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Who was the teacher who accompanied Moses?
When we read verses 65-82 of Sura 18 we come across a blessed servant of God
who walked, talked and passed wisdom to Moses. We are not given his name
anywhere in the Quran nor any
knowledge of his true Identity. The following are the relevant verses:
SURA 18
65. They found one of our servants, whom we blessed with mercy, and bestowed
upon him from our own knowledge.
66. Moses said to him, "Can I follow you, that you may teach me some of the
knowledge and the guidance bestowed upon you?"
67. He said, "You cannot
stand to be with me.
68. "How can you stand that which you do not comprehend?"
69. He said, "You will find
me, God willing, patient. I will not disobey any command you give me."
70. He said,
"If you follow me, then you shall not ask me about anything,
unless I choose to tell you about it."
71. So they
went. When they boarded
a ship, he
bore a hole in
it. He said,
"Did you bore
a hole in it to
drown its
people? You
have
committed
something
terrible."
72. He said,
"Did I not say
that you
cannot stand
to be with
me?"
73. He said,
"I am sorry.
Do not punish
me for my
forgetfulness;
do not be too
harsh with
me."
74. So they
went. When
they met a
young boy, he
killed him. He
said, "Why
did you kill
such an
innocent
person, who
did not kill
another
person? You
have
committed
something
horrendous."
75. He said,
"Did I not tell
you that you
cannot stand
to be with
me?"
76. He said,
"If I ask you
about
anything else,
then do not
keep me with
you. You have
seen enough
apologies
from me."
77. So they
went. When
they reached
a certain
community,
they asked
the people for
food, but they
refused to
host them.
Soon, they
found a wall
about to
collapse, and
he fixed it. He
said, "You
could have
demanded a
wage for
that!"
78. He said,
"Now we
have to part
company. But
I will explain
to you
everything
you could not
stand.
79. "As for
the ship, it
belonged to
poor
fishermen,
and I wanted
to render it
defective.
There was a
king coming
after them,
who was
confiscating
every ship,
forcibly.
80. "As for
the boy, his
parents were
good
believers, and
we saw that
he was going
to burden
them with his
transgression
and disbelief.
81. "We
willed that
your Lord
substitute in
his place
another son;
one who is
better in
righteousness
and kindness.
82. "As for
the wall, it
belonged to
two orphan
boys in the
city. Under it,
there was a
treasure that
belonged to
them.
Because their
father was a
righteous
man, your
Lord wanted
them to grow
up and attain
full strength,
then extract
their treasure.
Such is mercy
from your
Lord. I did
none of that of
my own
volition. This
is the
explanation of
the things you
could not
stand."
The
traditional
scholars have
maintained
that the
servant of
God spoken
of in these
verses was a
man named
Khidr, and all
sorts of tales
have ensued
as to who
exactly this
Khidr may be!
How, or where
from, they
arrived at
naming the
servant Khidr,
can be nothing
more than
mere
speculation.
However, by
researching
the above
Quranic
verses it
becomes
certain that
this servant of
God could not
have been a
human being,
but that he
was one of
God's angels
who was
commisioned
to do specific
duties at a
specific time.
The reasons
for arriving at
this
understanding
are as follows:
1- First, it is
significant to
note that
nowhere in
the above
verses are we
told that this
teacher was
human nor are
we given a
name for him.
The hadith
advocates
quickly made
him a human,
and they gave
him the name
of Khidr !!!
God refers to
him as "one
of our
servants" and
since this
would apply to
humans as
well as to
angels (all are
servants of
the Almighty),
then it is
possible that
he was an
angel and not
a human.
2-The servant
suddenly
appears on
the scene,
tells Moses
very
significant
words:
"you cannot
stand to be
with me"
18:67
Now the
words: "you
cannot stand
to be with
me" have a
very
important
significance.
If the servant
was human
why would
Moses not be
able to stand
with him? This
again
indicates that
this servant
was endowed
with above
human
abilities and
knowledge, or
that he is
altogther from
a different
plane of
existence and
that God only
deemed it
possible for
Moses to
communicate
with him on a
temporary
basis and for
specific
reasons.
3- The
servant of
God was
commissioned
by God to
terminate the
life of a young
boy. This act
bears great
significance
once again on
the identity of
the servant.
The servant
tells Moses
the reason he
was
commanded to
terminate the
life of the boy:
"As for the
boy, his
parents were
good
believers, and
we saw that
he was going
to burden
them with his
transgression
and
disbelief."
18:80
The reason
this is very
significant is
that the life of
the boy was
terminated
before he
even
committed the
sin of
burdening his
parents with
transgression
and disbelief!
We know that
killing an
innocent soul
is prohibited
in the Quran,
and the young
boy was
innocent at
the time (he
had not
committed the
sins yet) and
thus if any
human were
to kill him at
the time it
would have
been murder.
But God does
NOT
command
people to
commit
murder.
However, God
terminates the
life of all souls
at the time
God wishes.
In that case
this would not
be murder. It
would simply
be a case of
terminating
the life of a
soul in
accordance
with God's
decree.
Here we must
remember
that God
commissions
angels (and
not humans)
the task of
terminating
people's lives.
Once again,
this indicates
that the
servant of
God was
indeed an
angel and not
a human
being.
4-The servant
of God
performs a
number of
acts that
imply
knowledge of
the future and
terminating
lives, then
dissappears
from the
scene as
mysteriously
as he appears.
One would
expect this
servant (had
he been
human) to
have futher
mention,
impact or
association
with Moses or
the events
that follow in
Moses life,
but he
dissapears
from the
scene and we
never hear of
him again.
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