Companions & Great WomenA figure of the Quran

Al-Khidr

الخضر

The servant of Allah, given knowledge from Him, whom Musa travelled with to learn; whether he was a prophet, and whether he still lives, is disputed.

QuranSee it in the Atlas
Known as
The servant whom Musa followed

Life

The Quran tells of Musa finding one of Allah's servants to whom He had given mercy from Himself and taught knowledge from His presence (18:65), and of their journey together. The Quran does not name him; the Prophet ﷺ named him al-Khidr, saying he was so called because he sat on a white patch of ground and it turned green beneath him (al-Bukhari 3402).

islamweb's fatwa says the sound view among scholars is that he was a prophet. On whether he is still alive, its other fatwa records that al-Qurtubi, an-Nawawi, Ibn as-Salah and al-'Iraqi held he lives, while al-Bukhari, Ibn al-'Arabi, Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Kathir and ash-Shanqiti held he died, and that nothing cited for his being alive is authentic, as Ibn Kathir said.

Evidence

QuranAl-Kahf (The Cave)Quran 18:65

فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَآ ءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَـٰهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا ٦٥

And they found a servant from among Our servants [i.e., al-Khiḍr] to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him from Us a [certain] knowledge.

Saheeh International · QuranEnc v1.1.2

Another translation: Al-Hilali & Muhsin Khan · QuranEnc v1.1.2

65. Then they found one of Our slaves, on whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us.

Read in context on Quran.com
Sahih

Sahih al-Bukhari 3402

Grades
GraderVerdict
al-BukhariSahih (included by al-Bukhari in his Sahih) (Sahih)
Full narration

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأَصْبَهَانِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ، عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ، عَنْ هَمَّامِ بْنِ مُنَبِّهٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ إِنَّمَا سُمِّيَ الْخَضِرُ أَنَّهُ جَلَسَ عَلَى فَرْوَةٍ بَيْضَاءَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَهْتَزُّ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ خَضْرَاءَ ‏"‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Al-Khadir was named so because he sat over a barren white land, it turned green with plantation after (his sitting over it)

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