Yusuf/Joseph - The Cool Prophet!!!

The story of Yusuf/Joseph is one of the most fascinating ones in the Holy Scriptures of the world’s leading religions. With variations, it appears in these Holy Books as a moral tale about many things. But three often unexplored sides of this great man’s story have fascinated me for a long time.

Instead of the grave wisdom of Abraham, the slight naughtiness of Moses when he banters with God, the aura of mystery around Jesus, the submission of Muhammad to God’s will (May Peace Be Upon All These Prophets of God), and so on and on, what do we get with Joseph? Joseph is the cool dude among this clan of great men (and perhaps women?) whom we call the Prophets – he is, to put it in a different way, the “rock star” of the world of Prophets!

Joseph is an easy going guy, he takes life as it comes. He has to be, being the youngest of so many older brothers. I bet there was a lot of joshing among the brothers on who got to wear what!

His coming of age story – the betrayal by his brothers and then learning to take care of himself till he reached the post of the Pharoah’s valued advisor/minister – is an exciting saga in itself. But the three things that strike me most about him apart from his fabled beauty and the woman who had a “thing” for him are not normally discussed as much.

When he was imprisoned in an Egyptian jail – and it seemed like he would be there forever and die in ignominy – he cried out to God – “Oh my Lord, Why have you forsaken me?”. I hold this sentence so very dear to my heart. So often, if you believe in God in any way, shape or form, you are told to trust Him. Be patient. That is all fine, but a human has to do what a human has to do. This crying out of Yusuf to his God (in despair? anger? demand? love?) endears Yusuf to me. I mean, God has to realize that this man, in this hardship, still BELIEVES that there is a God, and it is this God that has decided that Yusuf will be in this prison. And despite Yusuf’s anger – and hey, it is okay to be angry at God once in a while, he shows his unswerving devotion and belief in God by asking him – Why?

We are told again and again that one should obey God without question. In Arabic there are two words – Sami’na Wa Ata’na (We have heard- We will obey). But look, hear is a Prophet doing something different –he is asking God – I would not go as far as to use the word challenging – Why? And God did listen to him, didn't he? I have often thought that God’s sense of justice is ironic – He delivers poetic justice. I bet when Yusuf happened to be sitting alone after being appointed the Pharoah’s minister , he shed a few tears saying “sorry” to God - remembering how he had despaired- little knowing what God still had in store for him.

The Pharoah, for all intents and purposes, was the enemy of the people of Israel. Yet Yusuf works for him – not only works for him, but offers him his services voluntarily. When everyone is worried about the interpretation of the Pharoah’s dream and what the draught would mean for Egypt – Yusuf steps forward and volunteers himself for the job of managing the situation. If you think you have the capability to do a job well – you are the best person for it – don't be shy. Don't wait to be asked. Volunteer yourself. Put yourself forward. Yusuf volunteered himself. He said – Hey look at me. I know I can do this, and do this well. Why not let me have a go?

The other thing I learnt from this is that it is okay to work for/with other people who may have a different belief system than you, if one is working for the good of all humanity. Yusuf/Joseph worked with the Pharoah and the Egyptians to ensure enough grain was there to feed everyone – people of all denominations. He ensured he organized the financial side of things well – again benefitting the Pharoah and the people of Egypt directly, but also managing to help people of all denominations.
How does this resonate with us today? So often, I have been told that I am working for a multi-national that is owned by people of “other” denominations and so in some way, I should feel guilty. Why? Look at the story of Yusuf. What is God teaching us by telling us about him? That it is okay to join hands and work together for the greater good of all human kind with people – even under/for people- who believe something different from us. How much good would we be able to do if we could all work together to provide clean drinking water, clothing, food, education, jobs to the world’s poor, putting aside our differences.
Very often when we look at the moral stories in the scriptures, we tend to take only the spiritual side of things. We forget that these scriptures are there also to help us in our day to day life – in our dealing with other people, in how we can live together peacefully as better individuals, and as a better society.

What we must remember is – Atheists, Agnostics, Bahais, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, etc. – we are all humans. And if there is indeed a God out there and within us who created us all, then He is not happy to see us harming each other