# Is al-Khidr a real person who is still alive?

*A symbolic reading: the three events mirror Musa's own mission*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/yy74xfro_e4/s/5/
- Date: 2019-01-14 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (22:48–29:07)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy74XfRo_E4&t=1368s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/yy74xfro_e4/

**Topics:** Moses; How to read the Quran; Dreams and visions

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No: he reads al-Khidr as part of a vision shown to Musa, whose three events mirrored Musa's own life and mission. The boy was not really killed, and al-Khidr does not roam the earth.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says al-Khidr was part of Musa's vision and not actually a real person who roams among us.

**Evidence, his words at 27:48:** “he was part of that vision he was not actually a real person and he's not actually somebody who roams around amongst us” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy74XfRo_E4&t=1668s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says that objectively there is no such figure as al-Khidr in the folk sense: it was all a vision shown to Musa to reinforce his mission. The damaged ship stands for the Israelites, damaged for generations, whom Musa had to lead out of calamity towards a hidden good. The killing of the boy did not happen in reality, since God would never allow a child to be murdered for a greater good; it addressed Musa's own accidental killing of an Egyptian, which led to his flight and the unfolding of his prophethood. The wall rebuilt for an ungrateful village reflects Musa's frustration with the Israelites, as when they made the golden calf, and shows him that the orphans' hidden treasure would become the kingdom of Dawud and Sulayman, which he did not live to see. He concludes that al-Khidr was part of that vision, not a real person roaming the earth, unless the term is used symbolically.

## Sources and names cited

- al-Khidr
- Musa (Moses)
- Pharaoh
- the golden calf of the Israelites
- Dawud (David)
- Sulayman (Solomon)

## Transcript (machine tier, 22:48–29:07)

[22:07] does he still continue to do that and then people felt yes of course he's still alive and in fact he still amongst us as Imam Noah we and even a Salah and all these people and seal tea and all these people felt and the truth is people look from a folklore perspective people of all religions have kind of believed in these kind of things it's nothing unique to that kind of Muslim folklore you will see people in Christianity believing that Saints are still kind of these ancient Saints still kind of roam amongst them in Hindu mythology you'll have about avatars kind

[22:47] of roaming around amongst people interfering with the divine laws of nature and stuff like this and but from a objective perspective there is no such thing as hid are Ali Salaam like that okay the truth is that this was all a vision it was all in a dream and the reason musa alehsalaam was shown those that dream was not that vision was not really it was to reinforce his own mission you see because the three events

[23:24] that took place in that green were deeply connected to the life and mission of Moses alaysalam you see Moses are in this particular dream you will see that they they they embark upon this shape and they damage this ship so something being very damaged okay but yet it has a greater good that will come out of this you see the Israelites the

[24:02] way they had been damaged the way Moses had to lead them out of the kind of calamity this was to reinforce his mission the candies Israelites actually make it these people who are constantly pestering and annoying the Prophet these people that have been damaged for generations now that that even though they've undergone this damage and they trying to go back to this kingdom of God on earth they want they're trying to head back to Jerusalem that this will that this has some hidden hating me the

[24:39] fact that neither murders this this child he didn't murder him in real life God would never allow anybody to murder a child that would be absurd because if you're gonna say well it was for a greater good then why not murder all the other children right that doesn't make any sense right because if you're gonna say well God murdered this child because the child was gonna grow up and turn them into a car filled well then what about all the other car fares on earth why doesn't God murder their children so what is what an absurd thing that would that belief would never you see in Moses in his life he had

[25:19] committed accidentally murder he had murdered a person in a fight so it got into a fight with and with one of the Egyptian pharaoh soldiers and he had hit him resulting in his death from which Moses had fled now this thing was always bothering Moses that you know I accidentally killed that person and this incident or in the vision where he was to witness that actually that did happen yes but there was a greater good that

[25:55] because of that you fled and because of you fleeing a great journey of prophecy prophethood and the salvation of the Israelites was began to unfold so this was to do with Moses witnessing this murder of this child in his vision not in reality and as to building this wall and Moses getting being like kind of frustrated why didn't you charge them this was because Moses was fed up with the behavior of these relights just because they were pestering him they

[26:34] even went when he goes to Mount Sinai he comes back they've built a golden calf what is this about you know what Roger a Musa Allah omigod Vanna Asifa that Moses comes back and he's angry for Uncle Al wha ha he threw the kind of tablets that he was so angry that what on earth is wrong with you people but Allah was showing in this vision that look yes these people the village villagers disrespected them they didn't host them well they didn't

[27:10] because Moses you see Moses dies before the Israelites reached Jerusalem they don't actually enter Moses does not enter Jerusalem he dies before the Israelites actually make it across the Jordan River and into Jerusalem he never sees the fruits of his whole mission but God shows him in this vision that yes the wall right now is dilapidated but these orphans will grow up and beneath it is a treasure which will manifest in

[27:48] the great magnificent kingdom of David and Solomon serving and playing out to be one of the most powerful kingdoms on earth in its time that this was a manifestations of this all of these three incidents related deeply to the life and mission of Moses aleihsalaam so this is what Haider Ali Salaam was he was part of that vision he was not actually a real person and he's not actually somebody who roams around amongst us interfering in that sense

[28:28] unless you're using that term symbolically okay so symbolically I guess you could say things like that but in Muslim folklore many Muslims believe he is a person he's roaming around and he's doing all these things but that's not actually real I mean many Muslims might believe that but that's not actually true cool guys I hope that made some sense I hope it helped certain people inshallah whoa whoa people whoa that's taking us way way beyond people certain people's bedtimes alright folks with that I think

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment yy74XfRo_E4/s/5. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/yy74xfro_e4/s/5/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.