Grain Kept in the Ear

There is an interesting story here. Sudan has been going through an embargo, and our Sudanese brothers have been going through miserable times. The United States and its allies have forced this oppressive embargo on them, and they are not allowed to export or import. Sudan has a great deal of grain; it has a lot of wheat. But it could not export anything, so it needed to store this grain for the future.

The problem was that whenever they stored the grain in underground bunkers — underground storehouses — it would go bad after a few years. It would spoil from fungus and humidity, from insects and worms, and from other diseases and bacteria. They had a great deal of wheat, but it would simply go bad; it would expire.

A Muslim professor of agriculture who was visiting them said: I have a suggestion for you; let us try this. Instead of storing the grain as seed, store it in the ear. Let us try what Yūsuf (peace be upon him) did: let us store the grain in the ear. So they tried it. They stored the grain in the ear, and it lasted a much longer time than before. So Yūsuf (peace be upon him) told them: keep the grain in the ear.