Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 18 Al-Kahf, Ayat 71-82

فَانْطَلَقَا حَتّٰۤى اِذَا رَكِبَا فِى السَّفِيۡنَةِ خَرَقَهَا​ ؕ قَالَ اَخَرَقۡتَهَا لِتُغۡرِقَ اَهۡلَهَا​ ۚ لَقَدۡ جِئۡتَ شَيۡـئًـا اِمۡرًا‏ ﴿18:71﴾ قَالَ اَلَمۡ اَقُلۡ اِنَّكَ لَنۡ تَسۡتَطِيۡعَ مَعِىَ صَبۡرًا‏ ﴿18:72﴾ قَالَ لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنِىۡ بِمَا نَسِيۡتُ وَلَا تُرۡهِقۡنِىۡ مِنۡ اَمۡرِىۡ عُسۡرًا‏  ﴿18:73﴾ فَانْطَلَقَاحَتّٰۤى اِذَا لَقِيَا غُلٰمًا فَقَتَلَهٗ ۙ قَالَ اَقَتَلۡتَ نَـفۡسًا زَكِيَّةً ۢ بِغَيۡرِ نَـفۡسٍ ؕ لَـقَدۡ جِئۡتَ شَيۡـئًـا نُّـكۡرًا‏ ﴿18:74﴾ قَالَ اَ لَمۡ اَ قُلْ لَّكَ اِنَّكَ لَنۡ تَسۡتَطِيۡعَ مَعِىَ صَبۡرًا‏ ﴿18:75﴾ قَالَ اِنۡ سَاَ لۡـتُكَ عَنۡ شَىۡءٍۢ بَعۡدَهَا فَلَا تُصٰحِبۡنِىۡ​ ۚ قَدۡ بَلَـغۡتَ مِنۡ لَّدُنِّىۡ عُذۡرًا‏ ﴿18:76﴾ فَانْطَلَقَا حَتّٰۤى اِذَاۤ اَتَيَاۤ اَهۡلَ قَرۡيَةِ  ۨاسۡتَطۡعَمَاۤ اَهۡلَهَا فَاَبَوۡا اَنۡ يُّضَيِّفُوۡهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيۡهَا جِدَارًا يُّرِيۡدُ اَنۡ يَّـنۡقَضَّ فَاَقَامَهٗ​ ؕ قَالَ لَوۡ شِئۡتَ لَـتَّخَذۡتَ عَلَيۡهِ اَجۡرًا‏ ﴿18:77﴾ قَالَ هٰذَا فِرَاقُ بَيۡنِىۡ وَبَيۡنِكَ​​ ۚ سَاُنَـبِّئُكَ بِتَاۡوِيۡلِ مَا لَمۡ تَسۡتَطِعْ عَّلَيۡهِ صَبۡرًا‏ ﴿18:78﴾ اَمَّا السَّفِيۡنَةُ فَكَانَتۡ لِمَسٰكِيۡنَ يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ فِى الۡبَحۡرِ فَاَرَدْتُّ اَنۡ اَعِيۡبَهَا وَكَانَ وَرَآءَهُمۡ مَّلِكٌ يَّاۡخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِيۡنَةٍ غَصۡبًا‏  ﴿18:79﴾ وَاَمَّا الۡغُلٰمُ فَكَانَ اَبَوٰهُ مُؤۡمِنَيۡنِ فَخَشِيۡنَاۤ اَنۡ يُّرۡهِقَهُمَا طُغۡيَانًا وَّكُفۡرًا​ۚ‏ ﴿18:80﴾ فَاَرَدۡنَاۤ اَنۡ يُّبۡدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا خَيۡرًا مِّنۡهُ زَكٰوةً وَّاَقۡرَبَ رُحۡمًا‏ ﴿18:81﴾ وَاَمَّا الۡجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلٰمَيۡنِ يَتِيۡمَيۡنِ فِى الۡمَدِيۡنَةِ وَكَانَ تَحۡتَهٗ كَنۡزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ اَبُوۡهُمَا صَالِحًـا ۚ فَاَرَادَ رَبُّكَ اَنۡ يَّبۡلُغَاۤ اَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسۡتَخۡرِجَا كَنۡزَهُمَا ۖ  رَحۡمَةً مِّنۡ رَّبِّكَ​​ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلۡتُهٗ عَنۡ اَمۡرِىۡ​ ؕ ذٰ لِكَ تَاۡوِيۡلُ مَا لَمۡ تَسۡطِعْ عَّلَيۡهِ صَبۡرًا ؕ‏ ﴿18:82﴾

(18:71) Then the two went forth until, when they embarked on the boat, he made a hole in it, whereupon Moses exclaimed: "Have you made a hole in it so as to drown the people in the boat? You have certainly done an awful thing." (18:72) He replied: "Did I not tell you that you will not be able to patiently bear with me?" (18:73) Moses said: "Do not take me to task at my forgetfulness, and do not be hard on me." (18:74) Then the two went forth until they met a lad whom he slew, whereupon Moses exclaimed: "What! Have you slain an innocent person without his having slain anyone? Surely you have done a horrible thing." (18:75) He said: "Did I not tell you that you will not be able to patiently bear with me?" (18:76) Moses said: "Keep me no more in your company if I question you concerning anything after this. You will then be fully justified." (18:77) Then the two went forth until when they came to a town, they asked its people for food, but they refused to play host to them. They found in that town a wall that was on the verge of tumbling down, and he buttressed it, whereupon Moses said: "If you had wished, you could have received payment for it." (18:78) He said: "This brings me and you to a parting of ways. Now I shall explain to you the true meaning of things about which you could not remain patient. (18:79) As for the boat it belonged to some poor people who worked on the river, and I desired to damage it for beyond them lay the dominion of a king who was wont to seize every boat by force. (18:80) As for the lad, his parents were people of faith, and we feared lest he should plague them with transgression and disbelief, (18:81) and we desired that their Lord should grant them another in his place, a son more upright and more tender hearted. (18:82) As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and under it there was a treasure that belonged to them. Their father was a righteous man and your Lord intended that they should come of age and then bring forth their treasure as a mercy from your Lord; I did not do this of my own bidding. This is the true meaning of things with which you could not keep your patience."60


Notes

60. In connection with this story, a very hard problem arises to which an answer must be found. Two of the three things done by Khidr are obviously against those commandments of the law which have always been in force since the creation of man. No law allows anyone the right to damage the property of another and kill an innocent person. So much so that if a man were to know by inspiration that some usurper would illegally seize a certain boat, and that a certain boy would be involved in a rebellion and unbelief, even then no law, sent down by Allah, makes it lawful that one should bore a hole in the boat and kill the innocent boy by virtue of his inspiration. If in answer to this, one were to say that Khidr committed these two acts by the commands of Allah, this does not solve the problem, for the question is not this: “By whose command did Khidr commit these acts”, but it is this: “What was the nature of these commands”? This is important because Khidr did these acts in accordance with divine command, for he himself says that these acts of his were not done by his own authority, but were moved by the mercy of Allah, and Allah Himself has testified this by saying: “We gave him a special knowledge from Ourselves”. Thus it is beyond any doubt that these acts were done by the command of Allah, but the question about the nature of the command remains there, for it is obvious that these commands were not legal because it is not allowed by any divine law, and the fundamental principles of the Quran also do not allow that a person should kill another person without any proof of his guilt. Therefore we shall have to admit that these commands belonged to one of those decrees of Allah in accordance with which one sick person recovers, while another dies: one becomes prosperous and the other is ruined. If the commands given to Khidr were of this nature, then one must come to the conclusion that Khidr was an angel (or some other kind of Allah’s creation) who is not bound by the divine law prescribed for human beings, for such commands as have no legal aspect, can be addressed to angels only. This is because the question of the lawful or the unlawful cannot arise about them: they obey the commands of Allah without having any personal power. In contrast to them, a man shall be guilty of a sin whether he does any such thing inadvertently by intuition or by some inspiration, if his act goes against some divine commandment. This is because a man is bound to abide by divine commandments as a man, and there is no room whatsoever in the divine law that an act may become lawful for a man merely because he had received an instruction by inspiration and had been informed in a secret way of the wisdom of that unlawful act.

The above mentioned principle has been unanimously accepted by scholars of the divine law and the leaders of Sufism, Allamah Alusi has cited in detail the sayings of Abdul Wahhab Shiirani, Muhy-ud-Din ibn-Arabi, Mujaddid Alf Thani, Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani, Junaid Baghdadi, Sirri Saqti, Abul-Hussain An-nuri, Abu Said-al- Kharraz, Ahmad ud-Dainauri and Imam Ghazzali to this effect that it is not lawful even for a sufi to act in accordance with that inspiration of his own which goes against a fundamental of law. (Ruh-ul-Maani, Vol. XVI, pp. 16-18). That is why we have come to the conclusion that Khidr must be an angel, or some other kind of Allah’s creation, exempted from human law, for he could not be the only exception to the above mentioned formula. Therefore we inevitably come to the conclusion that he was one of those servants of Allah who act in accordance with the will of Allah and not in accordance with the divine law prescribed for human beings.

We would have accepted the theory that Khidr was a human being, if the Quran had plainly asserted that the servant to whom Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was sent for training, was a man. But the Quran does not specifically say that he was a human being but says that he was one of Our servants which does not show that he was necessarily a human being. Besides this, there is no tradition which specifically says that Khidr was a human being. In the authentic traditions related by Said bin Jubair, Ibn Abbas, Ubayy bin Kaab from the Prophet (peace be upon him), the Arabic word rajul has been used for Khidr, which though generally used for human beings, is not exclusively used for human beings. In the Quran itself, this word has been used for Jinns also (Surah Al-Jin, Ayat 6). It is also obvious that when a jinn or an angel or an invisible being will come before a human being, he will surely come in human shape and, in that form; he will be called a bashar (man), just like the angel who came before Mary in the shape of a human being (Surah Maryam, Ayat 17). Thus the word rajul, used for Khidr in the above mentioned tradition by the Prophet (peace be upon him), does not necessarily mean that he was a human being. Therefore we are quite justified in the light of the above discussion to believe that Khidr was one of the angels or some other kind of Allah’s creation who is not bound by the divine law prescribed for human beings. Some of the former scholars of the Quran have also expressed the same opinion which has been cited by lbn Kathir in his commentary on the authority of Mawardi.