First: Who is Al-Khidr?
Al-Khidr is the righteous servant who had a story with Moses, peace and blessings be upon him, as in Surah Al-Kahf.
Al-Suyuti said
His name is Baliya, and he was called Al-Khidr because he sat on a white scalp, and it turned green beneath him, as in the hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari and Al-Tirmidhi, which is his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace, It was called Al-Khidr because it sat on a white scalp, and it turned green beneath Him.
What is meant by the scalp
The face of the earth, as in Al-Qurtubi and Al-Khidr, is a prophet according to the majority, and it was said: A righteous servant is not a prophet
Is he a prophet or one of God’s righteous guardian?
The scholars differed, and it was said that he is a prophet and it was said that he was not, but I read the interpretation of the Sheikh, may God have mercy on him, Muhammad bin Saleh Al-Uthaymeen, and he said in the interpretation of this verse: His Almighty saying: {And they found one of Our servants} and he is Al-Khidr, as was authenticated on the authority of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. and he said: {A servant of Our servants} Is he a servant of God’s righteous servants, or of the guardian who have honors, or of the prophets revealed to them? All of this is possible, but the texts indicate that he is neither a messenger nor a prophet, but rather a righteous guardian whom God Almighty granted him honors, thus, God would show that Moses did not know everything and that he missed a lot of knowledge.
Allah says
( آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِنْدِنَا)
(We gave him mercy from Us)
That is: God Almighty made him one of his guardians by His mercy upon him
Allah says
(وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِنْ لَدُنَّا عِلْماً)
(And We taught him knowledge from Us)
It means knowledge that people do not know about, and it is the knowledge of the unseen in this particular story, and it is not the knowledge of prophecy, but it is a special knowledge. Because this is the knowledge that Al-Khidr learned about, It cannot be perceived and it is not something based on the tangible, so the future is built on the present, but rather something from the absent, so God Almighty showed him information that humans do not know.
The problem surrounding the Almighty’s saying in Surah Al-Jinn
(عالم الغيب فلا يظهر على غيبه أحدا 26 إلا من إرتضى من رسول فإنه يسلك من بين يديه ومن خلفه رصدا (27))
(He knows the unseen, so His unseen is not revealed to anyone. 26 Except for the one who is pleased with the Messenger, then he is He walks in front of him and behind him as a watchdog (27)
Meaning: The Prophet is surrounded by angels who protect him from being approached by a devil. It protects the revelation from being hijacked by demons and thrown to the priests. Al-Dahhak said: God did not send a prophet except that he had angels guarding him from devils, About imitating the image of the Angel. If a devil comes to him in the image of the Angel, they say: This is a devil, so beware of him.
What Sharia law did Al-Khidr follow?
The Sharia that Al-Khidr followed was not in reality contrary to the Sharia that Moses followed, but only the background for which Al-Khidr did what he did was hidden from Moses.
Where did Musa meet Al-Khidr?
Scholars disagreed about the place where Moses - peace be upon him - met Al-Khidr, based on three opinions, which are as follows
1 - Bahrain Complex
It is the place where the Persian Sea to the east and the Roman Sea to the west meet. This is the view of Qatada and others. Muhammad al-Qurazi said that the Bahrain Complex is in the Maghreb, near Tangier, and the Bahrain Complex is located in Africa, which is the view of Ubayy bin Ka’b.
2 - in Tangier
This is the saying of Muhammad bin Ka'b, or they are the two rivers, Al-Kurr and Al-Rass, which flow into the sea, which is the saying of Al-Sadi.
3 - Bitter Lake
The Two Bahrain Complex is the Sea of Rum, which is the White Sea, and the Sea of Qalzum, which is the Red Sea. The area where they meet is called the Bitter Lakes and the Crocodile Lake, or the Bahrain Complex is in the Red Sea in the place where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Gulf of Suez.
The story of Moses - peace be upon him - with Al-Khidr
One day Moses - peace be upon him - stood and preached to
the Children of Israel, and they asked him about the most knowledgeable person on earth, so he told them that he is the most knowledgeable person on earth. So God Almighty blamed him because he did not return the credit to him, and told him that there was a righteous man who was more knowledgeable than him in the Bahrain Council. So Moses - peace be upon him - asked his Lord, maqtal: (The large wicker basket) And in the place where the whale is lost, there is a righteous man.
So Moses - peace be upon him - set off, taking with him his boy Joshua bin Nun and the whale
When they reached the rock, they fell asleep. So the whale came out of the pool and fled into the sea after drinking from a spring of water located in the rock called the Spring of Life, When his soul was restored to him, he fled, according to the words of the Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace -: (And at the root of the rock is a spring called: Life, nothing from its water can reach it except a living one. So the whale struck from the water of that spring - He said: Then he moved and slipped out from the large wicker basket, and God Almighty prevented the flow of water in the place through which the whale escaped so that its trace would not be erased, and when Moses - peace be upon him - woke up, He continued on his way without checking the whale.
God Almighty said:
(وَإِذ قالَ موسى لِفَتاهُ لا أَبرَحُ حَتّى أَبلُغَ مَجمَعَ البَحرَينِ أَو أَمضِيَ حُقُبًا * فَلَمّا بَلَغا مَجمَعَ بَينِهِما نَسِيا حوتَهُما فَاتَّخَذَ سَبيلَهُ فِي البَحرِ سَرَبًا)
(And when Musa said to his servant, I will not leave until I reach the Council of the Two Bahrains, Or he spent a period of time: (a long period of time equivalent to eighty years or more) and when they reached a gathering between them, they forgot their whale and took its way in the sea in a swarm.
And after he crossed the place that God Almighty commanded him to reach
He felt tired and hungry, so he asked his boy to eat. Then his boy remembered to tell him about the whale’s escape, when they were at the rock, his forgetfulness of that was only from Satan, for God said:
(فَلَمّا جاوَزا قالَ لِفَتاهُ آتِنا غَداءَنا لَقَد لَقينا مِن سَفَرِنا هـذا نَصَبًا * قالَ أَرَأَيتَ إِذ أَوَينا إِلَى الصَّخرَةِ فَإِنّي نَسيتُ الحوتَ وَما أَنسانيهُ إِلَّا الشَّيطانُ أَن أَذكُرَهُ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبيلَهُ فِي البَحرِ عَجَبًا
(So when they had passed, he said to his young man, “Bring us our lunch. We have become exhausted from this journey of ours, He said, “Did you see that when we took refuge on the rock, I forgot the fish, and nothing made me forget it except Satan to mentioned it.
So they returned to the place where they lost the whale and found the good servant there
Allah says
(قالَ ذلِكَ ما كُنّا نَبغِ فَارتَدّا عَلى آثارِهِما قَصَصًا * فَوَجَدا عَبدًا مِن عِبادِنا آتَيناهُ رَحمَةً مِن عِندِنا وَعَلَّمناهُ مِن لَدُنّا عِلمًا
(He said, “That was what we intended.” Then they returned in their tracks, retracing their tracks, then they found a servant of Ours to whom We had given mercy from Ourselves, and We taught him knowledge from Ourselfs.
Moses - peace be upon him - greeted him, introduced himself, and told him that he had come to teach him. The righteous servant recognized him, He is Al-Khidr and told him that God Almighty had informed each of them of knowledge that the other did not know, so if his wisdom was known to one of them, it would not be so to the other.
Allah says
(قالَ لَهُ موسى هَل أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلى أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمّا عُلِّمتَ رُشدًا قالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَستَطيعَ مَعِيَ صَبرًا وَكَيفَ تَصبِرُ عَلى ما لَم تُحِط بِهِ خُبرًا)
(Moses said to him, “Shall I follow you on the condition that you taught me from what you have been prudence taught, He said, "You will not be able to be patient with me. How can you be patient for something you haven't surrounded, however, Moses - peace be upon him - insisted on accompanying him and told him that he would not disobey his order, Al-Khidr agreed on the condition that Moses - peace be upon him - would not ask him, about something until he clarifies to him what he might deny.
Allah says
(قالَ سَتَجِدُني إِن شاءَ اللَّـهُ صابِرًا وَلا أَعصي لَكَ أَمرًا * قالَ فَإِنِ اتَّبَعتَني فَلا تَسأَلني عَن شَيءٍ حَتّى أُحدِثَ لَكَ مِنهُ ذِكرًا)
(He said, “You will find me, God willing, patient, and I will not disobey your command, He said, “If you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I mention it to you.”
So they started walking along the sea coast, and a ship passed by them, and those on board recognized Al-Khidr. So they took Musa and Al-Khidr with them without payment, . Moses - peace be upon him - was surprised by the arrival of Al-Khidr uprooting one of the ship’s planks*; He denied his action, which was not commensurate with the kindness shown to them by the people of the ship.
Allah says
(فَانطَلَقا حَتّى إِذا رَكِبا فِي السَّفينَةِ خَرَقَها قالَ أَخَرَقتَها لِتُغرِقَ أَهلَها لَقَد جِئتَ شَيئًا إِمرًا)
(So they set off until, when they got into the ship, He broken it, He said: You destroyed it to drown its people. You have come to something terrible.
Al-Khidr only reminded him of his condition, so Moses - peace be upon him - apologized to him, explaining that this was nothing but forgetfulness on his part.
Allah says
(قالَ أَلَم أَقُل إِنَّكَ لَن تَستَطيعَ مَعِيَ صَبرًا * قالَ لا تُؤاخِذني بِما نَسيتُ وَلا تُرهِقني مِن أَمري عُسرًا)
(He said, Did I not say that you would not be able to be patient with me, * He said, “Do not hold me accountable for what I have forgotten, and do not burden me with difficulty regarding my matter.”
Then a bird stood on the side of the ship and wanted to drink from the sea water, so it pecked at it, Al-Khidr likened the extent of their knowledge to the knowledge of God Almighty, - Like the amount of water that a bird drank from the sea. The Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - said: (And a bird came and landed on the side of the ship and pecked in the sea, Al-Khidr said to him: What is my knowledge and your knowledge of God’s knowledge except as this bird sips from this sea.
They got off the ship and walked along the coast
Al-Khidr saw a boy playing with his friends, so he grabbed his head and pulled it out, killing him, The Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - said: (So they went off, and behold, a boy was playing with the other boys, Then Al-Khidr grabbed his head from above and pulled off his head with his hand, Moses - peace be upon him - quickly denied his action, as he had no right to kill a soul.
Allah says
قالَ أَقَتَلتَ نَفسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيرِ نَفسٍ لَقَد جِئتَ شَيئًا نُكرًا)
He said: You killed a pure soul without a soul, you have done something deny)
Al-Khidr had no choice but to remind him of his condition again, and Moses - peace be upon him - apologized to him and told him that if he objected to something again, he would leave him and not accompany him.
Allah says
(قالَ أَلَم أَقُل لَكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَستَطيعَ مَعِيَ صَبرًا * قالَ إِن سَأَلتُكَ عَن شَيءٍ بَعدَها فَلا تُصاحِبني قَد بَلَغتَ مِن لَدُنّي عُذرًا)
(He said, Did I not tell you that you would not be able to be patient with me, He said: If I ask you about something after that, do not accompany me, for you have received an excuse from me.)
They continued their journey until they reached a village whose people refused them hospitality, Al-Khidr saw a slanting wall about to fall. So he changed his inclination and Moses, peace be upon him, told him: If he had been paid for his actions, they would have been able to obtain the food that the villagers refused to provide them.
Allah says
(فَانطَلَقا حَتّى إِذا أَتَيا أَهلَ قَريَةٍ استَطعَما أَهلَها فَأَبَوا أَن يُضَيِّفوهُما فَوَجَدا فيها جِدارًا يُريدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ فَأَقامَهُ قالَ لَو شِئتَ لَاتَّخَذتَ عَلَيهِ أَجرًا)
(So they set off until, when they came to the people of a town, they sought food from its people, they refused to give them hospitality, but they found a wall in it, wanted to break, so he made it stand. He said, “If you wish, you can take a reward for it.”
Al-Khidr had no choice but to tell him that the moment had come for them to part, and he would explain the wisdom behind all the actions that he had denounced.
Allah says
قالَ هـذا فِراقُ بَيني وَبَينِكَ سَأُنَبِّئُكَ بِتَأويلِ ما لَم تَستَطِع عَلَيهِ صَبرًا)
He said, “This is a parting between you and me. I will inform you of the interpretation of what you could not be patient with.”
The explaining the wisdom of every story that Moses - peace be upon him - denied Ali Al-Khidr
1 - The story of the ship
As for the ship and the damage he caused to it, this was only to get rid of the injustice of a king who used to forcefully take every good ship from its people, So he wanted to make a defect in it so that this king would turn a blind eye to it, and if that happened, the people of the ship would rush to repair it and benefit from it.
Allah says
(أَمَّا السَّفينَةُ فَكانَت لِمَساكينَ يَعمَلونَ فِي البَحرِ فَأَرَدتُ أَن أَعيبَها وَكانَ وَراءَهُم مَلِكٌ يَأخُذُ كُلَّ سَفينَةٍ غَصبًا )
(As for the ship, it belonged to poor people who worked at sea, so I wanted to defect it, but there was a king behind them who seized every ship by force.)
2- The killing the boy
His killing of the boy was because he was ungrateful to God and his parents were believers, so he feared they would follow him in his religion, Out of love for him and need for him; So God Almighty wanted to bless them with someone better than him in religion and righteousness.
Allah says
(وَأَمَّا الغُلامُ فَكانَ أَبَواهُ مُؤمِنَينِ فَخَشينا أَن يُرهِقَهُما طُغيانًا وَكُفرًا * فَأَرَدنا أَن يُبدِلَهُما رَبُّهُما خَيرًا مِنهُ زَكاةً وَأَقرَبَ رُحمًا)
(As for the boy, his parents were believers, so we feared that he would burden them with transgression and disbelief, So We wanted their Lord to replace Him with someone better in purity and closer in mercy.)
3- The wall that changed its inclination
Underneath it was a treasure belonging to two orphans living in the city, and this treasure was gold, as Ikrimah - may God be pleased with him - said, Ibn Abbas - may God be pleased with him - said that the treasure was knowledge, and Abu Dharr - may God be pleased with him - said that it was knowledge written on a tablet of gold, And God Almighty wanted to preserve it for them until they reached adulthood, because of the righteousness that their father was, this is an indication that God Almighty is responsible for preserving the offspring of a righteous servant, Al-Khidr concluded his conversation with Moses - peace be upon him - That everything he did was only by the command of God Almighty.
We benefit from the story of Moses - peace be upon him - with Al-Khidr
1 - Science on earth today has reached the point of tyranny, some search engines call him Doctor... by the name of the search engine due to the abundance of knowledge in it, and this is not all, but today there are scientific robots and other things that we know and that we do not know, therefore, it was extremely important for God Almighty to correct Moses’ view of matters, not only was he amazed by the amount of information he had, or he is a prophet, so he knows the knowledge of the first and the last. This is not the case. Rather, it is purely a blessing from God - the Almighty - to receive a small part of the knowledge, which is confirmed by the hadith of the bird that stood on the side of the ship.
2 - In the lives of each of us (Al-Khidr), things happen that makes us cry and scream like our master Moses - peace be upon him. The tongue of speech and what's on the ground, What is wisdom? The days come with understanding some wisdom, some of them are still unseen, but most of the wisdom appear in our lives after a short period of patience. Some problems only need time, just time that passes over them, and they become smaller in your eyes, or you become mature and rise above them and not need them more, or they are solved and the problem ends, It all depends on the degree of our patience and not screaming like children, and perhaps God - the Almighty - will make us read the surah every Friday to bring this idea back to our minds. Life is full of unpleasant surprises related to the world, and we are all this person, except for those who have mercy on our Lord.
3 - Be patient with incomprehensible things. You will mature and learn direct knowledge from God, God willing (Al-Khidr attained Heaven' knowledge) through his obedience to God’s commands - according to the narration that he is one of God’s righteous Gurdian, and it's opinion of the majority.
4 - God Almighty’s teaching to His prophets is sometimes harsh, and He taught all of it through experiences and not through words. He blamed our master Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - several times in the Holy Qur’an, Even the Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - said about himself (My Lord disciplined me and disciplined me well). Here is God Almighty’s discipline of our master Moses - peace be upon him, so what about us? Are we polite enough so that God does not refine in us what he should be polite? We live in this world in reserve, and we go to permanently reside with God - the Almighty - and with His Messenger, and the Messenger does not sit next to him unless they have good morals, Do we imagine that the incomprehensible calamities in our lives take more from us than they leave, leaving us in a state other than the one in which they arrived, Our sins will be erased and our status will be raised, God willing, if we are patient, so we will be educated and pave the way for a sound and good life With a powerful King, and God is Most High and All-Knowing.