Yusuf (peace be upon him), known in English as Joseph, was a prophet and the son of a prophet, Ya'qub (Jacob). A whole chapter of the Qur'an, Surah Yusuf, tells his story from beginning to end. The Qur'an calls it "the most beautiful of stories". Qur’an 12:3
It is a story of jealousy and patience, of a young man who stayed pure when he was tempted, and of forgiveness. Above all, it shows that Allah's (﷾) plan comes true, even when the road to it is hard. This guide follows what the Qur'an says, with a few authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).
At a glance
- As a boy he dreamed that eleven stars, the sun and the moon bowed down to him.
- His jealous brothers threw him into a well, and he was sold in Egypt.
- Tempted by the wife of the man who had bought him, he refused, and chose prison over sin.
- In prison he called his fellow prisoners to worship Allah (﷾) alone.
- He explained the king's dream, was cleared of every charge, and was put in charge of Egypt's storehouses.
- When his brothers came to him in need, he forgave them, and his dream came true.
- The dream
Yusuf sees eleven stars, the sun and the moon bowing to him. His father tells him to keep it to himself. Qur’an 12:4Qur’an 12:5
- The well
His brothers throw him into a well and tell their father a wolf ate him. Qur’an 12:15Qur’an 12:17
- Egypt
Travellers find him and he is sold in Egypt, where a high official takes him into his home. Qur’an 12:19Qur’an 12:21
- The test
He refuses the official's wife, and chooses prison over sin. Qur’an 12:23Qur’an 12:33
- Prison
He calls two fellow prisoners to the One God (﷾) and explains their dreams. Qur’an 12:39Qur’an 12:41
- The king's dream
He explains the king's dream: seven years of plenty, then seven hard years. Qur’an 12:43Qur’an 12:47
- Honour
His innocence is declared, and he is put in charge of the storehouses of the land. Qur’an 12:51Qur’an 12:55
- The brothers
His brothers come for food. He knows them, but they do not know him. Qur’an 12:58
- Forgiveness
He tells them who he is and forgives them. His father's sight returns, and the family comes together in Egypt. Qur’an 12:92Qur’an 12:96Qur’an 12:100
The Qur'an gives no dates for Yusuf's life, so these are the stages of his story.
A boy's dream
The story begins with a dream. Young Yusuf told his father what he had seen:
O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!
Ya'qub saw that it was a true dream. He told his son not to tell his brothers, in case they plotted against him, because Satan is an open enemy to people. Allah (﷾), he said, would choose Yusuf, teach him the meaning of events, and complete His favour on him. He had done this for his forefathers Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ishaq (Isaac). Qur’an 12:5Qur’an 12:6What does Islam say about dreams, and about seeing the Prophet (ﷺ) in one?
The Prophet (ﷺ) called Yusuf the noble son of a noble father, son of a noble father, son of a noble father. He was Yusuf, son of Ya'qub, son of Ishaq, son of Ibrahim. Four generations of prophets. Sahih al-Bukhari 3382
Jealousy, and the well
Yusuf's older brothers saw that their father loved Yusuf and his younger brother more than them, and jealousy took hold of them. Some wanted to kill him. One said: do not kill him; throw him into a well, and travellers will pick him up. Qur’an 12:8Qur’an 12:9Qur’an 12:10
They persuaded their father to let Yusuf go out with them, and threw him into the well. There, alone in the dark, Allah (﷾) comforted him. One day he would tell his brothers what they had done, when they would not know who he was. Qur’an 12:11Qur’an 12:12Qur’an 12:15
That night they came home weeping. They said a wolf had eaten Yusuf, and showed his shirt, stained with false blood. Ya'qub did not believe them. He said: Qur’an 12:16Qur’an 12:17
patience is most fitting: Against that which ye assert, it is Allah (alone) Whose help can be sought
Travellers came to the well, let down a bucket, and found the boy. He was sold in Egypt for a small price, a few coins. The man who bought him was a high official, whom the Qur'an calls al-Aziz, "the great one". He told his wife to treat the boy with honour: perhaps they would adopt him as a son. Qur’an 12:19Qur’an 12:20Qur’an 12:21
His brothers had meant to get rid of him. Instead, Allah (﷾) gave him a home in Egypt. The Qur'an says:
And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs; but most among mankind know it not.
Tested, and kept pure
Yusuf grew into a man, and Allah (﷾) gave him wisdom and knowledge. Then came a hard test. The official's wife tried to tempt him. She closed the doors and called him to her. Yusuf refused at once: Qur’an 12:22
Allah forbid! truly (thy husband) is my lord! he made my sojourn agreeable! truly to no good come those who do wrong!
He would not betray Allah (﷾), or the man who had been good to him. The Qur'an says that Allah (﷾) turned evil away from him, because he was one of Allah's (﷾) sincere, chosen servants. Qur’an 12:24Were the prophets sinless?
He ran for the door. She caught his shirt and tore it from behind, and at the door they met her husband. She accused Yusuf; Yusuf said she had tempted him. Then someone from her own family gave a fair test. If the shirt was torn at the front, she was telling the truth. If it was torn at the back, he was. It was torn at the back. Her husband saw that Yusuf was innocent, and told his wife to ask forgiveness. Qur’an 12:25Qur’an 12:26Qur’an 12:27Qur’an 12:28Qur’an 12:29
But the story spread through the city, and the pressure on Yusuf grew. He prayed: Qur’an 12:30Qur’an 12:32
O my Lord! the prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me
Allah (﷾) answered him and kept him safe. Even so, the men in charge put him in prison for a time. An innocent man went to prison because he would not sin. Qur’an 12:34Qur’an 12:35
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that on the Day of Judgment Allah (﷾) will shade seven kinds of people, when there is no other shade. One is a man called to sin by a woman of rank and beauty, who answers: "I fear Allah." Sahih al-Bukhari 660
A caller to Allah (﷾) in prison
Two young men went into prison with him. Each had a dream, and asked Yusuf what it meant. Before he answered, Yusuf told them what mattered most: he followed the faith of Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya'qub, who never set up partners with Allah (﷾). Then he asked them: Qur’an 12:36Qur’an 12:37Qur’an 12:38
O my two companions of the prison! (I ask you): are many lords differing among themselves better, or the One Allah, Supreme and Irresistible?
The idols they worshipped, he said, were only names that people had made up:
the command is for none but Allah: He hath commanded that ye worship none but Him: that is the right religion
This is tawhid: the belief that Allah (﷾) is One, and that worship belongs to Him alone. Yusuf was in prison for no crime, yet his first thought was to call others to the truth. Then he explained their dreams: one would go free and serve his master again; the other would be put to death. He asked the first to mention him to the king, but Satan made the man forget, and Yusuf stayed in prison a few more years. Qur’an 12:41Qur’an 12:42
The king's dream
Then the king of Egypt dreamed of seven fat cows eaten by seven thin ones, and seven green ears of corn beside seven dry ones. His advisers could not explain it. Now the freed prisoner remembered Yusuf. Qur’an 12:43Qur’an 12:44Qur’an 12:45
Yusuf answered at once, without first asking to be set free. He explained the dream and gave a plan. First would come seven good years, in which they should store most of the grain in the ear, still on the stalk. Then would come seven hard years, which would use up the store. Then there would be a year of rain and relief. Qur’an 12:46Qur’an 12:47Qur’an 12:48Qur’an 12:49
Cleared, and trusted with the land
The king sent for Yusuf. But Yusuf would not leave prison until his name was cleared. He asked the king to look into what the women of the city had done. The women said they knew no evil of him. Then the official's wife spoke in front of everyone: Qur’an 12:50Qur’an 12:51
Now is the truth manifest (to all): it was I who sought to seduce him from his (true) self: He is indeed of those who are (ever) true (and virtuous).
The Prophet (ﷺ) spoke humbly. He said that if he had stayed in prison as long as Yusuf did, he would have accepted the call to come out. Such was Yusuf's patience. Sahih al-Bukhari 3372
The king gave Yusuf a high and trusted place at his side. Yusuf offered to take on the work he knew he could do well: Qur’an 12:54
Set me over the store-houses of the land: I will indeed guard them, as one that knows (their importance).
So the boy thrown into a well now looked after the food of a whole country, through the good years and the hard ones. Allah (﷾) never lets the reward of those who do good be lost, and the reward of the next life is better still. Qur’an 12:56Qur’an 12:57The future for Muslims
The brothers, and forgiveness
The hard years came, and people came to Egypt for food. Among them were Yusuf's brothers. He knew them, but they did not know him. He gave them grain, and asked them to bring their other brother from the same father next time. The Qur'an does not name him; Muslims know him as Binyamin (Benjamin). Qur’an 12:58Qur’an 12:59Qur’an 12:60
Ya'qub was afraid to let him go, after what had happened to Yusuf, but he put his trust in Allah (﷾). In Egypt, Yusuf told his brother in secret who he was, and told him not to grieve. Then, by a plan that Allah (﷾) gave him, Yusuf kept his brother with him, and the brothers went home without him. Qur’an 12:64Qur’an 12:67Qur’an 12:69Qur’an 12:76
Now Ya'qub had lost Yusuf's brother too. Again he said that patience was most fitting. He grieved for Yusuf until his eyes turned white with sorrow, yet he took his grief to Allah (﷾) alone. He told his sons: Qur’an 12:83Qur’an 12:84Qur’an 12:86Is grieving or crying over a loss a lack of faith?
never give up hope of Allah's Soothing Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah's Soothing Mercy, except those who have no faith.
"This day let no reproach be on you"
The brothers came back to Egypt in hardship. Then Yusuf asked if they knew what they had done to Yusuf and his brother. Stunned, they asked if he was really Yusuf. He said he was, and that Allah (﷾) never lets the reward of the patient and the good be lost. His brothers admitted their wrong. Yusuf had power over them now, and he used it to forgive: Qur’an 12:88Qur’an 12:89Qur’an 12:90Qur’an 12:91
This day let no reproach be (cast) on you: Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!
He sent his shirt to be laid over his father's face. When it reached Ya'qub, his sight came back. A shirt with false blood had once brought him grief; now a shirt brought him joy. Qur’an 12:93Qur’an 12:94Qur’an 12:96
The dream comes true
The whole family came to Egypt. Yusuf raised his parents to a seat of honour. They all bowed before him, as the eleven stars, the sun and the moon had in his dream. Yusuf said: Qur’an 12:99Qur’an 12:100
O my father! this is the fulfilment of my vision of old! Allah hath made it come true!
It was a bow of greeting and honour, not worship. In the message brought by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), prostration, bowing down with the forehead on the ground, is for Allah (﷾) alone. The Qur'an says not to prostrate to the sun or the moon, but to Allah (﷾) who created them. Qur’an 41:37
Even then, Yusuf did not blame his brothers. He thanked Allah (﷾) for bringing him out of prison and bringing his family to him, "after Satan had sown enmity between me and my brothers". And he prayed that Allah (﷾) would take his soul as a Muslim, one who submits to Him, and join him with the righteous. Qur’an 12:100Qur’an 12:101
How the Bible tells it differently
The Bible tells Joseph's story in the book of Genesis, chapters 37 to 50. Much of it is the same. Muslims believe that Allah (﷾) revealed the Torah to Musa, and the Injil to Isa: the Gospel Jesus himself preached in his lifetime. The Injil is not the New Testament. The four New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were written by others, decades after Jesus was raised up. None of them names its author: the names were attached later. And the Torah we have today is not exactly as it was revealed. So where the Bible tells a story just as the Qur'an does, we believe it. Where it differs from the Qur'an or contradicts it, we do not. Where the Qur'an says nothing, we neither believe it nor deny it, as the Prophet (ﷺ) taught. Here are some of the differences. Qur’an 5:48Qur’an 5:46Which of the four Gospels did Jesus preach from?Who wrote the Gospels?Sahih al-Bukhari 4485How should a Muslim read the Bible?
The dream. In Genesis, Joseph tells his dream of the sun, the moon and eleven stars to his brothers and his father, and his father rebukes him. In the Qur'an, he tells his father, who tells him not to tell his brothers, and gives him good news. Genesis 37:9–10 (KJV)Qur’an 12:4Qur’an 12:5Qur’an 12:6
The father. In Genesis, Jacob takes the bloodied coat as proof that a wild animal has torn Joseph to pieces, and refuses to be comforted. In the Qur'an, Ya'qub does not believe his sons' story, and chooses patience. In Genesis, Jacob's spirit revives when he sees the wagons Joseph has sent. Genesis does not say that grief took his sight, and there is no shirt that brings it back. Genesis 37:33–35 (KJV)Genesis 45:27 (KJV)Qur’an 12:18Qur’an 12:96
The accusation. In Genesis, Joseph flees and leaves his garment in the hand of his master's wife. She keeps it and uses it to accuse him, and his master, angry, puts him in prison. Genesis has no test of a torn shirt and no confession. In the Qur'an, the shirt torn at the back shows he is telling the truth, and later she admits openly that he is innocent. Genesis 39:12–20 (KJV)Qur’an 12:26–28Qur’an 12:51
Prison. In Genesis, Joseph tells the two prisoners that interpretations belong to God (﷾). In the Qur'an, he first calls them to leave their idols and worship Allah (﷾) alone. Genesis 40:8 (KJV)Qur’an 12:39–40
Leaving prison. In Genesis, Pharaoh sends for Joseph, and he is brought out of the dungeon in haste. In the Qur'an, the ruler is called "the king", and Yusuf will not leave until his innocence is declared. Genesis 41:14 (KJV)Qur’an 12:50–51Why does the Qur'an call Joseph's ruler 'King' but Moses' ruler 'Pharaoh'?
What we can learn
Patience, purity and forgiveness win in the end, because Allah's (﷾) plan comes true even when the road is hard.
- Be patient, and complain only to Allah (﷾). Ya'qub lost his sons, and Yusuf lost his home and his freedom. Ya'qub held on to "patience is most fitting", Yusuf stayed patient through every trial, and both were rewarded. Qur’an 12:18Qur’an 12:86Qur’an 12:90
- Stay pure, whatever it costs. Yusuf chose prison over sin. Allah (﷾) kept him safe, and later cleared his name before everyone.
- Forgive when you have the power not to. Yusuf could have punished his brothers. Instead he said: "This day let no reproach be on you."
- Trust Allah's (﷾) plan. The well, the sale and the prison all led to honour and a family made whole. Allah (﷾) is in control, even when we cannot see how.
- Call to the One God (﷾) wherever you are. Even in prison, Yusuf spoke first about worshipping Allah (﷾) alone.
The Qur'an says this story is not a tale someone invented. It came to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) by revelation, about events he never saw, as guidance and mercy for anyone who believes. Qur’an 12:102Qur’an 12:111Did Muhammad (ﷺ) copy the Qur'an from the Bible?