Summary of Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf the Prophet Yusuf

This Surah was also revealed in Makkah. According to some traditions, some Jews had asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) why the people of Israel who were the inhabitants of Palestine went to Egypt and settled there. They thought that because you had no means of knowing the history of the Israelites, you would not be able to answer that question. Moreover, in this way, they will have the opportunity to propagandize against you that you (God forbid) are not a prophet. 

In answer to this question, Allah Almighty revealed this whole Surah Yusuf. In which the incident of Hazrat Yusuf (as) is narrated in full detail and explanation. In fact, the ancestor of the children of Israel was Hazrat Yaqub (as); his other name was also Israel. They had twelve sons, from whose descendants came the twelve tribes of Israel. In this surah, it is stated that Hazrat Yaqub (as) was living in Palestine with his sons. Among them were Joseph and his brother Benjamin. The stepbrothers of these two brothers conspired and threw Hazrat Yusuf (as) into a well, from where a caravan picked him up and sold him to an Egyptian chief. In the beginning, they lived a life of slavery.

However, under the incident, which is described in this surah, the chief's wife Zulaikha arrested him and sent him to jail. What did God do, that the king was kind to Joseph for interpreting a dream of the king of Egypt, and not only released him from prison but honorably acquitted him, but made him his minister of finance, and later He handed over all the powers of the government to Hazrat Yusuf (as). After that, Hazrat Yusuf (as) called his parents from Palestine to Egypt. Thus, the Israelites migrated from Palestine. 

One of the features of Surah Yusuf is that the whole incident of Prophet Yusuf (as) is mentioned in detail in a sequence, and almost the entire Surah is devoted to it. Moreover, it did not appear in any other surah. By narrating this incident in such detail, Allah Almighty has established an argument against the disbelievers who denied the prophethood of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

It was also clear to them that you had no means of knowing about this event, so you could not get this description by any means other than revelation. In addition to the hardships that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions were facing from the infidels of Makkah in Makkah, there was a great consolation for you in this incident that Hazrat Yusuf The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went through great hardships as a result of the conspiracy of his brothers, but in the end, Allah gave them honor, glory, and pride, and all those who persecuted him had to bow down before him. 

In the same way, although the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has to suffer in Makkah, in the end, these conspiratorial people will bow before him, and the truth will prevail. Other than that, this incident has many lessons for Muslims, and perhaps that is why Allah Almighty has called it the best story. 

Second Summary: 

The main reason for the revelation of this surah and the description of the condition of Prophet Yusuf (as) in it is that when the news of the Prophet's claim of prophethood reached the Jews of Madinah, they mischievously misled the polytheists of Makkah based on Torah information. He started asking questions, which he kept asking the Holy Prophet. 

One of the important questions in these questions was that you are narrating these incidents about the children of Israel that Pharaoh oppressed them in Egypt and they were living a life of slavery there. Then Moses took them out of there. However, the ancestors of the children of Israel, Hazrat Ibrahim, Hazrat Ishaq, and Hazrat Yaqub (as) lived in Palestine. Tell us about them, how did these people reach Egypt from there? This was a question of history, in response to which Allah Almighty not only narrated this whole incident in a very beautiful way in this Surah. 

He even applied this story to the behavior of the Quraysh. The way they treated the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as the brothers of Yusuf.