but the sound view, as related in the historical accounts and established from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, 221/A, is that he was Khidr (1). His name was Balya ibn Malkan (2). It was said that he was descended from the Children of Israel. It was also said that he was one of the sons of kings who had renounced worldly life. Khidr was a title by which he was known, so called because of what Abu Ali Hassan ibn Sa‘id al-Munai‘i informed us: Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammash al-Ziyadi informed us; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Qattan informed us; Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Sulami narrated to us; Abd al-Razzaq informed us; Ma‘mar informed us from Hammam ibn Munabbih, who said: Abu Hurayrah narrated to us that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “He was called Khidr only because he sat upon a white, barren patch of ground, and it became green beneath him.” (3)
Mujahid said: “He was called Khidr because whenever he prayed, everything around him became green.”
It has also been narrated to us that Moses saw Khidr covered in a garment. Moses greeted him with peace, and Khidr said: “How could the greeting of peace be known in your land?” Moses said: “I am Moses. I have come to you so that you may teach me some of the right guidance which you have been taught.” (4)
In another narration, he found him covered in a garment and lying on his back, with part of the garment beneath his head and part beneath his feet. In another narration, he found him praying. It is also narrated that he found him upon a green carpet in the midst of the sea. Hence the saying of the Exalted:
“So they found one of Our servants, to whom We had given mercy from Us and whom We had taught knowledge from Our own presence.” (65)
“So they found one of Our servants, to whom We had given mercy”—that is, a blessing—“from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Our own presence”—that is, inner knowledge received by inspiration. According to most scholars, Khidr was not a prophet (5).
(1) This has preceded in the previous hadiths. See Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Ahadith al-Anbiya (Book of the Prophets' Hadiths), chapter: “The Account of al-Khidr with Musa, peace be upon them,” 6:431-433. It is pronounced with a fathah on the kha and a kasrah on the dad; the dad may also be pronounced without a vowel, with either a kasrah or fathah on the kha.
(2) See Ibn Qutaybah, al-Maarif (Knowledge), p. 42; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma wa al-Lughat (Refinement of Names and Languages), 1:176; Fath al-Bari, 6:433.
(3) Narrated by al-Bukhari in Kitab Ahadith al-Anbiya, chapter: “The Account of al-Khidr with Musa,” 6:433.
(4) The sourcing of this narration and the one following it has already been given.
(5) Scholars differ as to whether al-Khidr was a prophet, and whether he remains alive until the present and will remain so until the Day of Resurrection. Ibn al-Salah inclined to the view that he is still alive, citing accounts and reports from the Salaf and others. Some hadiths mention his continued life, but none of them is authentic. The most well-known is the hadith of condolence, whose chain of transmission is weak. Other hadith scholars preferred the contrary view, arguing that it has not been reported that he came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, attended him, or fought alongside him. Had he been alive, he would have been among the Prophet's followers and Companions, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was sent to both weighty creations: jinn and humankind. He said: “If Musa and Isa were alive, they would have no option but to follow me.” Shortly before his death, he also stated that no one then living on earth would remain alive after one hundred years from that night. See Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 3:100-101; al-Qurtubi, Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 11:41-42; Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Manar al-Munif, pp. 67-76, with the editor's notes; Fath al-Bari, 6:434-436; Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Zahr al-Nadir fi Naba al-Khidr (The Flourishing Blossom on the Account of al-Khidr), published in Majmuat al-Rasail al-Munirah, 2:195-234; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma wa al-Lughat, 1:176-177.