فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِنْدِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِنْ لَدُنَّا عِلْمًا ﴿۶۵﴾ قَالَ لَهُ مُوسَى هَلْ أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلَى أَنْ تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُشْدًا ﴿۶۶﴾

﴾65﴿ Fa wajadaa 'abdam min 'ibaadinaaa aatainaahu Rahmatam min 'indinaa wa 'allamnaahu mil ladunnaa 'ilmaa
﴾66﴿ Qaala lahoo Moosaa hal attabi'uka 'alaaa an tu'allimani mimmaa 'ullimta rushdaa

﴾65﴿ So they found one of Our servants, to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him knowledge from Our own
﴾66﴿ Moses said to him, May I follow you on the condition that you teach me from what you have been taught of guidance

[65] When he returned to Majma‘ al-Bahrayn, there was a man clothed and concealed, sitting and leaning. Moses (peace be upon him) greeted him with peace. After replying, the man said, “This behavior is unusual because in this land most people are unaware of such a manner of greeting.” Also, most people were opposed to him and wouldn’t greet him. Moses said to him, “I am Moses.” He asked, “Which Moses?” He replied, “Moses of the Children of Israel.”
The word “servant” (ʿabdan) refers to the fact that al-Khiḍr (peace be upon him) was a needy servant and not deserving of divinity.
The name of al-Khiḍr was Balya ibn Malkān, from the descendants of Sām ibn Nūḥ (peace be upon him), and "Khiḍr" was his title because wherever he sat on the earth, when he rose, the place would turn green and glow. The word khuḍrah refers to the color green.
He was from the lineage of kings. There are two disagreements concerning him. The first: Was al-Khiḍr an angel, a messenger, or a saint (walī)? The correct view is that he was a prophet. The exegete al-Qurṭubī mentioned proofs of his prophethood:
1. The word raḥmah in the verse means prophethood and revelation.
2. Moses (peace be upon him) was a prophet, and a prophet does not need a saint for knowledge, because a prophet is superior to a saint in every way.
3. Someone who is not a prophet cannot surpass a prophet in rank.
Some people have said he was an angel, but there is no evidence for that. Others say he was a saint, but this is an odd and unsupported opinion.
The second disagreement is about his lifespan—whether he is still alive or has passed away. The stance of the hadith scholars, scholars, and researchers is that he has passed away. The opinion of the Sufis is that he is still alive, but the first view is correct. The proofs are detailed in Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa’l-Nihāyah by Ibn Kathīr, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, and al-Radd ʿala al-Manṭiqiyyīn by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), among others. Those who claim that al-Khiḍr (peace be upon him) is alive have no sound evidence. There is a hadith of condolence, but it is weak. On this issue, Imam al-Qurṭubī made a mistake by claiming that al-Khiḍr is alive. In Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, the hadith “If Moses and Jesus were alive…” is incorrect. In the authentic hadith, only Moses (peace be upon him) is mentioned.
The verse wa ʿallamnāhu min ladunā ʿilman (We taught him knowledge from Us)—the word ʿilman is indefinite and in an affirmative statement, indicating a specific type of knowledge. This knowledge refers to some inward matters received through revelation. This is supported by the verse at the end of the story: wa mā faʿaltuhu ʿan amrī (I did not do it of my own accord). This knowledge included some future matters or some unseen things, which are confirmed for all prophets (peace be upon them) as miracles, though they differ in method.
Note: According to the sect of the Bāṭinī heretics, the saints and elders who possess esoteric knowledge attain it due to the purity of their hearts. Through this knowledge, they claim to be informed of the secrets of existence and even able to determine rulings on detailed matters—without needing the textual sources of the Sharīʿah. They draw an analogy between their claims and the knowledge of al-Khiḍr (peace be upon him).
Sometimes they say that ḥaqīqah (reality) is different from Sharīʿah (religious law), and at times they claim that the knowledge of the Ṣūfīs has no need for Sharīʿah. Because of this claim, some Ṣūfīs abandon acts of worship under this pretense.
The answer to this is that the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the consensus of both the early and later generations of Muslims clearly testify that there is no other path to knowing the rulings of Sharīʿah except through the knowledge of the Sharīʿah itself. Whoever claims that the rulings of Sharīʿah can be known without the Qur’an and Sunnah is a heretic (zindīq) and a disbeliever (kāfir).
Their analogy with al-Khiḍr (peace be upon him) is invalid because his knowledge came through divine revelation (waḥy) from Allah the Exalted. Among the Ṣūfīs, however, there is no revelation.
As for the objections that Moses (peace be upon him) raised against al-Khiḍr (peace be upon him), it was because those actions appeared to contradict the Sharīʿah of Moses (peace be upon him), and he was not aware of the unseen realities behind them. This proves that any action that contradicts Sharīʿah must necessarily be objected to. Neglecting this is not acceptable. This interaction of Moses (peace be upon him) was with a prophet, and therefore, when such things come from someone who is not a prophet, it becomes obligatory to object to them even more so.
[66] In this teaching, there is a lesson in showing proper respect toward the teacher and scholar—that one must seek permission from him and follow him within the bounds set by the Sharīʿah.
The phrase (mimmā ʿullimta rushdan) (from what you have been taught of right guidance) indicates that it is the duty of the teacher to impart only beneficial guidance and righteous knowledge to the student, and not to waste the student’s time with anything useless.