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The question

Why did Joseph (peace be upon him) say, "O my father, I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon—I saw them prostrating to me," instead of "my father," and to whom was the prostration?

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Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Joseph's saying "إني" (Indeed, I) is a confirmed report about himself, indicated by the first-person singular pronoun (ياء المتكلم). The one who saw the vision is Joseph. Those who prostrated are his eleven brothers, and his father and mother. The stars are his brothers, and the sun and moon are his parents, or the sun is his maternal aunt if his mother had passed away. The letter "تاء" (tāʾ) in "أبت" (my father) is specific to the words "الأب" (father) and "الأم" (mother) in vocative address, implying addition to the first person, and its meaning is "O my father." It serves as a substitute for the first-person singular pronoun "ياء المتكلم."

Summary from Ftawy's records · added here

Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.

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Where this answer came from
Source platform
Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
56267
Added here
. This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
Text
Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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Read the full answer on Ftawy