Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Yūsuf (Joseph) | FROM PRISON TO PALACE
to ignore it and not thank God for it. “This is part of God’s grace which He has bestowed
on us and on all mankind, but most people do not give thanks.” (Verse 38)
A Comparison of Beliefs
Joseph’s approach is subtle, taking them carefully step by step before going deep
into their hearts to reveal his faith plainly and completely. He couples this with an
explanation that the misery they suffer in life is due to the false beliefs which they
and their people generally hold. “My two prison companions! Which is better: [to believe]
in diverse lords, or to believe in God, the One who holds sway over all that exists? Those you
worship instead of Him are nothing but names you and your fathers have invented, and for
which God has given no sanction from on high. All judgement rests with God alone. He has
ordained that you should worship none but Him. This is the true faith, but most people do not
know it.” (Verses 39-40)
In a few clear, lucid and enlightening words, Joseph outlines the main features of
the true faith based on the oneness of God. He shakes violently the whole structure
of polytheism and the very concept of associating partners with God.
“My two prison companions! Which is better: [to believe] in diverse lords, or to believe in
God, the One who holds sway over all that exists?” (Verse 39) Joseph makes them his
companions, drawing them close with his affable approach. This facilitates an easy
way into the main subject, namely the essence of faith. He does not call on them
directly to adopt it, but instead presents it as a subject for objective discussion:
“Which is better: [to believe] in diverse lords, or to believe in God, the One who holds sway
over all that exists?” The question makes a direct and strong appeal to human nature
which recognizes only one deity. How come that several beings are described as
gods when the one who deserves to be Lord and to be worshipped and obeyed in all
that He orders is the One who has complete sway over all beings. He is the One
whose law must be implemented in life. When God is declared to be One and His
absolute power in the universe is recognized, then Lordship must be declared to
belong to the One Lord whose power over people’s lives must also be recognized. It
should never happen that people who recognize God as One and Almighty, then
accept someone else as having power over them, effectively making him a lord
beside God. The Lord must be God who has absolute control over the whole
universe. Anyone who does not have such power cannot be taken as lord and given
power over people’s lives. If he cannot make the universe submit to his will, he must
not be the one to whom people submit.
It is infinitely better that people should submit to God and acknowledge Him as
their only Lord than that they submit to diverse, ignorant and powerless lords which
they invent for themselves. This description applies to all lords other than God. No
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