150. Allah mentions people’s failure to ponder over the signs of Allah’s oneness in what He created in the heavens and the earth: fixed shining stars, planets in circular movement, and all that has been made subservient to natural laws. And how many signs are not there in the earth of fertile plots (of different kinds) next to each other, gardens and orchards, mountains pitched into the earth, brimming oceans, waves rising one over another, and vast deserts?! And how many of the living and the lifeless are not there to ponder over: animals and plants, fruits similar but dissimilar in taste, smell, color and qualities?! Glory then to Allah, the One, the Creator of varieties, Himself One, endowed with permanent qualities of Uniqueness in Name and Attributes (Ibn Kathir).

151. Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah and others have said that the meaning is: when the people are asked about who created the heavens and the earth, their own souls, and who sustains the created world, they reply with no hesitation that it is Allah. But, within the same breath they declare partners to Him in His Divinity and have no qualms in prostrating themselves before other than Him. Ibn Zayd has turned it around and said that there is no pagan, no one who associates with Allah, but is also a believer in Allah. Note the words of the Arab pagans who used to call out during Hajj,

لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ , لَبَّيْكَ لا شَرِيكَ لَكَ إِلا شَرِيكا هُوَ لَكَ تَمْلِكُهُ وَمَا مَلَكَ

“Here we are O our Lord, here we are. You have no associates but the associate You wish: possessing him and what he possesses” (Ibn Jarir).

The report about the pagan Arabs is in the Sahihayn (Ibn Kathir).

Majid comments: “The description covers not only the open idolatry of the polytheistic peoples but also its veiled forms such as Christolatry, Mariolatry, the worship of heroes, the adoration of saints and the deification of Reason.”

Ibn Kathir offers the following: According to a report in the Sahihayn, someone asked the Prophet,

أَىُّ الذَّنْبِ أَكْبَرُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَدْعُوَ لِلَّهِ نِدًّا وَهُوَ خَلَقَكَ

“Which is the greatest of sins?” He answered, “That you suggest an equal to Allah, while He alone created you.”

Of association (shirk) there are some varieties that a man commits unknowingly. It is reported that Hudhayfah visited a man and found him wearing a string in his hand. He ripped it off and recited this verse, “And most of them believe not in Allah but associate (others with Him).” According to a report in Ahmad, Abu Da’ud and others, the Prophet (saws) said,

إِنَّ الرُّقَى وَالتَّمَائِمَ وَالتِّوَلَةَ شِرْكٌ

“Charms, amulets, and spells (for causing increase in love between husband and wife) are all acts of association.” According to another report,

الطِّيَرَةُ شِرْكٌ وَمَا مِنَّا إِلَّا وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُذْهِبُهُ بِالتَّوَكُّلِ

“Drawing omen is Association. However, there is none of us but affected by it except that Allah drives it away by the trust in Him.”

Yet another report preserved by Ahmad tells us that once ‘Abdullah ibn Mas`ud’s wife was getting herself treated by an old woman for fever. As Ibn Mas`ud cleared his throat, she hid the woman who was blowing the charm on her, under the bed. Ibn Mas`ud saw a thread around her neck and inquired what it was. She told him it was for reducing fever. He broke it off and said, “`Abdullah’s family members have nothing to do with shirk.” She protested, “Whenever I suffered sore of eye, I went to a Jew who blew a charm and I felt relieved.” He replied, “That was from Shaytan. He used to prick you in the eye, and when the charm was read, he ceased. It would have been sufficient for you to say, as taught us by the Prophet:

اللهمّ أَذْهِبِ البَأسَ رَبّ النّاسِ، وَاشْفِ أنْتَ الشّافِي لاَ شِفَاءَ إِلاّ شِفَاؤُكَ شِفَاءً لاَ يُغَادِرُ سَقَماً". .

“O Allah, remove the affliction, O Lord of the people, relieve me, You are the Curer. There is no cure but Your cure, a cure that does not leave an affliction behind.”

The version above is from Tirmidhi on the authority of `Ali who said that the Prophet used to say these words whenever unwell. He declared it of Hasan status. However, there are other versions coming through others. One, for instance, on the authority of Anas was declared Sahih by Abu Zur`ah, as in Tirmidhi (Au.).

According to another report in Ahmad, once ‘Isa b. ‘Abdul Rahman visited ‘Abdullah b. ‘Ukaym in his sickness. He suggested, “If you would only tie (something to yourself!).” He replied, “Should I tie something!? I have heard the Prophet say,

مَنْ تَعَلَّقَ شَيْئًا وُكِلَ إِلَيْهِ

'Whoever hung a thing is left to hang by it.’”

Another report in Ahmad said,

مَنْ عَلَّقَ تَمِيمَةً فَقَدْ أَشْرَكَ

“Whoever hung an amulet committed association.”

Association takes other forms. One of them is to do something to please others. Muslim reports that the Prophet said,

أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلاً أَشْرَكَ فِيهِ مَعِى غَيْرِى تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ

“Allah says, ‘I am the least in need of a partner. If someone did a thing in which he associated others with Me, I relinquish both the deed as well as the associate.”

To be sure, there is a kind of shirk known as ‘show off’ (riya’). The Prophet said in a hadith of Ahmad,

إِنَّ أَخْوَفَ مَا أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمُ الشِّرْكُ الأَصْغَرُ ، قَالُوا : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، وَمَا الشِّرْكُ الأَصْغَرُ ؟ قَالَ : الرِّيَاءُ ، يُقَالُ لِمَنْ يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ إِذَا جَاءَ النَّاسُ بِأَعْمَالِهِمْ : اذْهَبُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ كُنْتُمْ تُرَاءُونَ فَاطْلُبُوا ذَلِكَ عِنْدَهُمْ

“The most that I fear for you is minor association.” They asked, “What is minor association?” He replied, “It is to (do a good thing intending to) show off.”

Arna’ut’s opinion is that except for a minor problem, the hadith is trustworthy (Au.).

Finally, there is that invisible association. It is reported as a hadith of Ahmad, which Haythami said was trusted by Ibn Hibban,

"أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا الشِّرْكَ، فَإِنَّهُ أَخْفَى مِنْ دَبِيبِ النَّمْلِ"، فَقَالَ: مَنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَقُولَ: وَكَيْفَ نَتَّقِيهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، وَهُوَ أَخْفَى مِنْ دَبِيبِ النَّمْلِ؟ قَالَ:"قُولُوا: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَعُوذُ بِكَ أَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِكَ شَيْئًا تَعْلَمُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ لِمَا لا نَعْلَمُ" (رواه أحمد والطبراني في الكبير والأوسط ورجال أحمد رجال الصحيح غير أبي علي ووثقه ابن حبان).

“People, be on guard against association, for it is less visible than an ant's crawling.” Someone asked, “So, how are we to avoid it when it is less visible than the crawl of an ant, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Say, ‘O Allah we seek Your protection that we should associate aught with You that we know of, and seek Your forgiveness for what we have no knowledge of’” (Ibn Kathir).

We have taken the text from Haythami which is slightly different from what it is in Ibn Kathir (Au.).

Alusi adds that the verse also covers the grave-worshipers who believe in their power to deliver good and evil and who are, ‘in our times more in number than insects.’ He also mentions (in Bab al-Ishara: Thanwi) that according to the Sufiya, to turn even as much as one’s attention to other than Allah is a kind of Association.

With regard to charms and amulets, one might see Surah 17 note 137 of this work for discussion over what kind of them are allowable in Islam (Au.).

Yusuf Ali expands: “Even if people profess a nominal faith in Allah, they corrupt it by believing in other things as if they were Allah’s partners, or had some share in the shaping of the world’s destinies! In some circles, it is idolatry, the worship of stocks and stones. In others, it is Christolatry and Mariolatry, or the deification of heroes and men of renown. In others it is powers of Nature or of Life, or of the human intellect personified in Science or Art or invention, and this is more common form of modern idolatry. Others again worship mystery, or imaginary powers of good or evil: greed and fear are mixed up with these forms of worship. Islam calls us to worship Allah, the One True God, and Him only.”

152. Commenting on the textual expression “‘ala basiratin”, Muhammad Asad writes: “Thus the ‘the call to God’ enunciated by the Prophet is described here as the outcome of a conscious insight accessible to, and verified by man’s reason: a statement which circumscribes to perfection the Qur’anic approach to all questions of faith, ethics and morality, and is echoed many times in expressions like ‘so that you might use your reason’ (la`allakum ta`qilun), or ‘will you not, then, use your reason?’ (afala ta`qilun), or ‘so that they might understand [the truth]’ (la`allahum yafqahun), or ‘so that you might think’ (la`allakum tatafakkarun), and, finally, in the oft repeated declaration that the message of the Qur’an as such is meant specifically ‘for people who think’ (li-qawmin yatafakkarun).”

153. And not of the deserts. That is, Prophets were not raised among the desert-dwellers (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

Ibn Kathir adds: This verse has led the great majority of the scholars to the opinion that women have not been raised as prophets. However, a minority opinion is that, even if not prophets, some have been there who received some sort of revelation, such as, Sarah (Ibrahim’s wife), Musa’s mother and Maryam bint ‘Imran. They have cited the following verse in evidence (28: 7):

وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ [القصص : 7]

“We revealed unto Musa’s mother, ‘Feed him.’”

But Al-Ash`ari has stated the opinion of the Ahl al-Sunnah that there were “Siddiqaat” among them and not “nabiyyat.” In any case, Ibn `Abbas seems to have understood the verse in another light. He said that the thrust of the verse is that the Messengers that were raised were humans and not angels nor some other heavenly beings.

Following Thanwi’s understanding, the passage covering verses 102 to 109 could be paraphrased in the following manner: “This is of the tidings of the Unseen that We reveal unto you O Muhammad. You could not have written it yourself, because you were not by them when they were putting together their plan and were conspiring against Yusuf. Yet, most people - even if you wished eagerly - are not going to believe. In your case, for example, there is no good reason for their disbelief, seeing that you do not seek wages for it. This Qur’an is no more than a reminder unto all beings. Yet, if they reject, little wonder. After all, how many signs are not there in the heavens and the earth that they pass by, but they give them a blind eye? Further, the tragedy is that if they ever ponder and come to believe, most of them believe not in Allah without associating others with Him. Do they feel secure that the all-embracing punishment of Allah could descend on them? Or, the Hour should strike suddenly, while they are unaware? Faced with their obstinate blindness, say, ‘This is my path. I invite to Allah - with insight: I and those who follow me. And, glory to Allah, I am not of those who associate.’ They raise a new objection by way of rejection, saying, why an angel was not sent down with the message? Tell them, ‘We sent not Messengers before you but they were men, not angels, and were of the same towns as themselves.”

154. Shabbir offers an elaborate but useful explanation, “There could be two situations in which a Messenger lost hope. One, when one of them lost hope altogether about succor coming to him, or, about the situation changing towards the better. This is not the characteristic of even an ordinary believer, let alone a Messenger. In fact, a man turns an unbeliever if this happens to be his attitude. Another situation could be when one of them looked at various aspects of the situation he was in, and felt that apparently, there was no room for an immediate change. This second situation, in which many people find themselves, is more of the nature of reading a situation and determining the most likely future course, rather than the of loss of faith. This does not call for censure (slightly expanded).

155. The translation reflects the understanding of ‘ A’isha, Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id bin Jybayr, Dahhak, Ibn Zayd and several others of the Followers (tabe`iyyun) as in Tabari. That is, the Messengers lost hope int their people ever turning believers. On the other hand, their people began to suspect that their Messengers had lied to them when they had threatened them with destruction failing to believe. Ibn Jarir quotes some six different narrators, through six different chains of narration, reporting about Ibn `Abbas that this was his opinion.

However, he also quotes a second opinion of both Ibn Mas`ud as well as of Ibn `Abbas that it was the Messengers who thought that they were not told the truth (about when their disbelieving nations would be taken to task) - uttering that out of human weakness in situations of extreme disappointment. But when ‘A’isha was told about this second interpretation coming from Ibn `Abbas, she reacted it strongly saying, “Glory to Allah. No Messenger ever thought of such a thing. (Even an ordinary believer does not think of such a thing: Razi). Messengers knew very well that what Allah had informed them through revelation would come true before their death. Rather, it was the followers of the Messengers who began to suspect that they were not told the truth by their Messengers.” In fact, she used to recite the word as كُذِّبوا

(they [the Prophets] were rejected), and not as كُذِبوا (the [people] were told a lie) - Ibn Jarir.

`Ai’sha’s opinion is in Bukhari (Ibn Kathir).

156. “So this is,” Sayyid points out, “Allah’s Sunnah with regard to the mission brought by the Prophets: there can be no escape from hardships and inflictions until nothing of the strength and energy is left for expenditure. It is only when every apparent means to which people cling, and depend on, have disappeared, that succor comes, relieving those who deserve to be relieved, while others - the criminal minded, and the arrogant ones - have the destruction delivered on themselves, with no help and succor from any quarter.

“This, in order that help and succor from Allah does not become cheap and the mission and the Call treated lightly and taken up with ease. If this system of delayed retribution (during which trials and tribulations continue) was not in place, every false caller, who did not deserve to be a caller, would have stood up for the cause. But in Allah’s scheme the call to truth was not to be rendered a plaything. It is a lofty affair, that stands to transform lives of the people. It must be saved from false callers: those who cannot bear the hardships that accompany it. The false ones soon realize what it means to be in the field, and, usually, abandon it sooner than one would expect. Succor comes to those who remain on the tracks, without losing heart, despite their realization that after all, succor might not come from on high during their own lives.

“This call is not similar to any other trade that promises quick returns, so that, if one failed, he might direct his activities towards some other trade that promises quicker results. Accordingly, those who take up this call in the Jahiliyy environments, in those societies that do not submit to the religion of Allah in every facet of their existence, have to understand from the beginning that this is not an easy path. One must realize that he challenges the people of power, wealth and resources, who have already bent the masses to their ways, to the extent that their subjects see black as white and white as black; who are capable of setting those very masses against the callers by invoking them to fully indulge in their carnal pleasures and then assuring them that the callers are out to rob them of those pleasures. The callers therefore must remain assured that the Call is not going to be a cakewalk, that holding on to it in the face of opposition would mean great troubles and that the masses are not going to be - at least initially, with them. Rather, in every generation, only a few - those with potential for goodness - will break away from the rest and join them in their struggle, those few who give preference to the great spiritual pleasure that accompanies the Call. In every stage, the numbers that take up this Call, sincerely, persistently, will remain small. But, a day will arrive, after a long or short struggle, when Allah will intervene, send His succor, and the masses will enter His Religion en masse.”

157. Asad remarks, “i.e., everything that man may need for his spiritual welfare.”

158. Jewish and Christian scholars often allege that Prophet Muhammad took material from the Bible. Interestingly, most of them neither examine the Qur'an nor the Bible carefully. The commonality of a few incidents is enough for them to rush to the pre-conceived conclusion. They cite Joseph’s story as a good example, although it is a bad example. Joseph's story, as it runs in the Bible, runs through a good number of chapters in its first book, the famous Genesis.

It was hard to reproduce the whole of the Biblical account here for comparison, as it runs into, all in all, 14 pages. We present just the 37th chapter from verse 5 onwards, the whole of the 38th chapter and the first verse of the 39th chapter, with the relevant Qur’anic verses facing them. In other words, we have presented only about 15% of the Biblical version. In the Bible, the account goes on up to the 50th chapter covering Joseph’s life until his death. But the above should be enough for comparison.

“Gen: Ch. 37 - 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. 12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in She’-chem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in She’-chem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of He’-bron, and he came to She’-chem.

15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Do’-than. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Do’-than. 18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ish’-me-el-ites came from Gil’-e-ad with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ish’-me-el-ites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Mid’-i-an-ites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ish’-me-el-ites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? 31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36 And the Mid’-i-an-ites sold him into Egypt unto Pot’-i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

Ch. 38 AND it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain A-dul’-lam-ite, whose name was Hi’-rah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Ca’-naan-ite, whose name was Shu’-ah; and he took her, and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name O’-nan. 5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name She’-lah: and he was at Che’-zib, when she bare him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Ta’-mar. 7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. 8 And Judah said unto O’-nan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 9 And O’-nan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. 11 Then said Judah to Ta’-mar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till She’-jaj my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Ta’-mar went and dwelt in her father’s house. 12 And in process of time the daughter of Shu’-ah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up into his sheepshearers to Tim’-nath, he and his friend Hi’-rah the A-dul’-lam-ite. 13 And it was told Ta’-mar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Tim’-nath to shear his sheep.

14 And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Tim’-nath; for she saw that She’-lah was grown, and was not given unto him to wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the A-dul’-lam-ite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not. 21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. 24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Ta’-mar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whare these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. 26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to She’-lah my son. And he knew her again no more. 27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pha’-rez. 30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zar’-ah.

Ch. 39 AND Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Pot’-i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him off the hands of the Ish’-me-el-ites, which had brought him down thither.”

The following is the Qur’anic text for comparison:

[4] When Yusuf said to his father, ‘O my father. I have seen (in my dream) eleven planets, the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves before me.’ [5] He said, ‘O my son. Do not reveal this dream to your brothers, lest they devise against you some plot. Surely, Shaytan is man’s open enemy. [6] And that is how your Lord will choose you, teach you interpretation of the discourses and fulfill His favor upon you and upon the family of Ya`qub as He fulfilled it upon your fathers Ibrahim and Is-haq aforetime. Surely, your Lord is All-knowing, All-wise.’ [7] Surely, in Yusuf and his brothers there are signs for those who seek to know. [8] When they said (among themselves), `Surely, Yusuf and his brother14 are dearer to our father than we while we are a goodly body.15 Surely, our father is in a manifest error.

[9] Slay Yusuf or cast him into some (unknown) place so that your father’s favor is freed for you alone. Thereafter, you could become a righteous lot.’ [10] Said one of those who spoke, ‘Do not kill Yusuf. (Instead), cast him into the bottom of a well (from where) someone of the travelers might pick him up - if you must do (it).’ [11] They spoke to their father, ‘O our father! What is it with you that you do not trust us with Yusuf while we are his sincere well-wishers? [12] Send him with us tomorrow to frolic19 and play. We shall surely be watching over him.’ [13] He replied, ‘It saddens me to think that you should take him with you. (In addition) I fear a wolf might (snatch and) eat him off in your unawares.’ [14] They protested, ‘If a wolf should eat him off while we are a goodly body, then, surely we are the losers.’ [15] So, when they took him with them and agreed to place him in the bottom of a well, We revealed unto him that (one day) you will remind them of this their deed, while they would be unaware (of your identity).

[21] Said he who purchased him in Egypt to his wife, `Make his stay (with us) honorable. He may well be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son.’

A few errors may be noted in the above Biblical text: Firstly, at the time of the story, the terms Ish’-me-el-ites or Israelites, did not exist. The division and classification into Ish’-ma-el-ites or Israelites took place much later. Secondly, it is unthinkable that Joseph’s brothers should be able to recognize their immediate cousins, but their cousins should not be able to recognize them, or fail to recognize Joseph even when sold to them, nor that Joseph should fail to reveal his identity to them.

The objective of course of these kinds of tampering, here, as well as in several other parts of the Bible, was to create hatred for the sons of Isma`il, the Arabs.

Also note that by the time the story advanced, the interpolators forgot their own tampering. So that, it is stated in ch.37, verse 28 that the Mid’-i-an-ites sold Joseph to the Ish’-me-el-ites right near the well: “Then there passed by Mid’-i-an-ites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ish’-me-el-ites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.” But verse 36 of the same chapter says, “And the Mid’-i-an-ites sold him into Egypt unto Pot’-i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.” The 38th chapter should especially help in judging as to which of the two is better qualified to be a revelation: the Qur’an or the Bible? - Au.