Mukhtasar Muslim

Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Jubair says: I said to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), "Nauf Bakkali says that Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him), who was the Prophet of Bani Israel, is someone else, and the Musa who went to Khidr (peace be upon him) is someone else." He said, "The enemy of Allah lies. I heard Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) say, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) stood up to deliver a sermon to his people, Bani Israel. He was asked, 'Who among the people has the most knowledge?' He said, 'I do.' (This statement was disliked by Allah Almighty.) So Allah expressed displeasure with him because he did not say, 'Allah knows best.' Then Allah revealed to him that at the junction of the two seas there is a servant of Mine who is more knowledgeable than you.' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'O Lord! How can I meet him?' It was commanded, 'Put a fish in a basket; wherever that fish is lost, there you will find that servant.' Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) set out with his companion Yusha' bin Nun (peace be upon him), and they placed a fish in a basket. Both of them walked until they reached a rock (a certain place), and Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) and his companion fell asleep. The fish stirred until it came out of the basket and fell into the river, and Allah Almighty stopped the flow of water over it until the water stood still like an arch, and a dry path was made for the fish. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) and his companion were amazed. Then both of them walked for a day and a night, and Musa's companion forgot to tell him about the fish. When morning came, Musa (peace be upon him) said to his companion, 'Bring our breakfast; we have become tired from this journey.' And the fatigue occurred only after they passed the place where they were commanded to go. He said, 'Did you not know that when we rested at the rock, I forgot the fish, and Satan made me forget, and it is amazing that the fish took its way into the sea.' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'That is what we were seeking.' So both of them retraced their footsteps until they reached the rock. There they saw a man covered with a garment. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) greeted him with salam. He said, 'Where is salam in your land?' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'I am Musa.' He said, 'Musa of Bani Israel?' Sayyiduna Musa said, 'Yes.' Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'Allah has given you knowledge which I do not know, and He has given me knowledge which you do not know.' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'I want to stay with you so that you may teach me the knowledge which you have been given.' Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'You will not be able to have patience with me, and how can you have patience over that which you do not know?' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in any matter.' Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'Well, if you accompany me, do not ask me about anything until I myself mention it to you.' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'Very well.' So Khidr (peace be upon him) and Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) both walked along the seashore until a boat passed by. Both of them asked the boatmen to take them aboard. They recognized Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) and took both of them on board without fare. Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) pulled out a plank from the boat. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'These people took us on board without fare, and you have damaged their boat to drown its owners? You have done a grave thing.' Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'Did I not say that you would not be able to have patience with me?' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'Do not call me to account for my forgetfulness, and do not be hard on me.' Then both of them disembarked from the boat and walked along the seashore until they met a boy who was playing with other boys. Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) seized his head and killed him. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'You have killed an innocent soul without right; you have done a terrible thing.' Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'Did I not say that you would not be able to have patience with me?' And this deed was even more severe than the previous one. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'If I object to anything after this, then do not keep me with you; indeed, you will have a valid excuse.' Then both of them walked until they reached a town. They asked the townspeople for food, but they refused. Then they found a wall that was about to collapse and was leaning. Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) set it straight with his own hands. Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'We asked these townspeople for food, and they refused and did not feed us. (Was it necessary to work for such people for free?) If you wished, you could have taken wages for it.' Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'This is the parting between me and you. Now I will tell you the meaning of those things over which you could not have patience.' The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, 'May Allah have mercy on Musa (peace be upon him). I wish he had been patient so that we could have learned more about their story.' And he (peace be upon him) said, 'The first thing Musa (peace be upon him) did was out of forgetfulness.' Then a bird came and sat on the edge of the boat and dipped its beak into the sea. Sayyiduna Khidr (peace be upon him) said, 'I and you have learned from the knowledge of Allah only as much as this bird has reduced the water of the sea.' Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Jubair said that Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) used to recite: 'Ahead of those boatmen was a king who would seize every sound boat by force without right,' and he used to recite: 'That boy was a disbeliever.' (By these last two sentences is meant that the verses of the Holy Qur'an are not exactly like this, but Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) used to recite them in this way as a form of explanation.)