Storytelling From the Quran

   A dear friend of mine, Miriam, recently had the blessed opportunity to attend a lecture given by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan in person. Being a huge fan of Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan I asked her what the talk was on and it turned out it was the same one that I've been dying to attend ever since I heard about it - how the Quran tells its stories. Anyone who has read the translation of the Quran or even tried to read it may have noticed how the stories in the Quran are not in chronological order and sometimes you have bits and pieces of the story scattered throughout it. Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan informs us at to why this has been done in his many talks on Divine Speech which can be found at BayyinahTV. But in this particular lecture which my friend attended, two stories told in two separate Surah's (Chapters) were analyzed - the story of Prophet Musa (Moses) and the Story of Prophet Yusuf.  The story of Prophet Musa is told in Surah Al Qassas while the story of Prophet Yusuf is told in Surah Yusuf. In Surah Yusuf Allah (God) begins by saying: We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware.  (12:3)

   In this Ayah (verse), the word that is used for "stories" in the Arabic language is the word Qassas and is the same word used in Surah Al Qassas. After realizing this correlation, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan did some in-depth study of the two stories and this is what he found:

• Both stories begin with some kind of foretelling of how the outcome will be, but also begin with both of them in their youths.
• One is born into a slave community and the other is from a noble family.
• One's father is mentioned, and the other's mother is.
• One is thrown into the water of a well to rid of him, and the other is thrown into water to attempt to save him. 
• One's older siblings are the cause of being put into the water, and the other's older sibling is his savior. 
• They both end up in an Egyptian palace, one as a servant and the other as a prince. 
• One will destruct the ruling party, and the other will save it. 
• One is raised by two mothers, and the other has an absent father as his role model.
• Yusuf (AS) leaves the palace for a crime he did not commit. Musa (AS) leaves for a crime he did.
• One is captured and jailed without crime. And the other escapes though he committed a crime.
• One has extraordinary strength, and the other has extreme beauty, which is the cause for their leaving.
• One's name was denounced in public, and the other in private.
• One comes back to the palace to confess his crime, and the other comes back proving his innocence.
• One story shows how a relationship between a man and a woman should not happen, and the other shows how it should.
• And finally, one brings the message of Islam to Egypt, and the other leaves with the believers out of Egypt.