THEY EXECUTED THEIR PLAN

 FAJR REMINDER: THEY EXECUTED THEIR PLAN

(Yūsuf was thrown into a Well)

By: Umm ‘Affān

Rajab 10, 1447 (31-December-2025)

The brothers of Prophet Yūsuf (‘Alayhi Salām) agreed to separate him from their father. Undoubtedly, this was a vicious crime that involved cutting the ties of kinship, being unkind to their father, and transgressing towards Yūsuf (‘Alayhi Salām). 

Indeed, the ties of kinship, the bonds of blood and family, are sacred in Islām. They are not mere ties of convenience, of duty, but ties of the heart, of the soul, of the very essence of our being. Thus, it's sacrosanct that we maintain it and not sever it. Allāh warns:

وَالَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمُ اللَّعْنَةُ وَلَهُمْ سُوءُ الدَّارِ

“And those who break the Covenant of Allāh, after its ratification, and sever that which Allāh has commanded to be joined (i.e. they sever the bond of kinship and are not good to their relatives), and work mischief in the land, on them is the curse (i.e. they will be far away from Allāh's Mercy); And for them is the unhappy (evil) home (i.e. Hell).”

[Sūrah Ar-Ra’d (13) Verse 25]

More so, Jubayr Ibn Mut’im reported: The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said, 

لاَ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ قَاطِعُ رَحِمٍ ‏

“The one who severs his family ties will not enter Paradise.”

[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5984, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2556]

When Yūsuf’s brothers took him from their father after having his permission, it was reported that their father embraced and kissed him, and supplicated Allāh for him. Allāh says:

فَلَمَّا ذَهَبُوا بِهِ وَأَجْمَعُوا أَن يَجْعَلُوهُ فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُم بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَٰذَا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

“So when they took him away, they all agreed to throw him down to the bottom of the well, and We inspired in him: ‘Indeed, you shall (one day) inform them of this their affair when they know (you) not.’” 

[Sūrah Yūsuf (12) Verse 15]

Imām Ibn Kathīr (Raḥimahullāh) narrated: “After leaving home, they started ill-treating Yūsuf, cursing, and beating him. When Yūsuf would beg one of them, he would smack and curse him. When they reached the well, they tied him with a rope and lowered him down. As he tried to hold the side of the well, they struck his hand and then cut the rope when he was only half the distance from the bottom of the well. He fell into the water and was engulfed. However, he was able to ascend a stone that was in the well and stood on it.”   

And they (the brothers) returned to their father trying to deceive him with their crying, yelling, feeling apologetic, and showing sorrow and grief. They had nothing left except to present a false claim for what happened to Yūsuf. Allāh says:

قَالُوا يَا أَبَانَا إِنَّا ذَهَبْنَا نَسْتَبِقُ وَتَرَكْنَا يُوسُفَ عِندَ مَتَاعِنَا فَأَكَلَهُ الذِّئْبُ وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ لَّنَا وَلَوْ كُنَّا صَادِقِينَ

They said: “Oh our father! We went racing with one another and left Yusuf (Joseph) with our belongings, and a wolf devoured him, but you will never believe us even when we speak the truth.”

[Sūrah Yūsuf (12) Verse 17]

As their father expressed his fear when they sought his permission to take Yūsuf out, they precisely used the statement as an excuse before him i.e., “a wolf devoured him.” To further lessen the impact of the sad news they are sharing with their fathers, they said: “But you will never believe us even when we speak the truth.” This is like saying, “It's pointless trying to prove our sincerity or that you have no reason to believe us since you suspected us and even feared that a wolf might devour Yūsuf and that is what happened.

To support their false claim, they produced a blood-stained shirt. Imām Ibn Kathīr (Raḥimahullāh) said according to Mujahid, As-Suddi, and several other scholars, they slaughtered a sheep and stained Yūsuf’s shirt with its blood. They claimed it was his shirt, but they forgot to tear it (to indeed justify their claim), and that was why Prophet Ya’qūb (‘Alayhi Salām) did not believe them. After all, a wolf can't devour a person without tearing his clothes. So, it was an obvious lie! Refusing their false claim, Allāh says:

قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ

He (i.e. their father) said: “Nay, but yourselves have made up a tale. So (for me) patience is most fitting. And it is Allāh (Alone) Whose Help can be sought against that which you assert.”

[Sūrah Yūsuf (12) Verse 18]

I beseech Allāh to grant us patience at times of distress.