The Life of Khidar Alayhis Salaam

The Life of Khidr (Alayhis Salaam)

There are differences of opinion (ikhtilaf) amongst the scholars regarding whether al-Khidr (peace be upon him) is still alive, or has died.There also exists ikhtilaf regarding whether al-Khidr (peace be upon him) was a prophet or a saint. Many scholars are of the opinion that he is still alive, while others, such as Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya and his followers, are of the opinion that he has died.

Evidence suggesting that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) is alive

In Sahih Muslim we find the following narration:

“The Dajjal will kill a person once and then bring him back to life, then he will ask him, ‘Do you believe that I am God?’That person will reply, ‘No! I am convinced that you are the Dajjal of which the Prophet (may allah bless him and grant him peace) informed us.’ Dajjal will throw him in his fire, which in reality will be Paradise. The narrator of this hadith is Abu Ishaq who says: ‘It is commonly known that this person would be al-Khidr (peace be upon him)'”

[Sahih Muslim, Chapter on Dajjal]

Abu Ishaq was amongst the Tabi’u’t-Tabi’in and it was common knowledge during that period that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) was alive and his death will occur at the time of Dajjal.

Hafiz Ibn Kathir states:

“King Dhu’l-Qarnayn discovered a type of water referred to as the ‘water of life’ which, when drank, would allow a person to remain alive forever.He departed with many people searching for it, and al-Khidr, (peace be upon him) was also with him. At one place al-Khidr (peace be upon him) drank some water and the King did not”

[Ta’rikh Ibn Kathir, volume 1, Chapter on Dhu’l-Qarnayn]

Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani says in his A’sabah that al-Khidr’s name is in the list of Companions of our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:

“When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) departed from this world, ‘Umar heard someone come into the house but saw no-one. When he was asked, ‘Umar said it was al-Khidr (peace be upon him). Then a voice was heard which said, ‘O household of the Prophet, be patient.’ ‘Ali said it was al-Khidr (peace be upon him). Imam al-Bayhaqi said: ‘These narrations are weak, but there are so many similar narrations, which suggests that they do have some origin”

[Ibn Kathir, Sirat an-Nabi and Ta’rikh ibn Kathir, chapter on ‘Demise of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)]

Other narrations of a similar nature can be found, including the following made by someone who is very much respected by certain factions. Muhammad ibn ‘abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi writes:

“After the death of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) a voice was heard, ‘O family of the Prophet, be patient and peace be upon you'”

[Mukhtasar Sirat ar-Rasul, chapter on ‘Death of Prophet’]

We can mention here a very important scholarly point that are made by countless scholars, including Hafiz Ibn Kathir who writes:

“If there exist many narrations regarding one issue then, even if they are weak, they can be accepted” [Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Sura al-An’am, verse 123]

Hafiz Ibn Kathir states that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) was the son of Adam (peace be upon him). Adamhad prayed to Allah: ‘O Allah, give my son, al-Khidr, a long life so that he lives until the Day of Judgement.’ Adam (peace be upon him) also told al-Khidr (peace be upon him), ‘O my son, you shall bury me after my death.’ He also gave him news of his long life. Al-Khidr (peace be upon him) also sat in the boat of the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him)”

[Ta’rikh Ibn Kathir, vol. 1, chapter on ‘Musa and al-Khidr’]

There have been many narrations of various types – some which have been rejected by the scholars. For example, Hafiz Ibn Kathir rejected the statements which claimed that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) was the son of Pharaoh or that he was born during Pharaoh’s time. He strictly says he was alive a long time before Musa (peace be upon him) [Ta’rikh Ibn Kathir, vol. 1, chapter on ‘Musa and al-Khidr’]

Imam adh-Dhahabi writes:

” ‘Umar ibn ‘abd al-Aziz was talking with a man. After he had finished talking with him, he returned and someone asked him who he had been talking with. He replied, ‘He was al-Khidr and he came to give me some good news – that I will be the ruler of the Muslim world’ “

[adh-Dhahabi, Tadhkirt al-Huffaz; also Ta’rikh Ibn Kathi and Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of ‘Umar ibn ‘abd al-Aziz]

Imam an-Nawawi also provides many references and statements given by many scholars, proving that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) is still alive [Sharh Muslim, Chapter on Dajjal]

From the aforementioned evidence, it can be clearly seen that the narrations support the opinion of those ‘ulema who say that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) is still alive.

Objections

Some people argue that in Bukhari there is a hadith where the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) states, ‘Of all the people who are alive upon the earth on this day, none will be living in a100 years time.’ Secondly, they mention the hadith where the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) supplicated upon the occasion of the Battle of Badr:’There are 313 people with me. If we do not triumph then no-one will be left to worship you, Oh Allah.’Following this evidence, Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya and his follwers conclude that if al-Khidr (peace be upon him) was alive then he should have joined the army and made the number amount to 314.

Answers to the objections

(1) The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stated: ‘Of those alive on the earth, none will be alive in a 100 years time.’ It is possible that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) at that particular moment was present in a location other than this world (dunya). Just as ‘Isa (peace be upon him) was also ‘alive’ at that time. If ‘Isa (peace be upon him) never came down to help the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in the Battle of Badr then this did not break his promise that he made with Allah, in the spiritual world.In the same manner, there is nothing inappropriate regarding the fact that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) never joined the army for the battle. Having said that, there is no confirmation that he did or did not join the Muslim army in the Battle of Badr, since he is an unseen person. It may also be possible that he joined, but our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) never mentioned his name like the 1000s of angels who fought in this great battle,but the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) never mentioned all their names. So this means that Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya’s suspicions are insufficient to support the opinion that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) has died. There is not even a single weak hadith to support this opinion – let alone an authentic one.

(2) At the time of the Battle of Badr the population of the Muslim Umma was not just 313. In fact, there were Muslims present in Madina al-Munawwara who did not fight in the battle.

The explanation of the du’a’ is. ‘There will be none to worship you with victory.’ For no doubt the Muslims in Madina, Abyssinia and Makka would have continued to worship Allah.

From the aforementioned, according to Hafiz Ibn Kathir, al-Khidr (peace be upon him) was alive from the time of Adam (peace be upon him) up until the time of Musa (peace be upon him). It seems rather unusual that Ibn Kathir rejected the understanding that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) could not live after
the time of Musa (peace be upon him).

Comments

To conclude this chapter, it is clear that Ibn Taymiyya and those who adhere to his principles do not believe that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) is alive.

It is very disturbing to see that, on one side, many narrations exist which prove the validity of al-Khidr (peace be upon him) being ‘alive’ but, on the other side, there are the suspicions of Ibn Taymiyya and those who follow him, such as Hafiz Ibn Kathir, who after having written the above narrations was convinced by Hafiz ibn Taymiyya’s understanding – thus creating doubts in the minds of Muslims.

It must be understood that the belief that al-Khidr (peace be upon him) is still alive is not a matter of ‘aqida and has no relation to iman and kufr.