He loved Joseph.
No, I am not referring to Jacob, who adored his son Joseph, but to the Prophet Muhammad, who, when asked “Who is the most honourable amongst the people?” replied, “The most honourable among them is the one who is most Allah fearing.” They said, “O Allah’s prophet! We do not ask about this.” He said , “Then the most honourable person is Joseph, Allah’s prophet, the son of Allah’s prophet, the son of Allah’s Khalil.”
This is related in Sahih al-Bukhari: A Collection of Hadith, compiled by Imam al-Bukhari, whose work is recognized by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world to be most authentic reports of the Sunnah (teachings) of the Prophet Muhammad.
Those who tried to burn the Tomb of Joseph in October knew neither his song nor the abiding love and admiration their prophet had for the prodigal son of Jacob: the recipient of the coat of many colours.
The story of Joseph is woven to the rich spiritual, artistic and intellectual tapestry of all three Abrahamic faiths as it is related in religious texts, Islamic miniatures, illuminated manuscripts, in paintings to die for – who could not feel the oceans of sorrow that wash over the face of Jacob in Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari’s or Rubens’ masterpieces? – in novels such as Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers, in musical works including Handel’s majestic oratorio Joseph and his Brethren, in Richard Strauss’ The Legend of Joseph, in musicals among which we might count Andrew Lloyd Weber’s and Tim Rice’s Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in DreamWorks’ animation film Joseph: King of Dreams, in Iranian Farajollah Salahshoor’s film Yousef e Payambar (Joseph the Prophet), and in Bernard Lang’s book Joseph in Egypt: A cultural Icon from Grotius to Goethe.
In Islam, Joseph is so revered that although the stories of other prophets are mentioned in various passages, the complete narrative of Joseph is given in one section titled Yusuf, according it unprecedented honour. Ismail ibn Kathir, who was among the most influential Sunni scholars of the Shafi School, in his celebrated commentary states that touched by God, “Joseph was the greatest, the most noble and most exalted” among Jacob’s sons.
But it is in Sufi mysticism that one finds the most profound rendition of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Joseph, as Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi’s perspective imparts the story with universal spiritual import transcending faith- specific interpretations. For it was Rumi who wrote:
“ I am not from the East
or the West,
I am not Christian or Jew
or Muslim.
I am not Hindu, Buddhist,
Sufi, or Zen.
I do not belong to any
established religion
or any cultural system.
I am neither the body,
nor the soul,
for I belong to Divine Soul
of my Beloved.”
Endowed with such universal values, Sufis have drawn from Joseph’s story lessons of mystical, ethical and theological significance rooted in all consuming Divine Love. As such, Rumi saw the life of Joseph as a parable of God’s way, a way which a mystic should focus his journey- following the way of love.
Rumi lamented that Joseph did not sleep at night for 10 consecutive years, pleading every single night with God on behalf of his brothers. Rumi has Joseph say, “O Lord, forgive my brothers, or I will fill the foundations of this palace with hundred more brotherly cries and tears of mine.”
In Islam, there is no blasphemy, no sacrilege, no burning of the Tombs of Patriarchs, no murderous rage. Where are the voices of the faithful condemning the burning of Joseph’s Tomb as an affront to the Prophet Muhammad? Is not this silence another way of killing everything Joseph embodied in his Godly life?
Thomas Mann in the Prelude to Joseph and His Brothers, entitled Descent to Hell, writes “ Very deep is the well of the past. Should we not call it bottomless?” He might have added “So is the well of hatred!” For this is a bottomless well endlessly filled with tears and jealously guarded by silent ghosts.
