"Fallahu khayrun hafizan wa huwa arhamur rahimin." Who made this prayer? Will you explain it with its meaning?
Submitted by on Thu, 17/01/2019 - 11:32
Dear Brother / Sister,
The statement in the question is mentioned in the Quran. This is a prayer of Hz. Yakub. The meanings of the verses regarding the issue are as follows:
Then came Joseph´s brethren: they entered his presence, and he knew them, but they knew him not.
And when he had furnished them forth with provisions (suitable) for them, he said: "Bring unto me a brother ye have, of the same father as yourselves, (but a different mother): see ye not that I pay out full measure, and that I do provide the best hospitality?"
"Now if ye bring him not to me, ye shall have no measure (of corn) from me, nor shall ye (even) come near me."
They said: "We shall certainly seek to get our wish about him from his father: Indeed we shall do it."
And (Joseph) told his servants to put their stock-in-trade (with which they had bartered) into their saddle-bags, so they should know it only when they returned to their people, in order that they might come back.
Now when they returned to their father, they said: "O our father! No more measure of grain shall we get (unless we take our brother): So send our brother with us, that we may get our measure; and we will indeed take every care of him."
He said: "Shall I trust you with him with any result other than when I trusted you with his brother aforetime? But Allah is the best to take care (of him), and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!"
Then when they opened their baggage, they found their stock-in-trade had been returned to them. They said: "O our father! What (more) can we desire? this our stock-in-trade has been returned to us: so we shall get (more) food for our family; We shall take care of our brother; and add (at the same time) a full camel´s load (of grain to our provisions). This is but a small quantity."
(Jacob) said: "Never will I send him with you until ye swear a solemn oath to me, in Allah´s name, that ye will be sure to bring him back to me unless ye are yourselves hemmed in (and made powerless). And when they had sworn their solemn oath, he said: "Over all that we say, be Allah the witness and guardian!" (Yusuf, 12/58-66)
Hz. Yakub gave an answer between no and yes when his children wanted Bunyamin. He said: Shall I trust you with him? That is, how can I trust you? It will the same as when I trusted you with his brother before. That is, this trust will not be a real trust. It will be like the trust of his brother.
In fact, this statement expresses both reproach and rejection. Hz. Yakub means the following:
“You know that I entrusted Yusuf to you before. What happened then? You had promised solemnly by saying, "We shall take every care of him." (Yusuf, 12) What did you do? Did you protect him? Can I trust you when you say about his brother, "We shall take every care of him"? Allah is the best to take care of him. He is the best guard. When He wants to guard, He will guard wherever he is, however He wants and in the best way. He will definitely keep him away from all kinds of dangers and protect him. Therefore, it is better to refer him to the protection of Allah. He is the most merciful of those who show mercy. It is expected from His mercy and generosity to protect him and not to inflict any harm upon him.” (see Elmalılı, Hak Dini, the interpretation of the verse in question)
Hz. Yakub entrusted Bunyamin to Allah first and said, “be Allah the witness and guardian.” Then, he made his sons promise in the name of Allah and said, “Allah is the Warden over what we say.” Thus, he expressed his full surrendering to the will of Allah Almighty. This surrendering and high wisdom of his became a means for Bunyamin’s safe and sound return and rejoicing his son Yusuf, whom he had longed for many years.
In that case, when we are worried that some bad things will happen to the people we love, the soundest and most reliable solution is to take necessary measures and to entrust them to Allah. As it is stated in the verse, Allah is the best to take care and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
The eleven brothers of Hz. Yusuf became so unperceptive as to kill their half-brother or to throw him into a well alive by being affected by their jealousy and ignorance caused by it and to tell a lie to their father, the Prophet Yaqub. They were under the command of their feelings and ignorance, not their mind and belief.
However, Allah does not allow those who have bad intentions to succeed in implementing their tricks and plans. He gives them some respite but He never neglects. One day, He makes them hoist with their own petard due to the divine justice.
This was the thing that happened to the brothers of Yusuf: They had to bow down in front of their brother, whom they were very jealous of. This state is definitely a law of Allah; when its time comes, He applies it. There is no power and strength to prevent it.
Thus, ignorance was defeated by knowledge, disgrace by virtue, and the wrong by the truth; whatever Allah abased was defeated by whatever He elevated.
This warning in the story aims to direct the thoughts and feelings of the Makkans first and then the deniers of every age and to remind them that history repeats itself. As a matter of fact, we know that the people of Makkah had to bow down before the truth.
Questions on Islam
- Prophet Yusuf [Joseph] (Peace be upon him)
- Surah 12. Yusuf (Joseph)
- Did Joseph (pbuh) set up a trap for his brothers?
- Was Hz. Yusuf sent only to teach his brothers?
- Is it not contrary to equality that Hz. Yaqub loved his son Hz. Yusuf more than his other sons?
- How did Hz. Yaqub manage to show so much patience? How did he manage to continue praying though Yusuf was eaten by a wolf?
- Prophet Yaqub [Jacob] (Peace be upon him)
- Will you give information about the pedigrees of prophets and their order of coming?
- Could you please give information about the law of fraternity?
- How many planets are there in the solar system?