Something in the Qur'an that's often glossed over are the sub-characters who are not the main focus of the story, but have a very relatable human aspect to them that mirrors how an average believer might actually act.
The Dog of the Seven Sleepers.
He isn't a prophet, a scholar, or anyone remarkable. He's just a dog who loved and supported good people, and that was enough to be counted among them, and he shared in their blessing as well. Even when you mention them, you say "the sleepers and their dog.”
Yehudah, the brother of Yusuf.
When you read Surah Yusuf, you’ll notice there's one brother who has a softer heart than the rest. He's the one who tried to lessen the evil. He couldn't stop it outright due to peer pressure from the other brothers, so he weakened it by telling them to throw Yusuf in a well instead of killing him. Later, when the youngest brother is detained in Egypt, he's so overwhelmed by guilt that he literally isolates himself rather than face his father, realizing how much he’s hurt and failed him.
He was never powerful enough to completely prevent evil, but he was decent enough to try and lessen it and honest enough to be crushed by it.
The Secret Believer in Pharaoh's court.
Surrounded by evil with no power to overturn it, he does the only thing available to him: he speaks up, while concealing his faith, to defend Moses. He doesn’t overthrow the government, but he refuses to stay silent when he sees he has the opportunity to do something good with even just his tongue.
Notice how each one represents different ends of the same spectrum.
The dog doesn't fight or negotiate with anything, he simply attaches himself to good people and lets that be enough.
Yehudah stays inside his own group and tries to steer them from within.
The secret believer is stuck in an entire society that will never accept him, so he quietly and secretly resists against them.
They didn’t part the sea like Moses, but God still mentioned them because a sincere heart does not need a miracle to matter to Him.
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