In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
‘O Man! O Brave Man! O Husband! O Brother! O Son!’
“O MOMIN!”
As you step out of home you will come across Two kinds of women.
THE FIRST KIND:
A woman who has been afflicted with the same ailment as that of the wife of al-Aziz, chief minister of Egypt. So, you would find her having beautified and perfumed herself, as if she were saying to you:
“Hayta Lak” (Come to me, O you !) [Surah Yusuf, Ayat 23]
THE SECOND KIND:
A women who conceals her beauty and adorns proper clothing (hijab). She has not come out of her home except to fulfill her dire needs. It is as if she were saying (as the two women said to Musa (AS)):
“We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take (their flocks). And our father is a very old man”[Surah Al-Qasas, Verse 23]
When a story, an event is mentioned in qur’an it is always with a moral, a lesson for mankind. We should always remember that Qur’an is the word of Allah hence every story mentioned is 100% truth/fact and 0% fiction. The stories mentioned in Qur’an are not for fun reading but for Guidance.
Qur’an begins with Surah Fatiha (Prayer for Guidance). And next is Surah Baqarah and it begins thus ..
1. Alif-Lam-Mim
2. This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].(Translation: Muhsin khan)
“.. Guidance for Al-Muttaqun ..”
There are lessons of manhood in these two stories of Yousuf (A.S.) and Musa ((A.S.) and how a Momin reacts when he is confronted with these two kinds of women.
THE FIRST TYPE OF WOMEN:
When Yousuf (A.S.) was called to commit immorality by the wife of Al-Aziz he restrained his gaze and sought refuge with Allah, “Ma’az Allah” (I seek refuge with Allah! / Allah forbid!).
(12: 23) “And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him. She closed the doors and said, “Come, you.” He said, “[I seek] the refuge of Allah . Indeed, he is my master, who has made good my residence. Indeed, wrongdoers will not succeed.”
Later when women of the city saw him …
(12: 31) “… And when they saw him, they greatly admired him and cut their hands and said, “Perfect is Allah ! This is not a man; this is none but a noble angel.”
(12: 32) “She said, “That is the one about whom you blamed me. And I certainly sought to seduce him, but he firmly refused; and if he will not do what I order him, he will surely be imprisoned and will be of those debased.”
(12: 33) “He said, “My Lord, prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me. And if You do not avert from me their plan, I might incline toward them and [thus] be of the ignorant.”
(12: 34) “So his Lord responded to him and averted from him their plan. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.”
And thus Allah (SWT) saved Yousuf (A.S.) and raised him from slavery to the status of a Governer and Blessed him with immense Respect.
THE SECOND TYPE OF WOMEN:
And with the second type of women behave the way Musa (A.S.) behaved, offer your help with utmost respect and move on with you work.
(28: 23) “And when he came to the well of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women driving back [their flocks]. He said, “What is your circumstance?” They said, “We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man.”
(28: 24) “So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he went back to the shade and said, “My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.”
Musa, the Father of the Two Women, and His Marriage to One of Them:[Tafseer Ibn e Kathseer]
When the two women came back quickly with the sheep, their father was surprised that they returned so soon. He asked them what had happened, and they told him what Musa, peace be upon him, had done. So he sent one of them to call him to meet her father. Allah says:
﴿فَجَآءَتْهُ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَمْشِى عَلَى اسْتِحْيَآءٍ﴾
(Then there came to him one of them, walking shyly.) meaning, she was walking like a free woman, as it was narrated from the Commander of the faithful, ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: “She was covering herself from them with the folds of her garment.” Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Amr bin Maymun said, `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “She came walking shyly, putting her garment over her face. She was not one of those audacious women who come and go as they please.” This chain of narrators is Sahih.
﴿قَالَتْ إِنَّ أَبِى يَدْعُوكَ لِيَجْزِيَكَ أَجْرَ مَا سَقَيْتَ لَنَا﴾
(She said: “Verily, my father calls you that he may reward you for having watered (our flocks) for us.”) This is an example of good manners: she did not invite him directly lest he have some suspicious thoughts about her. Rather she said: “My father is inviting you so that he may reward you for watering our sheep,” i.e., give you some payment for that.
﴿فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُ وَقَصَّ عَلَيْهِ الْقَصَصَ﴾
(So when he came to him and narrated the story, ) means, he told him about his story and why he had to leave his country.
﴿قَالَ لاَ تَخَفْ نَجَوْتَ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ﴾
(he said: “Fear you not. You have escaped from the people who are wrongdoers.”) He was saying: `calm down and relax, for you have left their kingdom and they have no authority in our land.’ So he said:
﴿نَجَوْتَ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ﴾
(You have escaped from the people who are wrongdoers.)
﴿قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يأَبَتِ اسْتَـْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَـْجَرْتَ الْقَوِىُّ الأَمِينُ ﴾
(And said one of them: “O my father! Hire him! Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy.”) One of the two daughters of the man said this, and it was said that she was the one who had walked behind Musa, peace be upon him. She said to her father:
﴿يأَبَتِ اسْتَـْجِرْهُ﴾
(O my father! Hire him!) as a shepherd to look after the sheep. `Umar, Ibn `Abbas, Shurayh Al-Qadi, Abu Malik, Qatadah, Muhammad bin Ishaq and others said: “When she said:
﴿إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَـْجَرْتَ الْقَوِىُّ الأَمِينُ﴾
(Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy.) her father said to her, `What do you know about that’ She said to him, `He lifted a rock which could only be lifted by ten men, and when I came back with him, I walked ahead of him, but he said to me, walk behind me, and if I get confused about the route, throw a pebble so that I will know which way to go.”’ `Abdullah (Ibn Mas`ud) said, “The people who had the most discernment were three: Abu Bakr’s intuition about `Umar; the companion of Yusuf when he said, `Make his stay comfortable’; and the companion of Musa, when she said:
﴿يأَبَتِ اسْتَـْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَـْجَرْتَ الْقَوِىُّ الأَمِينُ﴾
(O my father! Hire him! Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy.).”
﴿إِنِّى أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُنكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ابْنَتَىَّ هَاتَيْنِ﴾
(I intend to wed one of these two daughters of mine to you,) means, this old man asked him to take care of his flocks, then he would marry one of his two daughters to him.
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Thus the chastity of Yusuf (A.S.) led him towards becoming the governor of Egypt and the chivalry of Musa (A.S) became the reason for Allah granting him a righteous wife.