Reflecting on the Saying of the Exalted {They said, “O our father, why do you not entrust us with Joseph”}

Then, when they had betrayed him, and wanted his second brother, Benjamin, (He said, “Should I entrust you with him except as I entrusted you with his brother before?”)?

Reflect on the shared words: taʾmannā (“entrust us”), āmanukum (“entrust you”)?

A person gives trust and safety once; then if he is wounded, he doubts a thousand times, and neither trusts nor grants safety

Part of the astuteness of Jacob (peace be upon him) is that when they insisted on taking Benjamin, he took covenants and pledges from them and made an exception (He said, “Never will I send him with you until you give me a promise by Allah that you will bring him [back] to me, unless you should be surrounded by enemies”). And in it is that the one who was betrayed may refuse to trust the betrayer, even if the betrayal happened only once, and granting him safety is only with caution, wariness, precaution, and vigilance, by taking pledges, writing, contracts, witnesses, and other means, so as to secure his right and preserve it as a protection

The nature of the human mind: building on the first judgment and experience. That is why, when they told him about the Aziz taking Benjamin, while they were now telling the truth, (He said, “Rather, your souls have enticed you to something”). He said it because he was human, subject to the nature of innate human judgments; otherwise, Allah's prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) had his knowledge praised by Allah (And indeed, he was a possessor of knowledge because of what We had taught him), so nothing he said detracts from his knowledge.

And despite his pain from the bitterness of the two experiences (losing Joseph and Benjamin), his good opinion of Allah was very high, and this, and Allah knows best, is his praised knowledge, and what knowledge yields of reverent fear and good opinion (He said, “Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. Perhaps Allah will bring them to me all together. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise”) and his saying (O my sons, go and find out about Joseph and his brother and despair not of relief from Allah. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people).

And we learn from this that a person should not judge by the first experience because it failed and fell short; for the second experience may bring success and great prosperity.

And building on the first experience (which reminds him of feelings of frustration, aversion, despair, and the like) makes him lose opportunities for understanding, relationships, productivity, and work, and many lost benefits were lost because we built on the bitterness of the first

And that a person should not judge creation and people with the same outlook and perception, for that comes from narrowness of the soul and ignorance; rather, he should vary his judgments of them between good opinion and bad

And Dr. Wahbah al-Zuhayli said regarding the qualities of a judge:

"Knowing people and their conditions, and having insight into their cunning and deception, and he should not think well of them; rather, he should be wary and astute regarding what they portray in their questions, lest they excel in what is detestable, and this is supported by the hadith: “Guard yourselves against people by thinking ill of them.”"

And among them: that he should look into stories of schemes, deceptions, and cunning, and sit with his enemies and his friends to acquire this knowledge! For it is not in books but in gatherings.

So that he is not deceived, and is astute and perceptive, because whoever falls into deception does so because of his ignorance of it, and every deception that did not fool you was, first, by Allah's granting you success, and second, by your knowledge of it

— Shoroog Almehmadi