Anyone who studies filmmaking knows that every story needs a conflict. Think of any movie you have watched. The main premise is that there is one major conflict that gets resolved within 1-2 hours, and throughout it, mini-conflicts are sprinkled in. Imagine a movie without a conflict. It would not even feel right!

Surah or Chapter Yusuf in the Qur’an has 7 conflicts. They are:

1. The dream Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) sees
2. The plot of his brothers
3. Him forced into slavery
4. Seduction by the minister’s wife
5. Conflict with the women
6. Him being imprisoned
7. The king’s dream

And how do all of them get resolved?

1. Prophet Yusuf interprets the king’s dream
2. Yusuf is allowed to be free
3. The women admit their wrongs
4. The minister’s wife also confesses and the scandal gets resolved
5. He is no longer a slave and becomes the treasurer of Egypt
6. The decades-long issue with his brothers gets resolved
7. The dream of Prophet Yusuf plays out in real life

See something in the order? The conflicts get resolved in the opposite order! The definition of poetry!

Now we can ask ourselves – could one man have done this? Think of movies from Pixar for example. They take years and years to make the perfect story. And that’s by a whole team of writers and professionals!

Let’s say fine, one person managed to do it. But when was this Surah revealed? It was after the most difficult time of Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) life – when Khadijah, his wife of 25 years, AND his father-figure like uncle, Abu Talib, both passed away! To take time out that year, with all the grief and social issues going on, yet still make all the intricacies, symmetry, and poetry in the Surah – does it make sense?

• This was taken from a wonderful conversation all about Surah Yusuf. This was at the 54:23 mark, but the entire talk is worth every minute –

Who’s Abu Lahab? He is actually a paternal uncle of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), and despite the closeness, he was actually one of the most vile enemies of the Muslims.

In fact, during Hajj season, it is said that when the Prophet would go to people to tell them about Islam, Abu Lahab made sure to tell them not to listen to him, calling him a liar and a madman.

Abu Lahab was made an example in the Qur’an and that’s what makes this important. The Qur’an has an entire Surah – Surah Al-Masad – dedicated to him. It was revealed during his lifetime, and in it, it says,

“He will burn in a flaming Fire”

[Qur’an 111:3]

So what does that mean? That he will basically die a non-Muslim.

Why is this something Muslims call a miracle? Well, for one, to prove the Qur’an wrong, all Abu Lahab would’ve had to do was say, “I’m Muslim” and that’s it! It would’ve been the easiest way to prove the Qur’an wrong because in general, Muslims cannot question the intentions of another person. If he said he’s Muslim, that’s between him and Allah, and we cannot question his sincerity, unless his speech and actions are too obvious to ignore. Thus, Abu Lahab could’ve simply lied and had the last laugh. Yet, he didn’t.

As well, many of Prophet Muhammad’s enemies eventually accepted Islam. In fact, Abu Lahab’s daughter, Durrah, and his brothers Hamza and Al-Abbas, all accepted Islam. So too did people like Abu Sufyan, who became, after the death of earlier prominent Qurashis, THE leader of Makkah. It was not uncommon at all to hear news like that. However, Abu Lahab didn’t.

All this begs the question – if a human being wrote the Qur’an, how was he able to predict these things accurately? How was it “assumed” that an uncle of the Prophet, someone who knew his nephew and his noble characteristics up close, despite having years to rethink and statistics in favor of him becoming Muslim, did not accept the religion till his last breath?