The beautiful story of Prophet Musa and Al-Khidr is mentioned in the Quran in Surah Al-Kahf. Al-khidr is not mentioned by name in the Holy Quran, however, he is described as a righteous servant of ALLAH SWT who has been given the knowledge of the unseen and is named by various Islamic scholars as Al-Khidr/Khizr.
ALLAH SWT says in the Quran: There they found a servant of Ours, to whom We had granted mercy from Us and enlightened with the knowledge of Our Own.(Quran 18:65)
ALLAH SWT describes Al-Khidr as a righteous man with excellent knowledge and wisdom that no one had and the Prophet Muhammad SAW and His companions mentioned him as a pious servant of ALLAH who had knowledge of the unseen and the one who would also help people when they were in distress.
The story of Al-khidr begins when one day Prophet Musa alaihissalam was delivering an impressive sermon that deeply moved everybody listening to Him.
After the sermon, someone from among the congregation asked Prophet Musa alaihissalam, “0 Messenger of Allah, is there another man on earth who is more knowledgeable and informed than you?”
Musa alaihissalam said, “No”, as He knew and thought that ALLAH SWT has bestowed only Him with the knowledge of Torat and blessed Him with various powers and miracles.
Hence, ALLAH SWT corrected him since Musa alaihissalam did not refer the knowledge back to ALLAH the exalted. ALLAH SWT revealed to Musa alaihissalam no one knows everything that is to be known, nor would any messenger have the knowledge of everything. There is always someone who knows what others don’t know about. It’s in ALLAH SWT’s hand to whom He gives knowledge and how much. And there is a righteous man who is a pious servant of mine and is much more knowledgeable than you are.
Musa alaihissalam then asked ALLAH SWT: “O ALLAH, where can I find this man? I would like to meet him and learn from him.” He also asked for a sign of this person’s identity.
ALLAH SWT then instructed Musa alaihissalam to take a live fish in a water-filled vessel and said that they will be the man you are looking for when the fish disappears.Musa alaihissalam started his journey with a fish and a young man who carried the vessel with the fish. After some time they reached a place where the two rivers met and decided to rest there. Musa alaihissalam fell asleep Instantly. When Musa alaihissalam woke up, his servant informed him about the fish that it slipped into the sea and disappeared.
This incident is mentioned in the Quran: And [mention] when Moses said to his servant, “I will not stop traveling until I reach the junction of the two seas.” But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot about their fish, and it took its course into the sea, slipping away. So when they had passed beyond it, Musa alaihissalamsaid to his boy servant “Bring us our morning meal. We have certainly suffered in this journey and are tired now.” He said, “Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed, I forgot [there] the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan – that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly.” Musa alaihissalam said, “That is what we were seeking.” So they returned, following their footprints.And they found a slave from amongst our slaves to whom We had given mercy from Us and taught directly some knowledge. (Quran 18:61-65)
Musa alaihissalam then found the man of knowledge.
There they found a servant of Ours, to whom We had granted mercy from Us and enlightened with knowledge.(Quran 18:65)
The conversation between Musa alaihissalam and Al-Khidr is stated in the Holy Quran as:
Musa alaihissalam said to Al-Khidr: “May I follow you, provided that you teach me some of the right guidance you have been taught?”(Quran 18:66)
Al-Khidr said: “Verily! You will not be able to have patience with me! And how can you be patient with what is beyond your realm of knowledge?”(Quran 18:67,68)
Musa alaihissalam assured him “You will find me patient, Allah willing, and I will not disobey any of your orders.”(Quran 18:69)
Al-Khidr responded, “Then if you follow me, do not question me about anything until I myself clarify it for you.”(Quran 18:70)
Then both started their journey and boarded a ship.
So they set out, but after they had boarded a ship, they Al-Khidr made a hole in it. Musa alaihissalam could not resist and protested saying, “Have you done this to drown its people? You have certainly done a terrible thing!”(Quran 18:71)
Al-Khidr replied: “Did I not say that you cannot have patience with me?”(Quran 18:72)
Musa alaihissalam realized his mistake and pleaded, “Excuse me for forgetting, and do not be hard on me.”(Quran 18:73)
So they proceeded until they came across a boy, and Al-Khidr killed him. Musa alaihissalam protested, “Have you killed an innocent soul, who killed no one? You have certainly done a horrible thing.”(Quran 18:74)
He answered, “Did I not tell you that you cannot have patience with me?”(Quran 18:75)
Moses replied, “If I ever question you about anything after this, then do not keep me in your company, for by then I would have given you enough of an excuse.”(Quran 18:76)
So they moved on until they came to the people of a town. They asked them for food, but the people refused to give them hospitality. There they found a wall ready to collapse, so the man set it right. Moses protested, “If you wanted, you could have demanded a fee for this.”(Quran 18:77)
He replied, “This is the parting of our ways. I will explain to you what you could not bear patiently(Quran 18:78)
“As for the ship, it belonged to some poor people, working at sea. So I intended to damage it, for there was a tyrant king ahead of them who seizes every good ship by force.(Quran 18:79)
“And as for the boy, his parents were true believers, and we feared that he would pressure them into defiance and disbelief.(Quran 18:80)
So we hoped that their Lord would give them another, more virtuous and caring in his place.(Quran 18: 81)
“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and under the wall was a treasure that belonged to them, and their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord willed that these children should come of age and retrieve their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it all on my own. This is the explanation of what you could not bear patiently.”(Quran 18:82)
It is said that some prophets say, that “We wish that Musa alaihissalam could have remained patient by virtue of which Allah might have told us more about their story.” Sufiyan, the sub-narrator, said that the Prophet said: “May Allah bestow His Mercy on Musa! If he had remained patient, we would have been told further about their journey.
The story of Musa alaihissalam and Al-Khidr contains lessons that are very beneficial for all Muslims. It tells us the importance of gaining knowledge and determination to the wisdom of the lesser evil, there are many virtues of this story. It also indicates that one should never think of himself as the greatest or most knowledgeable as ALLAH knows best.Once we gain knowledge of this story and its meanings, we should try to implement what we have learned from it into our lives. That will be when we genuinely succeed and fulfill the purpose of this remarkable story.