The person Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ met was Al-Khidr, ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ, as is indicated by the authentic Hadiths narrated from the Messenger of Allah ﻢﻠﺳ ﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﺻ mentioned earlier.
K K h h i i d d r r
Who was Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ?
There is a difference on his true identity and whether he is alive or dead, but the strongest opinion is that he was a prophet and he is dead ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ.
Why there is so much controversy about Khidr’s ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ story?
So some sects can develop a methodology that wilaya can be better than nubuwa.
Others used this to prove that people can claim sainthood.
What does the word ‘mercy’ mean here?
It means knowledge. It is with this knowledge that he can differentiate between halal and haram. The main fruit of knowledge is piety as Allah ﻰﻟﺎﻌﺗ ﻭ ﻪﻧﺎﺒﺳ says:
“It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah. Verily, Allah is AllMighty, OftForgiving.”
27Verse 66
ُهَل َلا َق ٰٓىَلَع َكُعِبَّتَأ ۡلَھ ٰىَسوُم ۥ
ُت نَأ ِنَمِّلَع َّمِم
َت ۡمِّلُع ا ۡشُر
ا ً۟د ) ٦٦ (
“Moses said to him, "May I follow you on [the condition] that you teach me from what you have been taught of sound judgement?"”
Here we see that Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ becomes aware of his previous mistake and decides to become the
1) The student of knowledge always asks politely
¾ Musa’s ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ question was phrased in gentle terms, with no sense of force or coercion.
This is the manner in which the seeker of knowledge should address the scholar.
1) The student of knowledge always ascribes the knowledge to Allah ﻰﻟﺎﻌﺗ ﻭ ﻪﻧﺎﺒﺳ
Verse 67
“He said, "Indeed, with me you will never be able to have patience.”
Etiquettes of the teacher:
1) The teacher knows his student. (Firasa)
(a) Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ knew his student well and knew his character as well.
(b) Imam Malik could see that in his student Imam Al-Shafi’i.
2) The teacher should advise his student.
Verse 68
“And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge?"
Another etiquette of the teacher with the students is being able to speak to the student according to their (students’) level. Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ is saying, “I know that you will denounce me justifiably, but I have knowledge of Allah's wisdom and the hidden interests which I can see but you cannot.”
Verse 69
“[Moses] said, "You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in [any]
Here the teacher puts conditions because it is his right to impose conditions on a student who wants to learn from him, and if the student agrees to learn than he has to agree to the conditions.
Verse 70
ىِن ۡلَٔـ ۡسَت َلاَف ىِنَت ۡعَبَّتٱ ِنِإَف َلا َق َش نَع
ٍء ۡى ۡكِذ ُه ۡنِم َكَل َثِد ۡحُأ ٰٓىَّت َح ا ً۟ر
) ٧٠ (
“He said, "Then if you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I make to you about it mention."”
There are two conditions here:
(1) Patience (2) Obedience
Verse 71
َطنٱَف ىِف اَبِك َر اَذِإ ٰٓىَّتَح اَقَل اَھَق َر َخ ِةَنيِفَّسلٱ
َر َخَأ َلاَق ۖ َقَل اَھَل ۡھَأ َق ِر ۡغُتِل اَہَت ۡق
َت ۡئِج ۡد
ۡمِإ أًـ ۡيَش ا ً۟ر
) ٧١ (
“So they set out, until when they had embarked on the ship, al-Khidhr tore it open. [Moses]
said, "Have you torn it open to drown its people? You have certainly done a grave thing.""
Allah ﻰﻟﺎﻌﺗ ﻭ ﻪﻧﺎﺒﺳ tells us that Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ and his companion Al-Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ set out having come to an agreement and reached an understanding. Al-Khidr had made the condition that Musa should not ask him about anything he found distasteful until he himself initiated the discussion and offered an explanation. So they went on board the ship, as described in the Hadith quoted above -- the crew recognized Al-Khidr and let them ride on board free of charge, as an honor to Al-Khidr. When the boat took them out to sea and they were far from the shore, Al-Khidr got up and damaged the boat, pulling out one of its planks and then patching it up again. Musa, ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ could not restrain himself from
ۡلُقَأ ۡمَلَأ َلا َق
“[Al-Khidhr] said, "Did I not say that with me you would never be able to have patience?“”
Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ says, `this thing that I did deliberately is one of the things I told you not to denounce me for, because you do not know the full story, and there is a reason and purpose for it that you do not know about.'
Here we see a great etiquette from the teacher and that is to have mercy and good manners with the student. There is Hikmah in the way he answered Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ. We also see love and patience from the teacher. The teacher is like a parent to the student.
Verse 73
“[Moses] said, "Do not blame me for what I forgot and do not cover me in my matter with difficulty."”
Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ is asking Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ not to be harsh with him because of his forgetfulness.
Verse 74
“So they set out, until when they met a boy, al-Khidh r killed him. [Moses] said, "Have you killed a pure soul for other than [having killed] a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing.“
It has been stated previously that this boy was playing with other boys in one of the towns, and that Al-Khidr deliberately singled him out. He was the finest and most handsome of them all, and Al-Al-Khidr
Verse 75
َق ۞ َكَّل لُقَأ ۡمَلَأ َلا
َّنِإ َك َت نَل َص َىِعَم َعي ِطَت ۡس ا ً۟ر ۡب
) ٧٥ (
“[Al-Khidh r] said, "Did I not tell you that with me you would never be able to have patience?"”
Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ here has patience with the actions of the teacher. Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ knew how to interact with Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ. We also learn that the student has to have patience with their teacher and their actions.
Verse 76
َلا َق َس نِإ َكُت ۡلَأ َش نَع ِحٰـَصُت َلاَف اَھَد ۡعَب ِۭء ۡى
ۡب ىِن
ۖ َق ۡد َّل نِم َت ۡغَلَب ِّنُد
ۡذُع ى ا ً۟ر
) ٧٦ (
“[Moses] said, "If I should ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion. You have obtained from me an excuse."”
Here is another sign of Musa’s ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ determination to seek knowledge.
Ibn Jarir narrated from Ibn `Abbas that Ubayy bin Ka`b said: "Whenever the Prophet mentioned anyone, he would pray for himself first. One day he said:
May the mercy of Allah be upon us and upon Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ. If he had stayed with his companion he would have seen wonders, but he said, (`If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me.
َطنٱَف
“So they set out, until when they came to the people of a town, they asked its people for food, but they refused to offer them hospitality. And they found therein a wall about to collapse, so al-Khidhr restored it. [Moses] said, "If you wished, you could have taken for it a payment."”
Here we see that we should offer hospitality to our fellow brothers and sisters and neighbours, look for the hadith that talks about receiving the neighbour and traveller, in the sacred scrolls.
Verse 78
“[Al-Khidh r] said, "This is parting between me and you. I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.””
Hastiness is one of the main problems of the students. The teacher should always explain to the students what they do not understand and never leave them confused or lost.
Verse 79
“As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working at sea. So I intended to cause defect in it as there was after them a king who seized every [good] ship by force.””
Here we learnt he difference between faqir and miskin.
a) Faqir has nothing not enough even for a day
Have Husn Ath-dhan with people. There is always a different perspective and we need to have an open mind. This is exactly what Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ teaches us and we see this from the story where Musa ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ only saw one side of the spectrum, where as Khidr ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ saw both or knew both. If you can stop oppression without a greater oppression then you must.
Verse 80
َو َّمَأ ٓاَني ِش َخَف ِن ۡيَنِم ۡؤُم ُها َوَبَأ َناَكَف ُمٰـَلُغۡلٱ ا ُي نَأ
ٰـَي ۡغُط اَمُھَقِھ ۡر َو ا ً۟ن
ۡفُڪ ا ً۟ر ) ٨٠ (
“And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief.””
Here we see the recurring theme of lineage and how we should not make it the reason for disbelief.