It has been reported that when pharaoh drowned in the River Nile along with his army and Sayyiduna Musa settled in Egypt with the Bani Israel, then one day, the following dialogue took place between Allah and Sayyiduna Musa :
Sayyiduna Musa :
• Allah ! Who is the most beloved bondman to You among Your people?
Allah:
The one who invokes My remembrance [Zikr] and never forgets Me.
Sayyiduna Musa :
Who is the best one to dispense a Judgement?
Allah:
The one who passes judgement justly and is never deceived by worldly desires.
Sayyiduna Musa :
Who is the most knowledgeable person among Your bondmen?
Allah:
The one who along with his knowledge, always strives to acquire know ledge from others; so that he may acquire such a piece of knowledge that may guide him towards righteousness or save him from devastation in afterlife.
Sayyiduna Musa :
If there is anyone more knowledgeable than me among Your bondmen, then please guide me towards him?
Allah:
Khidr is more knowledgeable than you.
Sayyiduna Musa :
Where should I search for him?
Allah:
On the bank of the sea, near the rock.
Sayyiduna Musa :
How and by what means can I reach there?
Allah:
Travel along with a fish in a basket and the place where that fish gets lost is the point where you will meet Khidr.
(Madarik-ut-Tanzeel, vol. 3, pp. 217, part 15, Surah Al-Kah{, Ayah 60)
After this, Sayyiduna Musa embarked on the journey of Majma’ -ulBahrayn (a place where two seas meet) along with his servant and disciple Yoosha’ Bin Noon Bin lfraaim Bin Yusuf · During his journey, when Sayyiduna Musa went to a far-off region, he went asleep at some place. At that very place, the fish in the basket quivered and jumped into the sea. A hole emerged in the area of the water where the fish had fallen into. After waking up, Sayyiduna Musa resumed his journey. When it was the lunch time, he asked for the fish from his disciple, Sayyiduna Yoosha’ Bin Noon · He said very humbly and politely, ‘The place near the hill where you went asleep, the fish jumped into the sea there and I forgot to inform you.’ Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘This was the very place we had been searching for.’ However, by following back his footsteps, he reached the place which was revealed to him as the meeting place with Sayyiduna Khidr .
Sayyiduna Musa saw that there is a pious personage sitting there wrapped up in the clothes. When Sayyiduna Musa paid compliments of Salam to him, the saint asked surprisingly, ‘Where have people that make Salam come from on this land?’ Then he inquired, ‘Who are you?’ Sayyiduna Musa replied, ‘I am Musa.’ He further inquired, ‘Who Musa? Are you Musa of the Bani Israel?’ Sayyiduna Musa replied, ‘Yes.’ Then Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘O Musa, Allah has bestowed me with such a type of knowledge which you do not know and Allah has bestowed you with such a type of knowledge which I do not know.’ It implicitly meant I know ‘Ilm-ul-Asraar (knowledge of secrets) which you do not know, while you are bestowed with ‘Ilm-ush-Shara’i’ (knowledge of religion) which I do not have the knowledge of.
Then Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘O Khidr ! Do you allow me to follow you so that I can also acquire some of the knowledge which Allah has blessed you with.’ Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘You will not be able to observe patience with me.’ Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘ I will be patient and will not disobey you at all.’ Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘The condition is that you will not ask question about anything until I myself do not inform you.’ After this mutual agreement, Sayyiduna Khidrtook Sayyiduna Musa and Yoosha’ Bin Noon with him and started walking alongside the seashore until they came across a boat. The people on the boat boarded them on and did not even charge any fare. When these people sat in the boat, Sayyiduna Khidr took out his axe from his pouch detached one of the boats plank and threw it into the sea. Witnessing this, Sayyiduna Musa-could not observe patience and asked the following question to Sayyiduna Khidr -:
اَخَرَقْتَہَا لِتُغْرِقَ اَہۡلَہَا ۚ لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَیْـًٔا اِمْرًا ﴿71﴾ (پ 15،الکہف:71)
Did you damage the boat with the reason to drown its passengers? You have
indeed done wrong.
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)J (Part 15, Surah Al-Kahf, Ayah 71)
Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘Did I not tell you that you will not be able to observe patience with me.’ Sayyiduna Musa apologized and said, ‘I forgot not to ask any question. Therefore, please neglect it and do not make difficulty in my mission.’ Then these esteemed people advanced further and Sayyiduna Khidr came across a child, who was the only son of his parents. Sayyiduna Khidr strangled him, banged him on the ground and killed him. Witnessing this terrifying scene, Sayyiduna Musa could not bear the patience and said to Sayyiduna Khidr in a fairly strict tone:
اَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَکِیَّۃًۢ بِغَیۡرِ نَفْسٍ ؕ لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَیْـًٔا نُّکْرًا ﴿74﴾
Musa said, ‘Did you kill a pure soul without any retribution for another soul? You have indeed done something extremely wrong.’
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)] (Part 15, Surah Al-Kahf, Ay ah 74)
Sayyiduna Khidr gave the same reply to Sayyiduna Musa’ ‘Did I not tell you that you will not be able to observe patience with me at all.’ At this, Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘Alright. If I ask you anything else after this, then do not stay with me. No doubt that the chance provided by you to me in this regard remains no more.’ After this, they all resumed their journey together. They reached a village and requested for some food from the villagers. But no one among the villagers served any food. Then they both came across a wall in the village that was about to fall. Sayyiduna Khidr erected the wall by invoking the Ism-e-A’zam. Sayyiduna Musa was already displeased with the bad conduct of the people of the village, so he became angry and could not remained silent and said:
لَوْ شِئْتَ لَتَّخَذْتَ عَلَیۡہِ اَجْرًا ﴿77﴾
If you had wished, you could have asked for compensation Jo r it.
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)J (Part 15, Surah Al-KahJ; Ayah 77)
Hearing this, Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘From now on wards, we cannot proceed together and the things that happened for you could not withhold patience, I will explain you the secrets within them. Listen! The boat that I damaged belonged to some poor people who would earn livelihood by virtue of that boat. At some distance ahead, there lived a tyrant king who would capture the good-condition boats and would leave the defective ones. So I intentionally took out one of its planks and made it defective, so that it may remain protected from the tyrant king. The parent of the child I killed were very pious and virtuous people, but the child himself was an infidel by birth. His parents loved him immensely and used to fulfil his every desire. So I feared that the child might divert his parents towards unbelief. That’s why I killed him and saved his parents from unbelief. Now his parents will observe patience and Allah will bestow them with a daughter in exchange who will get married to a Nabi and will also give birth to a Nabi who will guide the people towards Allah .
The secret behind repairing the damaged wall was that it was property of two orphans, beneath which was buried – their hidden treasure. Their father was a pious person. If this wall had collapsed, the people of the village would have taken their treasure. Your Rab destined these two orphans to grow up and dig out their treasure. Thus I repaired the wall. This is the grace of Allah unto these children. 0 Musa ! Be assured that whatever I did was not from my own accord, instead I did all this to fulfil the order of Allah .’ After this Sayyiduna Musa returned to his native country. (Madarik-utTanzeel, vol. 3, pp. 219-221, part 15-16, Surah Al-Kahf, summarized)
Introduction of Sayyiduna Khidr
Sayyiduna Khidr is called Abul ‘Abbas. His name is ‘Balya’ and his father’s name is ‘Malkaan’. Balya is a word from the Suryani language. Its translation in Arabic is ‘Ahmad’. His title is ‘Khidr’. This word can be articulated in three ways: Khadir, Khadr and Khidr; and the meaning of the word Khidr is ‘a green thing’. Wherever he would sit, green grass would grow due to his blessings, and due to this reason, people started calling him ‘Khidr’. He belongs to a very honourable family lineage and his ancestors were kings. Some spiritual scholars have mentioned that a Muslim who remembers his name, his father’s name and his Kunyah, would not suffer faithless end. (As-Saawi, vol. 4, pp. 1207, part 15, Surah Al-Kah!, Ayah 65)
Khidr, a living Wali of Allah
Some people have mentioned Sayyiduna Khidr as a Nabi but the majority of the Islamic scholars are of the opinion that he is a W ali (friend) of Allah. (Jalalayn, pp. 249; part 15, Surah Al-Kah!, Ayah 65)
This is also accepted unanimously by the majority of the scholars that he is still alive and will remain alive until the Day of Judgement, because he has drunk the water of life [Aab-e-Hayat]. Numerous friends of Allah used to avail his company to attain blessings. In this context, a spiritual saint, Sayyid Bikri has written a eulogy about Sayyiduna Khidr called ‘Dard-us-Sahar’, in the following words:
حَییٌ وَحَقِّکَ لَمْ یَقُل بَوَفَاتِہٖ
اِلَّا الَّذِیْ لَمْ یَلْقَ نُورَ جَمَالِہٖ
فَعَلَیْہِ مِنِّیْ کُلَّمَا ھَبَّ الصَّبَا
اَزکٰی سَلَامٍ طَابَ فِیْ اِرْسَالِہ
‘I swear by Your Rab! Sayyiduna Khidr is alive and the one who believes that he is dead will only be the one who has not been able to see his enlightened beauty. So whenever the fragrant breeze blow, may my Salam be unto him and may the blowing breeze convey my Salam with purity to him.’
Sayyiduna Khidr has also been privileged to physically meet the Most
Dignified Rasool . Therefore, he is also a companion (Saha bi) of the Holy Rasool
(As-Sacnvi, vol. 4, pp. 1208; part 15, Surah Al-Kahf, Ayah 65)
It has been reported that when pharaoh drowned in the River Nile along with his army and Sayyiduna Musa settled in Egypt with the Bani Israel, then one day, the following dialogue took place between Allah and Sayyiduna Musa :
Sayyiduna Musa :
• Allah ! Who is the most beloved bondman to You among Your people?
Allah:
The one who invokes My remembrance [Zikr] and never forgets Me.
Sayyiduna Musa :
Who is the best one to dispense a Judgement?
Allah:
The one who passes judgement justly and is never deceived by worldly desires.
Sayyiduna Musa :
Who is the most knowledgeable person among Your bondmen?
Allah:
The one who along with his knowledge, always strives to acquire know ledge from others; so that he may acquire such a piece of knowledge that may guide him towards righteousness or save him from devastation in afterlife.
Sayyiduna Musa :
If there is anyone more knowledgeable than me among Your bondmen, then please guide me towards him?
Allah:
Khidr is more knowledgeable than you.
Sayyiduna Musa :
Where should I search for him?
Allah:
On the bank of the sea, near the rock.
Sayyiduna Musa :
How and by what means can I reach there?
Allah:
Travel along with a fish in a basket and the place where that fish gets lost is the point where you will meet Khidr.
(Madarik-ut-Tanzeel, vol. 3, pp. 217, part 15, Surah Al-Kah{, Ayah 60)
After this, Sayyiduna Musa embarked on the journey of Majma’ -ulBahrayn (a place where two seas meet) along with his servant and disciple Yoosha’ Bin Noon Bin lfraaim Bin Yusuf · During his journey, when Sayyiduna Musa went to a far-off region, he went asleep at some place. At that very place, the fish in the basket quivered and jumped into the sea. A hole emerged in the area of the water where the fish had fallen into. After waking up, Sayyiduna Musa resumed his journey. When it was the lunch time, he asked for the fish from his disciple, Sayyiduna Yoosha’ Bin Noon · He said very humbly and politely, ‘The place near the hill where you went asleep, the fish jumped into the sea there and I forgot to inform you.’ Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘This was the very place we had been searching for.’ However, by following back his footsteps, he reached the place which was revealed to him as the meeting place with Sayyiduna Khidr .
Sayyiduna Musa saw that there is a pious personage sitting there wrapped up in the clothes. When Sayyiduna Musa paid compliments of Salam to him, the saint asked surprisingly, ‘Where have people that make Salam come from on this land?’ Then he inquired, ‘Who are you?’ Sayyiduna Musa replied, ‘I am Musa.’ He further inquired, ‘Who Musa? Are you Musa of the Bani Israel?’ Sayyiduna Musa replied, ‘Yes.’ Then Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘O Musa, Allah has bestowed me with such a type of knowledge which you do not know and Allah has bestowed you with such a type of knowledge which I do not know.’ It implicitly meant I know ‘Ilm-ul-Asraar (knowledge of secrets) which you do not know, while you are bestowed with ‘Ilm-ush-Shara’i’ (knowledge of religion) which I do not have the knowledge of.
Then Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘O Khidr ! Do you allow me to follow you so that I can also acquire some of the knowledge which Allah has blessed you with.’ Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘You will not be able to observe patience with me.’ Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘ I will be patient and will not disobey you at all.’ Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘The condition is that you will not ask question about anything until I myself do not inform you.’ After this mutual agreement, Sayyiduna Khidrtook Sayyiduna Musa and Yoosha’ Bin Noon with him and started walking alongside the seashore until they came across a boat. The people on the boat boarded them on and did not even charge any fare. When these people sat in the boat, Sayyiduna Khidr took out his axe from his pouch detached one of the boats plank and threw it into the sea. Witnessing this, Sayyiduna Musa-could not observe patience and asked the following question to Sayyiduna Khidr -:
Did you damage the boat with the reason to drown its passengers? You have
indeed done wrong.
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)J (Part 15, Surah Al-Kahf, Ayah 71)
Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘Did I not tell you that you will not be able to observe patience with me.’ Sayyiduna Musa apologized and said, ‘I forgot not to ask any question. Therefore, please neglect it and do not make difficulty in my mission.’ Then these esteemed people advanced further and Sayyiduna Khidr came across a child, who was the only son of his parents. Sayyiduna Khidr strangled him, banged him on the ground and killed him. Witnessing this terrifying scene, Sayyiduna Musa could not bear the patience and said to Sayyiduna Khidr in a fairly strict tone:
Musa said, ‘Did you kill a pure soul without any retribution for another soul? You have indeed done something extremely wrong.’
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)] (Part 15, Surah Al-Kahf, Ay ah 74)
Sayyiduna Khidr gave the same reply to Sayyiduna Musa’ ‘Did I not tell you that you will not be able to observe patience with me at all.’ At this, Sayyiduna Musa said, ‘Alright. If I ask you anything else after this, then do not stay with me. No doubt that the chance provided by you to me in this regard remains no more.’ After this, they all resumed their journey together. They reached a village and requested for some food from the villagers. But no one among the villagers served any food. Then they both came across a wall in the village that was about to fall. Sayyiduna Khidr erected the wall by invoking the Ism-e-A’zam. Sayyiduna Musa was already displeased with the bad conduct of the people of the village, so he became angry and could not remained silent and said:
If you had wished, you could have asked for compensation Jo r it.
[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)J (Part 15, Surah Al-KahJ; Ayah 77)
Hearing this, Sayyiduna Khidr said, ‘From now on wards, we cannot proceed together and the things that happened for you could not withhold patience, I will explain you the secrets within them. Listen! The boat that I damaged belonged to some poor people who would earn livelihood by virtue of that boat. At some distance ahead, there lived a tyrant king who would capture the good-condition boats and would leave the defective ones. So I intentionally took out one of its planks and made it defective, so that it may remain protected from the tyrant king. The parent of the child I killed were very pious and virtuous people, but the child himself was an infidel by birth. His parents loved him immensely and used to fulfil his every desire. So I feared that the child might divert his parents towards unbelief. That’s why I killed him and saved his parents from unbelief. Now his parents will observe patience and Allah will bestow them with a daughter in exchange who will get married to a Nabi and will also give birth to a Nabi who will guide the people towards Allah .
The secret behind repairing the damaged wall was that it was property of two orphans, beneath which was buried – their hidden treasure. Their father was a pious person. If this wall had collapsed, the people of the village would have taken their treasure. Your Rab destined these two orphans to grow up and dig out their treasure. Thus I repaired the wall. This is the grace of Allah unto these children. 0 Musa ! Be assured that whatever I did was not from my own accord, instead I did all this to fulfil the order of Allah .’ After this Sayyiduna Musa returned to his native country. (Madarik-utTanzeel, vol. 3, pp. 219-221, part 15-16, Surah Al-Kahf, summarized)
Introduction of Sayyiduna Khidr
Sayyiduna Khidr is called Abul ‘Abbas. His name is ‘Balya’ and his father’s name is ‘Malkaan’. Balya is a word from the Suryani language. Its translation in Arabic is ‘Ahmad’. His title is ‘Khidr’. This word can be articulated in three ways: Khadir, Khadr and Khidr; and the meaning of the word Khidr is ‘a green thing’. Wherever he would sit, green grass would grow due to his blessings, and due to this reason, people started calling him ‘Khidr’. He belongs to a very honourable family lineage and his ancestors were kings. Some spiritual scholars have mentioned that a Muslim who remembers his name, his father’s name and his Kunyah, would not suffer faithless end. (As-Saawi, vol. 4, pp. 1207, part 15, Surah Al-Kah!, Ayah 65)
Khidr, a living Wali of Allah
Some people have mentioned Sayyiduna Khidr as a Nabi but the majority of the Islamic scholars are of the opinion that he is a W ali (friend) of Allah. (Jalalayn, pp. 249; part 15, Surah Al-Kah!, Ayah 65)
This is also accepted unanimously by the majority of the scholars that he is still alive and will remain alive until the Day of Judgement, because he has drunk the water of life [Aab-e-Hayat]. Numerous friends of Allah used to avail his company to attain blessings. In this context, a spiritual saint, Sayyid Bikri has written a eulogy about Sayyiduna Khidr called ‘Dard-us-Sahar’, in the following words:
‘I swear by Your Rab! Sayyiduna Khidr is alive and the one who believes that he is dead will only be the one who has not been able to see his enlightened beauty. So whenever the fragrant breeze blow, may my Salam be unto him and may the blowing breeze convey my Salam with purity to him.’
Sayyiduna Khidr has also been privileged to physically meet the Most
Dignified Rasool . Therefore, he is also a companion (Saha bi) of the Holy Rasool
(As-Sacnvi, vol. 4, pp. 1208; part 15, Surah Al-Kahf, Ayah 65)
