How Did Yusuf’s Brothers React to Feeling Less Loved by Their Father?
كيف كان رد فعل إخوة يوسف لشعورهم بأن أباهم يحبه أكثر منهم؟
They conspired against him to keep him away from his father, by killing him or taking him away to a distant land. The brothers knew that what they were planning was a great sin, but they conspired against him anyway and vowed to repent afterwards, “and after that you will be righteous folk.” “When they said, ‘Truly, Yusuf and his brother are loved more by our father than we, but we are a strong group. Really, our father is in plain error. Kill Yusuf, or cast him out to some other land, so that the favour of your father may be given to you alone, and after that you will be righteous folk,’ by intending repentance before committing the sin. One from among them said, ‘Kill not Yusuf, but if you must do something, throw him down to the bottom of a well, he will be picked up by some caravan of travellers'” (Surah Yusuf 12:8-10). The lesson for parents is being just when dealing with children. And the lesson for the children is to know that parents do not have control over their hearts and feelings, as in the hadith, “This is my share of what I possess, so do not blame me for what I do not possess.”
تآمروا عليه ليبعدوه عن أبيه، عن طريق قتله أو تغييبه عن أبيه في أرض بعيدة. وكان الإخوة يعلمون أن ذلك ذنب عظيم، ولذلك تآمروا عليه وتعاهدوا على التوبة بعد ذلك: وَتَكُونُوا مِن بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ ﴿٩﴾. إِذْ قَالُوا لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿٨﴾ اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا مِن بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ ﴿٩﴾ قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِّنْهُمْ لَا تَقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ وَأَلْقُوهُ فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَةِ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ ﴿١٠﴾ (سورة يوسف: 8-10). الدرس للآباء هو العدالة في التعامل مع الأبناء. والدرس للأبناء أن يعرفوا أن الوالدين لا يملكون قلوبهم، كما في الحديث: هذا قسمي فيما أملك فلا تؤاخذني فيما لا أملك.
1. Planning to Repent Before Even Sinning | التخطيط للتوبة قبل ارتكاب الذنب
Their stated intention, “after that you will be righteous folk,” reveals they knew in advance that what they were about to do was wrong, yet they proceeded anyway, planning repentance as a kind of insurance rather than letting that awareness stop them. Scholars point to this as a warning about a specific kind of self-deception, treating future repentance as license for present wrongdoing rather than repentance’s true purpose of turning back from sin already committed.
تكشف نيتهم المعلنة، “وتكونوا من بعده قوما صالحين”، أنهم عرفوا مسبقا أن ما كانوا على وشك فعله خطأ، ومع ذلك مضوا فيه، مخططين للتوبة نوعا من التأمين بدلا من أن يمنعهم هذا الوعي. ويشير العلماء إلى هذا تحذيرا من نوع محدد من خداع النفس، معاملة التوبة المستقبلية رخصة لخطأ حاضر بدلا من الغرض الحقيقي للتوبة وهو الرجوع عن ذنب ارتُكب بالفعل.
2. A Single Voice That Softened the Plan | صوت واحد خفف من حدة الخطة
Among the brothers, one voice objected specifically to murder and proposed the well instead, a detail the Quran preserves even amid collective wrongdoing. Commentators note this as evidence that not every brother was equally committed to the worst outcome, group sin does not erase individual conscience, and this brother’s intervention is precisely what kept Yusuf alive.
من بين الإخوة، اعترض صوت واحد تحديدا على القتل واقترح البئر بدلا منه، تفصيل يحفظه القرآن حتى وسط خطأ جماعي. ويلاحظ المفسرون هذا دليلا على أن ليس كل أخ كان ملتزما بالنتيجة الأسوأ بالتساوي، فذنب الجماعة لا يمحو ضمير الفرد، وتدخل هذا الأخ هو بالضبط ما أبقى يوسف حيا.
3. A Hadith About Feelings a Parent Cannot Control | حديث عن مشاعر لا يملكها الوالد
The hadith quoted here is recorded in the collections of Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah, where the Prophet Muhammad said this regarding fairness among his own wives, distinguishing between what a person can control, their outward actions and material fairness, and what they cannot fully control, the natural inclination of the heart. Applied to Yaqoub’s situation, this hadith clarifies that a parent’s duty is just treatment in action, not an impossible equal division of feeling, a distinction the brothers’ own reaction failed to make.
الحديث المذكور هنا مسجل في مجموعات أبي داود والترمذي وابن ماجه، حيث قال النبي محمد هذا بشأن العدل بين زوجاته، مميزا بين ما يستطيع الإنسان التحكم فيه، أفعاله الظاهرة والعدل المادي، وما لا يستطيع التحكم فيه تماما، ميل القلب الطبيعي. وحين يُطبق هذا الحديث على موقف يعقوب، يوضح أن واجب الوالد هو المعاملة العادلة في الفعل، لا تقسيم مستحيل للمشاعر بالتساوي، تمييز فشل رد فعل الإخوة أنفسهم في إدراكه.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
How did Yusuf’s brothers react to their father’s love for him?
They conspired to remove him from the household entirely, either by killing him or exiling him.
Did they intend to kill Yusuf?
One brother objected to murder and proposed throwing him into a well instead, which is what ultimately happened.
What lesson does this story teach parents?
To be just in how they treat their children, since jealousy over perceived favoritism can lead to grave consequences.