The Impact of a Person’s Good and Bad Deeds on Children’s Destiny

From the incident of the wall’s reconstruction for two orphan boys by Khiḍr and Moses, deriving specific conclusions is not easy. However, universal truths can be drawn that can be applied in all cases. The effects of a righteous person’s good deeds never perish but reach their children. This is shown in Khiḍr’s reasoning “because their father was righteous,” God commanded him to preserve the treasure for the two orphans. Conversely, God says that those who leave behind weak offspring and fear for their future should be wary of oppressing other people’s orphans. Therefore, they should fear God and speak justly: “And let those fear who, if they left behind them weak offspring, would be afraid for them. So let them fear God and speak appropriate words.”(433) This means if you wrong others, your children will be wronged.

Based on the verses under discussion regarding the two boys and the wall, as well as the aforementioned verse, God preserves the bond between parent and child across generations. If a person mistreats orphans, others will mistreat their own orphans after them. Conversely, if someone is righteous, God bestows goodness upon them through righteous children during their lifetime and, after their passing, ensures their descendants are cared for—sending Khiḍr to safeguard the well-being of their children and grandchildren. This highlights a reciprocal relationship between parent and child, as well as grandparent and grandchild: the righteousness of the fathers extends to their offspring, just as God grants goodness to the parents through their virtuous children. In the story of the slain boy, God rewarded his believing parents by replacing him with a righteous child. Similarly, in the incident of the wall, He preserved the orphans’ treasure in honor of their grandfather’s righteousness.

The phrase “as a mercy from your Lord” clarifies the meaning of “so your Lord intended”: the righteousness of the father or grandfather of the two orphans stirred God’s mercy, leading Him to ensure they would reach their treasure. Since safeguarding the treasure required the wall’s restoration, God commanded Khiḍr to rebuild it. This phrase also connects to the verse “as a mercy from Us”(434), indicating that Khiḍr’s act of reconstructing the wall was an expression of divine mercy granted to him. As stated in the Qur’an: “So they found one of Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him knowledge from Our presence.”(435)

It should be noted that:

The expression “your Lord intended” points to Khiḍr’s monotheistic etiquette (adab tawḥīdī) in attributing good deeds singularly to God. This point will be discussed in more detail in the subtle implications of this same verse.

The phrase “until they reach their maturity” refers to the age of economic maturity and the ability of the two orphans to properly utilize their wealth.