Our master Ya^qub (Jacob), peace be upon him, dearly loved his two sons, Yusuf and Binyamin (Joseph and Benjamin), because of the merits and good traits they had, such as good manners. This caused jealousy among their older brothers, and was the reason that Yusuf was inflicted with severe hardship; as a result of his patience in dealing with it, he gained a high status.
The garment in Prophet Yusuf’s story was mentioned for the first time when his brothers took him with them to the wilderness, after promising their father to take good care of him. Once they were in the forest, they took his garment off and threw him into the well, indifferent to his tears and cries for help. Then they slaughtered a sheep and smeared Prophet Yusuf’s garment with its blood. When they went to their father, Prophet Ya^qub, claiming that a wolf had eaten their brother, he knew that they had done a hideous thing to Yusuf and he said, “You lie. If a wolf had eaten him, his garment would’ve been ripped.” They had no response to this and were silenced.
Three days later, a passing caravan rescued Yusuf and took him to Egypt. There he was raised in the palace of Al-^Aziz, the ruler of Egypt.
As a young man, Yusuf was complete in beauty, with a radiant face and good build. Al-^Aziz’s wife wanted to commit adultery with Yusuf and threw herself at him. He, of course, refused because he was protected by Allah from committing major sins and small demeaning sins, as all other prophets were. He said, “I seek refuge with Allah from that.” Then he turned to leave, but Al-^Aziz’s wife followed him and grabbed his garment, which tore in her hands. As he reached the door, they found al-^Aziz standing there furious. Al-^Aziz’s wife blamed Yusuf, accusing him of wanting to rape her. Allah enabled prophet Yusuf to remain firm and collected. He said, “She attempted to seduce me.”
A baby in a cot related to al-^Aziz’s wife was present and Allah gave him the ability to speak, as proof of Prophet Yusuf’s innocence. The baby said, “Look at the garment, if it is ripped from the front then Yusuf is the one who attacked her and she was defending herself. If however, the garment is ripped from the back, then he is truthful and she is the liar.” When they examined the garment, they found that it was ripped from the back and it became clear that Prophet Yusuf was speaking the truth, and his innocence and chastity were upheld. This did not discourage al-^Aziz’s wife and she gave him a choice between committing adultery with her, thus disobeying Allah, or going to prison. He chose going to prison. Consequently, he was jailed unjustly without committing a sin or a crime. Allah endowed Prophet Yusuf with the ability to interpret dreams. When he was told that the king saw a frightening dream, he interpreted it precisely.
This delighted the king and raised Prophet Yusuf’s standing with him so he appointed him Treasurer of Egypt, after releasing him from prison. By this time al-^Aziz’s wife had admitted that she was the one who had wanted to commit adultery with Yusuf and not the other way around.
After many years of prosperity, came years of drought. However, the people of Egypt did not feel the hardship of the drought. Meanwhile, the neighboring countries such as Palestine, were suffering, starving, and experiencing hardships.
The mercy, justice, and fairness of Yusuf, who was in charge of the food banks, became widespread, and Ya^qub sent his sons with money to Egypt to bring back food.
When they reached Egypt, Yusuf recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him. He did not get even with them by treating them badly because he was among the Prophets of Allah who are attributed with refined manners and good conduct. He introduced himself to them, treated them well, and made du^a (supplication) for them. Then prophet Yusuf , who is guided by Allah, told them, “I will not shame you or scorn you or blame you for what you have done, rather I forgive you by Allah’s will.” They repented to Allah and he gave them what they needed. Then Yusuf found out that his father, Prophet Ya^qub, was blinded due to the tears of sorrow he had shed over losing him.
Now we go further back in time to when an-Namrud (the name given to the king of Egypt) threw Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) into the fire. Angel Jibril (Gabriel) had brought him a garment and a cushion from Paradise. Prophet Ibrahim wore the garment and sat on the cushion and did not bun.
Afterwards, he gave the garment to his son, Prophet Ishaq (Isaac), who later gave it to his son, Prophet Ya^qub. Prophet Ya^qub then put the garment in a tube-like container made of silver and hung it around Yusuf’s neck. He sought the blessings from it because he feared that Yusuf would be inflicted with the evil eye. The garment carried the scent of Paradise and if one who was afflicted with sickness or disability touched it, they would be cured by the will of Allah. Yusuf sent this garment with his brothers and asked them to place it on their father’s eyes so that he would be cured of his blindness, by the Will of Allah.
One of Yusuf’s brothers, Yahutha, said, “I am the one that brought sorrow to my father Ya^qub by carrying the garment that caused him distress, today I will carry the garment that will cure him.” He carried back the garment, walking barefoot with his head hanging low in shame and his brothers walking behind him. When their caravan left Egypt, Ya^qub was in Kan^an, Palestine with his grandchildren around him. Suddenly he felt great joy in his heart and a wonderful feeling overtook him. It was a feeling that reminded him of a time years ago when he would see the smile on his son Yusuf’s face as he played in front of him. He said, “It’s as if I smell the scent of Yusuf.” The wind had carried Yusuf’s scent to Prophet Ya^qub, even though the caravan was still eight days away.
It was narrated that the day before the caravan arrived ^Izrael, the Angel of Death, asked Allah for permission to visit Ya^qub, and was granted that permission. When ^Izrael came to Ya^qub, Ya^qub asked him, “Oh Angel of Death, by the One who created you, did you take the soul of my son Yusuf?” ^Izrael said, “No, but I will teach you certain words, that if used when making supplication to Allah, your supplication will be granted.”
The meaning of the words were: Say “Oh Allah, the one whose endowments do not cease, nor can be counted, oh Allah ease my worries.” That night Prophet Ya^qub said this du^a (supplication) and by the time Fajr (dawn) set, the caravan had arrived.
Yahutha came forward carrying Yusuf’s garment, and placed it on Prophet Ya^qub’s face, when an amazing miracle occurred, Ya^qub’s vision returned and he could now see again.
Then Prophet Ya^qub, his wife, children, grandchildren and tribe accompanied him to Egypt to meet Prophet Yusuf and live with him. When they entered Egypt they numbered only 72. Allah blessed them and they grew in number until they reached 600,000 people, at which time Prophet Musa came to save them from the Pharaoh and his army.
