Al-Khidr (a): Difference between revisions

'''Khiḍr''' (Arabic:{{ia| الخِضر}}) is a Walī (Friend of God), regarded by some as a [[prophet]] whose name is not explicitly mentioned in the [[Holy Qur'an]]. According to some [[hadiths]], he is a person with God-given knowledge ([[al-'ilm al-ladunni]]). The Holy Qur'an, 18:60-82, tells the story of the Prophet [[Moses]]'s (a) meeting and accompanying a man; this man is said to be Khidr. In this story, Khidr scuttled a ship owned by some poor people, killed an innocent boy, and reconstructed a ruined wall without receiving any wage. Moses objected to his actions, and at the end, Khidr gave an explanation of why he did so.

Khidr is said to be from the progeny of the Prophet [[Isaac (a)]]. According to [[hadith]]s, Khidr is alive, just as [[Jesus (a)]] is alive. There are numerous hadiths in [[Shiite]] hadith collections concerning Khidr's character, the story of his encounter with Moses (a), and his meetings with the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] and the Shiite [[Imams (a)]]. Khidr is also mentioned in the [[Sufi]] literature and Persian poems as a guide to mystical journeys who has the position of [[Wilaya]].

[[Ibn Qutayba]] (d. after 355/965) cited Wahb b. Munabbih (who was known as giving false reports and stories) as saying that Khidr's name was Balya, the son of Malkan who was a prominent king. And he took Khidr's lineage to go back to the Prophet [[Noah (a)]].

Al-Maqdisi (d. after 355/965) identified Khidr, on the basis of different sources, with prophets such as [[Jeremiah]] or [[Elisha]]. According to him, many people take Khidr to be [[Dhu l-Qarnayn]]'s cousin and minister.

One strange view about Khidr's lineage is that his father or mother wa Iranian or Roman, or that his father was the [[Pharaoh]] who lived in the period of Moses (a), and some people took him to be an immediate son of [[Adam (a)]].

Khidr's name is not mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, but in 18:60-82 there is a mysterious story of the Prophet Moses (a), meeting a righteous person, who is described as “one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed Mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our Own Presence” (the Holy Qur'an, 18:65). Almost all Muslim scholars took this righteous servant of God to be Khidr (a).

According to [[Sunni]] collections of hadiths, this Quranic story captured the attention of early Muslims and led to many questions and controversies among the [[Sahaba]] and [[Tabi'un]].

According to a hadith in ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' and ''[[Sahih Muslim]]'', [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] had an argument with another person about the identity of Moses's master. So they went to [[Ubayy b. Ka'b]] to settle their dispute. He cited a remark by the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]]: “Moses was among a group of Israelite people. Someone went to him and asked him if he knew anyone more knowledgeable and wiser than himself. “No!” replied Moses. Then God revealed to him that there was someone wiser than him: His servant, Khidr. Moses asked God how to meet him. God specified a fish as a sign and told him that if he lost the fish, he had to go back all the way to meet Khidr. This hadith from the Holy Prophet (s) mentioned the name of Khidr, and states that the reason why Moses departed to Majma' al-Bahrayn (the junction of two seas) was to meet Khidr.

According to another hadith, in response to [[Sa'id b. Jubayr]]'s question, Ibn 'Abbas said that Moses (a) in this story is the well-known Israelite Prophet Moses, the son of Imran. He accused [[Nawf al-Bikali]] of lying because he took this Moses to be someone else, and on some accounts, he called him an enemy of God.

Many various elements of the story of Moses (a) and Khidr (a) in Islamic sources, especially Quranic exegeses, have their origin in [[Muqatil b. Sulayman]]'s views. In his exegesis, he tried to specify the exact locations of their travels and their motivations. He took Khidr (a) to be the Prophet Elisha, since his knowledge is as vast as the six skies and earths. According to Muqatil, he lived where the two rivers, Rass and Kurr, met on the other side of the [[Azerbaijan]] region and pour into the sea. On his account, Moses (a) met Khidr (a) in an island while wearing woolen clothes, and Khidr (a) immediately knew him with his God-given knowledge. Muqatil interpreted the word, “mercy”, in the Holy Qur'an, 18:56 as prophethood, and took Khidr (a) to be a prophet like Moses (a). For Muqatil, the superiority of Khidr's knowledge to Moses's is a matter of differences made by God between His prophets, not that Khidr had a position superior to prophethood.

[[Al-Shaykh al-Saduq|Ibn Babawayh]] cited a hadith in his ''[['Uyun akhbar al-Rida (a)]]'' in which [[Imam al-Rida (a)]] quoted his father and ancestors quoting [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] as saying that Khidr (a) appeared to the Holy Prophet (s) and 'Ali (a) as a tall, sturdy old man with thick beard when they were crossing an alley in [[Medina]] and talked with them.

[[Abu Nasr al-Sarraj]] decisively rejected the view that the story of Moses (a) and Khidr (a) implies the inferiority of Moses (a) and the superiority of Khidr (a). He explicitly said that prophets are superior to saints of God. Among Shiite Sufis, in his ''Nass al-nusus'', [[Sayyid Haydar Amuli]] (d. after 794/1391) took Khidr (a) to be a prophet after [[Luqman]] and before [[Elijah]].

In an explanation of Khidr's longevity, [[Ibn Abi Jumhur al-Ahsa'i]] (alive in 904/1498) took the rivers in the Holy Qur'an to refer to the knowledge of truths leading to a true eternal life, from which Khidr (a) drank. The spring of this water is the spring of [[wilaya]] and the source of divine succession. Whoever drinks it will live forever and will have an eternal life in the heaven.