TRUTH & RECONCILIATION

Lessons from the life of Joseph (Peace be upon him)

When the brothers of Joseph (pbuh) came before him, in need of rations due to the widespread drought, not only were they shocked that the very brother they had “gotten rid of”, was still alive, but were totally speechless that he was the Minister in charge of allocating provisions! They were embarrassed of their previous wrong-doing and declared the truth: “Definitely Allah had chosen you over us and we were indeed from amongst the wrong-doers”.

A very important lesson here is to acknowledge the bestowment of The Almighty upon others and not to harbour jealousy, enmity and hatred just for the fact they have been granted of Divine providence. Also it is extremely important to admit our wrong doing to others, as soon as we realise, and to seek their forgiveness – this will help to pave the way for long lasting reconciliation, progress and future relations.

Joseph (pbuh) did not start rebuking them nor did he observe any harsh treatment to try and take revenge – rather, being in higher office, he displayed noble character and rose above all petty emotion and meanness. He immediately overlooked all of that, assured them that there would be no revenge or reprisal and even prayed for their forgiveness, as is recorded in this chapter of the Holy Qur’aan!

Thus a genuine, true reconciliation took place and he asked them to go home and then return to him with their parents so that the entire family would re-unite and live together as a complete unit in peace and harmony.

Such noble and magnanimous character is meant to be the trait of every true Believer, whereby personal grudges are not developed, ill-feelings are not harboured and vengeance is not sought. Rather, every effort is made to find lasting peace and move forward for the sake of progress and development on a larger scale. (Lessons continued next week)