Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 20 (“Joseph”)

Thus far in the Qur’an we have encountered the stories of the prophets Adam, Noah, Hud, Salih, Abraham, Jacob, Shu’ayb, Moses and of Isa’s mother, Mary. Today we hear about the story of Joseph the patriarch, the one whom the Bible describes as having a “coat of many colours”:

Surah 12 – “Joseph” (Yusuf)
We open with the affirmation that the Qur’an is a “clear Book”. There is also the assertion by Allah that He is revealing “the best of stories” to Muhammad, about which he was previously unfamiliar. This seems to me to me an unlikely claim, given that Muhammad would have certainly had contact with Jews while he was a merchant trader.

We are then treated to the Islamic version of the story of the Patriach Joseph. Joseph tells his father about his dream where the sun, moon and stars bowed down to him. Jacob tells Joseph not to share this dream with his brothers, for fear they will plot against him.

(Although I’ve questioned previously whether the author of the Qur’an knew Isaac was the father of Jacob, this chapter does appear to recognize that correct relationship when Jacob is quoted as saying “[Allah will] complete His favour upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He completed it upon your fathers before, Abraham and Isaac”)

Joseph is sent out with his brother, but they throw him down a well. The brothers return to their father and tell him that Joseph was eaten by a wolf while they were off racing each other. They present to their father his shirt soaked with blood. There is a footnote which says it was soaked “with the blood of a lamb but had forgotten to tear it, thereby arousing their father’s suspicion”. In Genesis, we are told that it is the blood of a goat, rather than lamb, and we read nothing of Jacob’s suspicions.

In the Biblical narrative, Joseph is sold by his brothers to Midianites who then sell him on to Ishaemlites, but in the Qur’an’s telling of the story, Joseph is simply found at the bottom of the well by “a company of travellers” who then sell him “for a reduced price” to “one from Egypt”. In the Bible, this man is called “Potifar”, but in the Qur’an he’s called “al-‘Azeez”. This man then tells his wife that he mentions that they might “adopt him as a son”. I’m not sure why a high-ranking Egyptian would buy a slave and then immediately think about adopting him, but anyway…

The wife of al-‘Azeez attempts to seduce Joseph. Although he initially resists, we are told that he would have succumbed, had he not seen a sign from Allah (although we’re not told what this was). They both race for the door, but she tears his shirt from him, at which point they both meet her husband at the door. This scene seems to me to look more damning against Joseph than the Biblical account, where Joseph is not present when she presents Joseph’s torn garment to her husband.

Joseph protests his innocence. In the Qur’anic narrative, we now have the addition of another character, a member of the wife’s family. She says that if Joseph’s shirt is torn from the front, he is lying, but if from the back, it is Egyptian’s wife who lies. Joseph is vindicated and al-‘Azeez tells his wife to ask for forgiveness.

There then follows quite a comedic scene. The city’s women gossip about the wife of al-‘Azeez, so she decides to host a banquet and at the meal, she gives each of the women a knife. She then calls Joseph into the room. So distracted are the women by him, they accidentally cut their hands! “This is not a man” they proclaim, “this is none but a noble angel”!

In a rather odd move, al-‘Azzeez decides to imprison Joseph until the scandal is forgotten. This seems to be in line with Joseph’s desire, afraid that he “might be inclined toward them”. He prays to Allah, saying that “prison is more to my liking than to which they invite me”.

Joseph goes to prison. There he meets two men who describe (in abbreviated form) the dreams we recorded in the Bible: one is pressing wine and the other is carrying bread on his head, from which birds eat. Before giving them an interpretation, Joseph preaches Islam to them, telling them to worship Allah alone. Joseph then tells one prisoner that he will soon give drink to his master, but that the other “will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head”, a rather more vividly gruesome interpretation than the one we find in the Bible. Joseph asks the one who will be set free to mention him to his master, but unfortunately “Satan made him forget”, meaning that Joseph remains in prison for many more years.

The king (interestingly, he’s not called “Pharaoh” in the text) then has the two dreams mentioned in the Bible:

• seven skinny cows eating the seven fat cows
• seven good ears of corn and seven bad ears

The former prisoner whom Joseph helped finally remembers him and goes to Joseph, asking for an interpretation. Once Pharaoh hears his interpretation, he calls Joseph before him. Joseph sends back a reply asking about his own case. The wife of al-‘Azeez confesses everything (and appears to express faith in Allah). Pharaoh promises to release Joseph and appoint him to a high position. Joseph asks to be put over the storehouses and everything goes well for him.

The brothers now arrive in Egypt looking for food. As in the Book of Genesis, Joseph recognizes them, but they do not recognize him. He gives them food, but demands that they bring Benjamin in future, otherwise he will give them no more supplies. Joseph tells his servants to put the brothers’ merchandise, which they brought to trade for food, back into their saddlebags, in the hope that they will soon return to Egypt to buy more food.

The brothers manage to convince their father to let them return to Egypt with Benjamin. Joseph then reveals himself to Benjamin, but it appears that the rest of the brothers remain in ignorance. In the Bible, all remain in ignorance until the end of the story.

Joseph funishes the brothers with supplies, but slips “[the gold measuring] bowl” (rather than the Bible’s “silver cup”) into Benjamin’s bag. As they leave, there is an exchange between “an announcer” and the brothers about the stolen bowl and it is agreed that if it is found among them, the one in whose bag it is found will become a slave. Naturally, it is found in Benjamin’s bag.

The brothers plead with Joseph to take one of them in Benjamin’s place. Ruben (“the eldest of them”) swears to stay in Egypt until his father frees him from the oath he swore to look after Benjamin or until Benjamin is released. In a side note, at this point, Joseph is addressed by his brothers as as “Azeez”, which is strange since this was the name used of Potifar.

Jacob is suspicious of his sons (“your souls have enticed you to something”) and, despite becoming blind, he expresses faith in God to return his sons (“Perhaps Allah will bring them to me all together”). He commissions the brothers to “go and find out about Joseph and his brother”.

The brothers return with goods to Egypt. They meet Joseph, but still don’t recognize him. Joseph then questions them about their long-lost brother and this raises their suspicions and they ask him if he is that brother. He then reveals himself to them, but does so charitably, saying, “No blame will there be upon you today. May Allah forgive you”.

Joseph gives his brothers his shirt and tells them to throw it over Jacob’s head, promising that it will restore his sight. As the caravan leaves Egypt and heads towards Jacob, the patriarch tells those around him that he can “smell” Joseph, but they don’t believe him. When the bearer of Joseph’s shirt arrives, it is cast over his face and Jacob’s sight returns. The brothers beg forgiveness from their father, who responds saying that he will ask for it from Allah.

Jacob then goes to Egypt and greeted by Joseph. The text speaks of Joseph’s “parents”, so I can only assume that the Islamic text assumes that Rachel is still alive, whereas in the Bible she died giving birth to Benjamin. The only alternative I can think of is that it means Jacob’s other wives.

We are told that Joseph’s parents “bowed to him in prostration”, which my footnote says is in “greeting and respect”. This was “was lawful until the time of Prophet Muhammad”. So it appears that this was a restriction which came with Muhammad’s version of Islam. Joseph explains to his father the dream which is related at the beginning of the chapter as it is now being fulfilled.

The surah closes by addressing Muhammad, talking about his desire for people to become Muslim, the fact that he asks for no payment for his message (like the prophets before him) and about the disbelief of the people. Finally, and rather ironically given the number of deviations we’ve seen from the Biblical text, we are told that the Qur’an is “a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things”.

Q1. Does ayah 3 assert that Muhammad didn’t know the stories of the Jewish patriarchs prior to the revelation of the Qur’an? That seems unlikely.

Q2. What’s the significancee that Joseph is sold “for a reduced price”? Is it just that the travellers didn’t think much of the boy?

Q3. Why would al-‘Azeez think to make Joseph his son upon first meeting?

Q4. As in Q 28:13, are “judgement and knowledge” the result of doing good or the gifts which enable one to do good?

Q5. What is “the proof” seen by Joseph which strengthens him not to sleep with the wife of al-‘Azeez?

Q6. Where do the Arabic names used in the Qur’an come from? Is it believed that these were the true names of the Biblical characters? 

Q7. Is there any significancee of the king being referred to as “king” rather than “Pharaoh”? Is it just to disambiguate between this Pharaoh and the evil one in the time of Moses?

Q8. What is the signifiance of Jacob’s request that his sons “do not enter from one gate but enter from different gates”?

Q9. My footnote says that “according to their law, a convicted thief was made a slave of the one from whom he had stolen”. Is this a reference to Israelite law?

Q10. What do the brothers mean when they said in ayah 77 “If he steals – a brother of his has stolen before”? Are they blaming themselves for setting a bad example? Or are they linking it to the “stealing” of Joseph from Jacob?

Q11. Is “Azeez” a title rather than a proper name? It is used both for Potifar and for Joseph.

Q12. How does Jacob “find the smell of Joseph” prior to the shirt coming to him? Is he meant to have smelt it from a distance, when the caravan begins to head his way? Is this a miracle?

Q13. Does ayah 99 assume that Rachel is still alive? Or is it speaking of Jacob’s other wives?

This was certainly one of the more enjoyable texts of the Qur’an, containing much more narrative than we’re used to.

However, I’ve realized one of the things that makes reading the Qur’an difficult is the absence of pericopes. Pericopes are the divisions you see in most modern Bibles, each of which is titled with a summary of what happens in that section (eg. “The Dreams of Two Prisoners”, “Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream” etc.). These allow the reader to see the shape of the narrative and easily distinguish the different events. I’ve noticed that I effectively create these in my Qur’an by putting titles in the margin next to each event.

The Qur’anic text does not have these divisions or titles. Instead, all the verses in a chapter appear one after another without distinction. My guess is that such divisions are not introduced so as to preserve the perceived purity of the text, which is a shame, since I think it’d make it easier to read.

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