Surah Al-Kahf (18) — Ayah 82

(Ayah 82) ➊ { وَ كَانَ اَبُوْهُمَا صَالِحًا :} Allah Almighty takes special care of His righteous servants’ believing children even after their death, and on the Day of Resurrection He will also grant them special favor. See Surah At-Tur (21).

➋ While explaining the real truth of these three incidents, Khidr (peace be upon him) especially maintained good manners with Allah Almighty. He attributed the act of making the boat defective to himself, the intention of killing the boy to himself, and the granting of better offspring to the righteous father to Allah Almighty, and the intention that the orphan boys would grow up and take care of their treasure to Allah Almighty.

➌ {وَ مَا فَعَلْتُهٗ عَنْ اَمْرِيْ :} This is clear evidence of Khidr (peace be upon him) being a prophet, because no wali is permitted, on the basis of inspiration from Allah, to kill even the worst of the worst, as Satan can interfere in his inspiration. {’’ لَمْ تَسْطِعْ ‘‘} Originally it was {’’ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ‘‘}, for ease the letter "taa" was omitted. At the beginning of Khidr’s (peace be upon him) speech, {’’ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ‘‘} is used, because the conversation is starting, there is no need for brevity; when the conversation ends, the story is summarized, so here {’’ لَمْ تَسْطِعْ ‘‘} is used. Another reason mentioned is that due to lack of clarity there was mental burden, so a heavy word was used, and after clarification, when the burden was lifted, a lighter word was used.

82. 1. This is the second argument of those who affirm the prophethood of Khidr, by which they establish the prophethood of Khidr. Because no non-prophet receives such revelation that he would perform such important actions merely on a divine indication, nor is such a divine indication of a non-prophet actionable. Just as the prophethood of Khidr is disputed among a group, so too is the life of Khidr, and those who affirm the life of Khidr prove the meetings of many people with Khidr and then present these as evidence for his being alive until now. However, just as there is no Shari'ah verse regarding the life of Khidr, in the same way, people's mystical unveilings or claims of meeting Khidr in wakefulness or in sleep are also not acceptable. When his appearance has not been described through reliable means, then how is his identification possible? And how can it be believed that the elders who claimed to have met him actually met Khidr, the companion of Musa (عليه السلام), and were not deceived or misled by someone using the name of Khidr?

82. And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys living in the city. Beneath it was a treasure for them, and their father was a righteous man. So your Lord willed that they should reach maturity and extract their [70] treasure. What I did was by the mercy of your Lord. I did not do it of my own accord [71]. This is the reality of those matters over which you could not remain patient.

[70] That is, if the wall had collapsed at any time, the treasure would have become visible and ill-intentioned people would have seized it or taken it away, and those orphans would not have received anything. Now, when they grow up, they themselves will be able to take out their father's buried wealth and use it.

Only Allah Knows the Wisdom Behind His Decisions:

From the three incidents mentioned above, in fact, light is shed on the hidden wisdom in the workings of Divine Will. The first incident was that the boatmen, considering Sayyiduna Musa ؑ and Sayyiduna Khidr both as strangers, did not take any fare from them and allowed them to board the boat. In return, Sayyiduna Khidr did something that apparently seemed wrong, but in reality, Sayyiduna Khidr did them a great favor and repaid their kindness in such a way that he saved them from a great loss. From this, we also learn that one should not be impatient over any loss; only Allah knows what greater benefit He has hidden for someone in that loss. The second incident, in terms of shock, was more severe than the first, but the wisdom of Allah hidden in it was also, in terms of benefit, much greater than the first incident. From both incidents, the lesson is learned that a Muslim should be patient in the face of hardships and be content with Allah's will. The benefit of this is that Allah grants reward and compensation in proportion to the patience shown over the hardship. From the third incident, it is learned that even after the companionship of a righteous person, Allah gives a good reward to his offspring. Since the deceased was a righteous person, Allah willed that his buried treasure or inheritance should not be taken away by others, but should come into the share of his own children.
[71]
Who Was Khidr?

This question has been a matter of difference: Who and what was Sayyiduna Khidr? Some scholars consider him a prophet, some a wali (saint), and some do not even consider him a wali but rather an angel, counted among those who manage affairs. Now we have to examine which of these views can be correct. In our opinion, Sayyiduna Khidr was not a prophet, and there are two reasons for this. One is that, according to the lengthy narration in Bukhari, Sayyiduna Khidr himself says to Sayyiduna Musa ؑ: "Musa! Look, Allah has taught me a knowledge from His knowledge which you do not know, and He has taught you a knowledge which I do not know. Therefore, you will not be able to be patient with me." And it is obvious that Sayyiduna Musa ؑ was taught the knowledge of prophethood and Shariah, which Sayyiduna Khidr did not know, so he was not a prophet. The second reason is that, according to the Quranic verses, it is an established fact that the knowledge of the prophets has always been the same from the beginning, and since the knowledge of Sayyiduna Khidr was in conflict with that knowledge, he was not a prophet. Now, if he is considered a wali, it can be believed that Allah informed him (according to the Sufis) of the unseen through kashf and inspiration. But when has a wali ever been given the authority to destroy someone else's property or even kill someone based on knowledge of the unseen? A wali is, after all, a human being who is bound by the commands of Shariah, and there is no provision in the principles of Shariah that it is permissible for anyone to violate any command of Shariah merely because he has been inspired to do so or has been informed of the wisdom of such violation through knowledge of the unseen. Even according to the Sufis, it is not permissible for the recipient of inspiration himself to act upon any inspiration that is contrary to the clear text of Shariah. Therefore, Sayyiduna Khidr was neither a prophet nor a wali, nor was he even of the human species. Only a tyrant and a sinner could do such things, but he was a distinguished personality of Allah. Now, inevitably, only one possibility remains, and that is that he was among those angels who are appointed to manage the affairs of the universe, and there are several proofs for this. The first proof is his own statement: «ما فعلته عن امري» that I did not do these things of my own will or choice, but by Allah's command. In other words, he himself is admitting that he is not independent, and this is the same thing that Allah has said regarding the attributes of angels: "They do not disobey Allah, but do what they are commanded" [66: 6] and they cannot disobey. The second proof is that when such angels come in human form and converse with humans, sometimes they attribute certain special attributes of Allah to themselves. When Sayyiduna Jibreel came to Sayyida Maryam in human form, he said: ﴿لاهِبِ لَكِ غُلاَمًا زِكِيًّا﴾ [9: 19] (so that I may grant you a pure boy), and it is obvious that granting a child is only the work of Allah. It is not the work of any of Allah's creation, and angels are Allah's creation, and this sentence that Sayyiduna Jibreel said was said in this sense that he was appointed by Allah for one of the affairs of managing the universe. In exactly the same way, when Sayyiduna Khidr explains the interpretations of these incidents, sometimes he attributes an act directly to himself, sometimes to Allah, and sometimes to both. Regarding the first incident, he said: ﴿فَاَرْدَتُّ اَنْ اَعِيْبهَا﴾ that I intended to damage this boat, although at the end he said that I did not do anything of my own will or choice. Regarding the second incident, he said: ﴿فَاَرْدْنَا اَنْ يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبّهُمَا﴾ that We intended that their Lord should grant them a better substitute for that boy. Here, the intention is attributed to both Sayyiduna Khidr and Allah. And regarding the third incident, he attributed it only to Allah, saying: ﴿فَاَرَادَ رَبُّكَ﴾ that your Lord willed. The discussion of why, in the first incident, Sayyiduna Khidr attributed it only to himself, in the second to both, and in the third only to Allah, is a separate matter. Here, the only purpose is to show that attributing divine attributes to oneself can only be done by those angels who are appointed to manage the affairs of the universe; it is absolutely not permissible for any prophet or wali to make such an attribution. In the above explanation, some objections also arise which need to be addressed. For example, Allah has used the words ﴿عَبْدًا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا﴾ for Sayyiduna Khidr, so the answer is that the word "abd" (servant) is used for angels in the same way as it is for humans, as He said: ﴿وَجَعَلُوا الْمَلٰئِكَةَ الَّذِيْنَ هُمْ عِبَاد الرَّحْمٰنِ اِنَاثًا﴾ [43: 19]. The second objection is that in the above hadith, the word "rajul" (man) is used for Sayyiduna Khidr, so the answer is that whenever angels have come in human form, they have always come in the form of men. And the third objection is that the boatmen recognized Sayyiduna Khidr and allowed him to board the boat without fare, which shows that the owners of the boat had seen Sayyiduna Khidr somewhere before and he was respected in their eyes. This is also supported by the narration in which it is mentioned that Sayyiduna Khidr was called Khidr because wherever he sat, greenery would grow. Perhaps those boatmen had seen such a scene. In any case, it can be said with certainty that Sayyiduna Khidr was not a resident of that area, otherwise not only the owners of that boat but all the people would have known such a wondrous personality well, rather than just recognizing him. ﴿والله اعلم بالصواب﴾

Sayyiduna Khidr and the Sufis:

Centuries later, strange beliefs about Sayyiduna Khidr became widespread. Our Sufis declared him a wali and tried to prove him as the teacher of Sayyiduna Musa and superior to him. These efforts began when the belief became prevalent among them that "wilayah (sainthood) is superior to prophethood." Then they did not stop there, but considered Sayyiduna Khidr to be an immortal being and always sought guidance from him. Until they meet and receive guidance from Sayyiduna Khidr, their sainthood is not considered complete. Then, various legends were fabricated about the imaginary personality of Sayyiduna Khidr, which became so common that they even entered our poetry and literature. For example, a poet says:
What use is a perfect guide to the empty-handed one of fate,
When Khidr brings Alexander thirsty from the water of life.
This verse was about the blessings of Sayyiduna Khidr. Now consider another verse about his guidance and direction. Iqbal says:
It is better to commit suicide than to follow blindly,
Seek the path yourself, and give up the obsession with Khidr.

Strange and Wondrous Beliefs About Sayyiduna Khidr:

However, the scholars of truth have always raised their voices against such superstition. Thus, in the "Encyclopaedia of Islam" published by Punjab University, Lahore, under the title "Tariqat," Volume 12, page 460, it is written: "The orthodox jurists have also raised their voices against the inspired teacher of the Sufis (Sayyiduna Khidr), on the basis of which the Sufi order is believed to receive grace from the manifestations of such a sacred personality (Sayyiduna Khidr) who is mysterious and immortal, i.e., al-Khidr, whom all sects respect and honor as the guide of the path, because he is the guide of Sayyiduna Musa ؑ and is capable of acquainting the soul of the Sufi with the ultimate reality. This belief is probably not found in any authentic book of Sufism." Then, in the same encyclopaedia, under the title "Khwaja Khidr," it is written: "In India, he (Sayyiduna Khidr) is considered the spirit of wells and springs. Across the Indus River, he is considered the avatar of the river. The shrine of Sayyiduna Khidr is on an island near Bhakkar in Sindh, where devotees of every religion go for pilgrimage." [ايضاً جلد 5ص 22]
In this way, a door to shirk (polytheism) has been opened in the name of Sayyiduna Khidr, and now even the prayer of Khidr is performed, through the blessing of which one can meet Sayyiduna Khidr. [تفصيل كے ليے ديكهئے تلقين مرشد كامل از صادق فرغاني ص 240]
And some people offer "niyaz" (offerings) to Khwaja Khidr in the river so that the boat or ship may safely reach the shore, as if for such polytheists, Khwaja Khidr has become an independent avatar or deity.