Story of Yusuf

Joseph/Yusuf/Yosef is a prophet in the Abrahamic religions. For the purposes of this post I will use the name Yusuf as that is what I’m used to. Interestingly the essence of Yusuf’s story is not vastly different between the 3 religions.

He was the son of Jacob/Yaqub, one of several sons, but the favourite and so his brothers plotted to kill him, but they amended it to exiling him. This happened to him while he was a boy. He was sold into the slave market in Egypt, where he was bought for a nominal sum. Then he fell victim to the attempted seduction by a great man’s wife who, when her wish was foiled, sent him to prison, where he remained for some time. In spite of all of this, he at length approached close to the Egyptian throne and became the king’s chief minister. Eventually he found his brothers at his mercy and chose forgive.

So why do I recount this story? Well to my mind it seems that this is one which should be closely looked at by British Muslims and other Muslims in the West. The times that beset them are difficult. But if you look at this story, you should see one simple thing. That Yusuf integrated into the society in which he found himself. He became so much a part of it that he found himself in a position of authority. But once in that position, he did not then seek to abuse this power and take revenge on those who wronged him. He sought to forgive and move on. He got on with life and brought himself closer to his God.

More stories of the Quranic Prophets here.

More stories of the Biblical Prophets here.