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ʾidh qālū la-yūsufu wa-ʾakhūhu ʾaḥabbu ʾilā ʾabīnā minnā wa-naḥnu ʿuṣbatun ʾinna ʾabānā la-fī ḍalālin mubīnin-i
When they said, ‘Surely Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than [the rest of] us, though we are a hardy band. Our father is indeed in manifest error.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Yusuf - Verse 8
8. “When they said: ‘Verily, Yusuf and his brother (Benjamin) are dearer to our father than we, while we are a (strong) group. Verily, our father is in manifest error’.”
Hadrat Ya‘qub had 12 sons, two of whom (Yusuf and Benjamin) were of the same mother and the rest from another mother. Ya‘qub’s interest in Yusuf (because of his young age or because of his virtues) made his brothers envy him. They not only envied him but also by saying: /wa nahnu ‘usbatun/ “while we are a (strong) group” made it clear that they were arrogant in spirit and, because of this, they accused their father of being mistaken and deviated in his focus of affection.
The verse says:
“When they said: ‘Verily, Yusuf and his brother (Benjamin) are dearer to our father than we, while we are a (strong) group. ...”
Many of those who are at comparatively lower rungs of position and rank in society try to degrade those who rank higher in society in order to compensate for their own shortcomings. There are differences between the words, discrimination and differentiation, the former implies attaching importance to someone over others for no justified reason and the latter refers to distinguishing on the basis of ones abilities and conditions. For example, a physician’s prescriptions or a teacher’s marks differ since they must vary in accordance with the rules which are not of an oppressive nature. However, Yusuf’s brothers considered Ya‘qub’s love as one that had no good reason.
Explanations
1. If the children feel that they are discriminated against, their envy will be aroused.
2. Discrimination among one’s children will decrease their love towards their parents
3. The exercise of power does not engender love.
4. Envy crossed the frontiers of fatherhood and prophecy hence the brothers attributed deviation and injustice to their father who was, at the same time, their prophet.
The above verse says:
“…Verily, our father is in manifest error’.”
5. To be loved is an inherent need of man. Lack of love and affection of others is one of the greatest sufferings of man.