the Old and New Testament,
and he is in the complete middle of the jungle, and the people can’t even read and
write. They are literally backward tribesmen, let’s say, but they have a man amongst
them who knows all of these things.

Isn’t this something we can’t imagine? It is a miracle of miracles. This was the case of
our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) in Makkah. He came forth with stories,
issues, and statements that people had no access to. The only access could have been
from Allah, and this is one of the clear signs that the Qur’an is indeed from Allah.