Lesson 12: The Patience and Perseverance of Musa

Saeed ibn Jubayr said: I said to Ibn Abbas, “Nauf Al-Bikali claims that Moses, the companion of Al-Khidr was not the Moses of the Children of Israel” Ibn Abbas said, “The enemy of Allah (Nauf) told a lie.” Narrated Ubayy bin Kab that he heard Allah's Apostle ﷺ saying, “Moses got up to deliver a speech before the children of Israel and he was asked, Who is the most learned person among the people?' Moses replied, ‘I (am the most learned).’ Allah admonished him for he did not ascribe knowledge to Allah alone. So Allah revealed to him: ‘At the junction of the two seas there is a slave of Ours who is more learned than you.’ Moses asked, ‘O my Lord, how can I meet him?’ Allah said, ‘Take a fish and put it in a basket (and set out), and where you will lose the fish, you will find him.’ So Moses (took a fish and put it in a basket and) set out, along with his boy-servant Yusha bin Nun, till they reached a rock (on which) they both lay their heads and slept. The fish moved vigorously in the basket and got out of it and fell into the sea and there it took its way through the sea as in a tunnel.”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:61

Allah stopped the current of water on both sides of the way created by the fish, and so that way was like a tunnel. When Moses got up, his companion forgot to tell him about the fish, and so they carried on their journey during the rest of the day and the whole night.

The next morning Musa asked his boy-servant “Bring us our morning meal; truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey.”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:62

Musa did not get tired till he had passed the place which Allah had ordered him to seek after. His boy-servant then said to him, “Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock? I indeed forgot the fish, none but Shaitan made me forget to remember it. It took its course into the sea in a strange (way)!”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:63

There was a tunnel for the fish and for Musa and his boy-servant there was astonishment. Musa said, “That is what we have been seeking.” So they went back retracing their footsteps.

Surah al-Kahf, 18:64

They both returned, retracing their steps till they reached the rock. Behold! There they found a man covered with a garment. Musa greeted him. Al-Khidr said astonishingly, “Is there such a greeting in your land?” Musa said, “I am Musa.” He said, “Are you the Musa of the Children of Israel?” Musa said, “I have come to you so that you may teach me of what you have been taught.”

Al-Khidr said, “Verily! You will not be able to have patience with me!”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:67

“O Musa! I have some of Allah's knowledge which He has bestowed upon me but you do not know it; and you too, have some of Allah's knowledge which He has bestowed upon you, but I do not know it.” Musa said, “If Allah will, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught.”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:69

Al-Khidr said to him, “Then, if you follow me, ask me not about anything till I myself mention it to you.”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:70

After that both of them proceeded along the sea coast, till a boat passed by and they requested the crew to let them go on board. The crew recognized Al-Khidr and allowed them to get on board free of charge. When they got on board suddenly Musa saw that Al-Khidr had pulled out one of the planks of the boat with an adze. Musa said to him, “These people gave us a free lift, yet you scuttled it in order to drown its people? Verily, you have committed a thing Imra (a Munkar - evil, bad, dreadful thing).”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:71

Al-Khidr said, “Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me?”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:72

Musa said, “Call me not to account for what I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you).”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:73

Allah's Apostle ﷺ said, “The first excuse given by Moses, was that he had forgotten. Then a sparrow came and sat over the edge of the boat and dipped its beak once in the sea. Al-Khidr said to Musa, ‘My knowledge and your knowledge, compared to Allah's knowledge is like what this sparrow has taken out of the sea.’ Then they both got out of the boat, and while they were walking on the sea shore, Al-Khidr saw a boy playing with other boys. Al-Khidr got hold of the head of that boy and pulled it out with his hands and killed him. Musa said, ‘Have you killed an innocent person who had killed none? Verily, you have committed a thing Nukra (a great Munkar - prohibited, evil, dreadful thing)!’”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:74

He said, “Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me?”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:75

(The sub narrator said, the second blame was stronger than the first one.) Musa said, “If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me.”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:76

Then they both proceeded, till, when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found therein a wall about to collapse.

Surah al-Kahf, 18:77

Al-Khidr set it up straight with his own hands. Musa said, “These are people to whom we came, but they neither fed us nor received us as guests. If you had wished, you could surely have exacted some recompense for it.” Al-Khidr said, “This is the parting between me and you, I will tell you the interpretation of (those) things”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:78

Until he said, “That is the interpretation of those (things) over which you could not hold patience.”

Surah al-Kahf, 18:82

Allah's Apostle ﷺ said, “We wished that Musa could have been more patient so that Allah might have described to us more about their story.”

The Wisdoms Behind the Actions of al-Khidr

In this story, which is mentioned in the Quran and by the Prophet ﷺ in the hadeeth mentioned above, al-Khidr did certain things that Musa did not understand. These were:

1. Scuttling the ship of the people who gave them a free place onboard.

2. Killing the boy who was playing with his friends.

3. Fixing the wall without taking payment.

So al-Khidr explains the wisdoms behind these 3 actions:

1. As for damaging the ship, then it was owned by some poor people in the sea, and there was a king after them who would take every good ship by force. So by damaging it, the king would ignore the ship.

2. As for killing the boy, then his parents were believers, and he was decreed to be a disbeliever. If he lived, he would have involved his parents in misguidance and disbelief. Al-Khidr was told to kill the boy as a mercy for him and his parents. Imam ash-Shawkani (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “It was said: that Khidr knew, through the notification of Allah, that if the boy became mature, he would be a disbeliever. His disbelief would lead to the misguidance of his parents and their disbelief…it is not permissible to kill him according to the Shariah of Muhammad. However it is permissible in another Shariah [i.e. the Shariah that Khidr was following]. So there is no issue.”

Fathul-Qadeer (3/434)

3. And as for fixing the wall without payment, then it belonged to two orphan boys and underneath was a treasure belonging to them. And Allah intended that they would reach the age of full strength then take out their treasure as a mercy.

And al-Khidr was a Prophet, according to the correct opinion and the opinion of the majority of the scholars. Some said he was a Messenger. And some said he was an angel.

And there are no authentic narrations, nor even any weak ones which show that al-Khidr came to the Prophet ﷺ and met him, showing that al-Khidr most likely passed away rather than still being alive until today.

Key Lessons

Speaking with sure knowledge - Musa answered the question of the man from his people by saying “I am the most knowledgeable” rather than leaving the knowledge to Allah. For this reason, Allah admonished him and commanded him to find al-Khidr who had knowledge that even Prophet Musa did not have.

The wisdom of Allah and His Shariah - al-Khidr did acts that were seemingly bad and harmful, causing even Musa to become astonished and amazed at these things. However, al-Khidr did these things from revelation and Allah had commanded him to do these things for a purpose. When this was revealed, all these events made sense. This teaches us that when Allah or His Messenger ﷺ command us with something, we should obey even if we don’t personally understand the wisdoms behind it or it doesn’t make sense to us because Allah does not command with something except it is based on wisdom.

Summary of Lesson

Musa ﷺ is commanded to find al-Khidr, a Prophet of Allah who knew things that even he didn’t know. When he finds him, al-Khidr asks him to not inquire about his actions until the end when he will explain the reasoning behind his actions. First, he damages the hull of a ship. Then, he kills a young boy. And after that, he fixes a wall of a people who did not give them food without even asking for payment. Due to Prophet Musa’s questions, al-Khidr explains the wisdoms behind his actions and how he was told by Allah to do these things out of benefitting the people involved.

Main reference used: Sahih al-Bukhari and Surah al-Kahf, verse 60-82