Appearance
Detailed Exegesis
1) Moses’s Pledge of Patience and Non-Opposition to Khiḍr
After Moses’s insistence on accompanying Khiḍr, and the latter’s denial that “you will not be able to have patience with me and my teaching method,” Moses pledged to him: “He said: ‘You will find me, God willing, patient, and I will not disobey any command of yours.’”(203)
The fact that Moses made his patience conditional upon divine will suggests that he knew, in general terms, that Khiḍr’s work was not of the nature of religious law (sharīʿa). Although the absolute and eternal refuge is God’s special grace, in particular cases one must seek refuge there more than in other instances. Moses was one of the resolute prophets (ulū l-ʿazm) and was God’s guest for forty nights to receive the Torah, abstaining from food and drink and engaging only in intimate discourse (munājāt). When such a person says to Khiḍr “If God wills, I will be patient,” it means that his patience and non-disobedience depend on divine care and grace, because he knows that enduring actions that outwardly appear contrary to religious law is not easy, especially for someone responsible for people’s religious affairs.
Moses’s conditioning of patience upon divine will was because Khiḍr, whose actions were incompatible with religious law, had told Moses that he would not be able to endure his actions. Therefore, Moses had to speak in terms of divine unity, saying that if God wills, he could be patient, since His power is above all powers. With this expression, he placed himself in the fortress of divine unity and removed any illusion of independence from himself. According to the teacher, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, the conditioning of the promise (commitment) upon divine will in Moses’s speech is so that if he were to break it, he would not have lied.(204) Of course, this commitment is not subject to truth or falsehood, unless Moses the Interlocutor meant it as a statement rather than a commitment.
The phrase “and I will not disobey any command of yours” has two possible interpretations:
It is coordinated with the phrase “you will find me,” meaning “I will not disobey you in anything.”
It is coordinated with “patient” as a verb joined to a derived noun that can be interpreted as a verbal noun: “you will find me, God willing, patient and not disobedient”(205), meaning “soon you will see that by God’s will I will be patient and by God’s will I will not oppose you in any matter.” This interpretation is more comprehensive and complete than the first one, because according to it, the conditioning upon divine will also includes the second phrase.
It should be noted that the phrase “and I will not disobey any command of yours” is a commitment made with knowledge and intention; meaning he knowingly and intentionally commits to not opposing in any matter. Therefore, it does not encompass forgetfulness, necessity, compulsion, and anything beyond one’s capacity, because breaking a promise under any of these circumstances does not constitute disobedience.
2) The Incorrect Understanding of Those Who Deny the Infallibility of Prophets
According to Fakhr Rāzī’s report, those who deny the divine infallibility of prophets have said that Khiḍr told Moses that he would not be able to be patient with him: “Indeed, you will never be able to have patience with me,” and Moses said that God willing, you will find me patient: “You will find me, if God wills, patient.” Each of these two statements contradicts the other, therefore one of them must be false, and in either case, lying becomes necessary for the prophets.(206)
This understanding is incorrect because, as explained by the teacher, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, patience was conditioned upon divine will, therefore if he did not maintain patience, he did not lie.(207) As mentioned before, “You will find me, if God wills, patient” is a performative statement (inshāʾī) and performative statements cannot be characterized as true or false.(208)
3) Khiḍr’s Condition for Moses’s Companionship
After Moses’s commitment to patience and non-opposition in any matter with Khiḍr, he once again sought a commitment from the Interlocutor of God, because he knew that
Moses wanted to learn something new and gain knowledge contrary to what he knew, and this required patience and forbearance, because Khiḍr’s teaching was not through books; he dealt with creation and inner workings that face external reality, thus requiring special endurance; otherwise, mere verbal teaching and learning would not need such a commitment. Therefore, since Khiḍr knew that his actions were beyond Moses’s capacity—who was commissioned with external religious law—and that patience in the face of them would not be easy, he sought another commitment from him and said that he had actions contrary to what was in Moses’s program, so if you follow me and intend to accompany me, do not ask about anything you see in my company until I myself reveal its secret to you: “He said: ‘If you follow me, then do not ask me about anything until I mention it to you.’”
The prohibition of questioning in Khiḍr’s speech refers to premature interrogative questions, not objecting questions.(209)
It should be noted that just as Moses observed complete etiquette before Khiḍr, Khiḍr reciprocally maintained etiquette, because firstly, he did not reject him explicitly, but rather indicated that you will not be able to bear witnessing my actions, and then when Moses committed himself to patience and linked it to divine will, Khiḍr did not command him to follow, but rather left him free and said: “If you follow me…”; likewise, he did not prohibit questioning in an absolute way or with authoritative command, but rather made his prohibition dependent on following and said: “If you follow me, then do not ask me…”.(210) Therefore, there will be no room for imagining Moses’s disobedience due to violating a command that appears obligatory, since there was no authoritative command in the first place, although Fakhr Rāzī endured a futile struggle.(211)
4) Khiḍr’s Actions Being Reminders
The blessed presence of Moses came to Khiḍr for learning: “That you teach me from what you have been taught of right guidance”(212), but Khiḍr referred to his actions as “dhikr” (remembrance). “Dhikr” means reminder. Khiḍr said “until I mention to you something about it,” so he performs actions similar to what Moses himself had done before. Indeed! Through his actions, Khiḍr reminded Moses of three important events that had occurred in his life, and this reminder itself was a form of teaching and growth.
Explanation: Khiḍr’s reminder to Moses may refer to his background in childhood when he went through these stages in complete glory and majesty: The Supreme God says to Moses that in the past We also bestowed a great blessing upon you; when We inspired your mother with what needed to be inspired, that she should put her child in a chest and cast it into the river, and We had decreed that the river must cast him onto the shore; then Pharaoh, who is My enemy and his enemy, would pick him up from the riverbank. O Moses! We bestowed another great blessing upon you; when I cast love from Myself upon you so that they would be drawn to you and you would be nurtured under My supervision: “And We had already conferred favor upon you another time, when We inspired to your mother what We inspired, [saying], ‘Put him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; there will take him an enemy to Me and an enemy to him.’ And I bestowed upon you love from Me, that you would be brought up under My eye.’”(213)
Khiḍr wants to remind Moses not to forget that when God wills, He can protect a ship even when one or two of its planks have been removed, just as Moses himself had experienced something even more severe when he was a child who couldn’t swim and had no one following him; he was placed in a chest and cast into the sea, and God protected him. However, on this ship there are adults who can at least swim and save themselves, which is why he said “I will remind you” rather than “I will teach you”: “Until I mention to you something about it.” If we also look deep within ourselves, we will see that the Supreme God has done many such things with us as well. Similarly, many monotheistic insights have been placed within human nature, and religious teachings are in fact reminders and stimulation of those insights.
These dangers occurred in Moses’ childhood, and all of these events were related to him by his mother, sister, or Pharaoh’s wife. By making a hole in the ship, Khiḍr reminds Moses how someone who experienced an even more intense event in his childhood could forget and not trust one of God’s saints.
Similarly, there are two other incidents in Moses’ life: the killing of a man from Pharaoh’s people(214) and working without payment for the daughters of Shuʿayb.(215)
In the story of rebuilding the wall, Khiḍr reminds Moses of the time when he entered the land of Madyan tired and hungry, saw Shuʿayb’s daughters, and despite his fatigue and hunger, drew water from the well for them and watered their sheep, without asking for anything, not even hospitality, in return.
It should be noted that the hidden subtleties of the Qur’an are not easily accessible. However, the expansiveness of the clear Arabic language on one hand, the literary prowess of the Qur’an’s language on the other hand, and the mutual secrets between prophets and divine saints on the third hand, manifest in various words, until finally what is unspeakable is expressed through allusion: In the story of Moses and Khiḍr, it begins first with the terms “teaching and learning” (taʿlīm wa taʿallum) which indicates knowledge-centricity: “May I follow you so that you teach me from what you have been taught”(216), and then in explaining the purpose, the term “guidance” (rushd) is mentioned: “from what you have been taught of guidance”.(217) Then something becomes central that “encompassing awareness” (iḥāṭa khabarī)—which is a special type of knowledge—is effective in bearing: “And how can you be patient with that which you have not encompassed in knowledge?”.(218) Finally, the term “reminder” (dhikr) is mentioned, which aligns with what Moses experienced from childhood to middle age: “Until I mention to you something about it.” With this reminder from Khiḍr, it is clear that none of those extraordinary actions were limited to a specific period or particular land, and they can manifest in some form from time to time.(219)