for unveilings are subject to correctness and error, just as dreams and their interpretation, opinions and transmitted reports are. Nothing is entirely free from error except what is reliably established from the Messenger. All matters must therefore be referred back to the message with which he was sent. This is why a man of consummate truthfulness who receives everything from the Messenger, such as Abū Bakr, is superior to someone who receives inspiration, such as Umar. The former would clarify matters that confused the latter, bringing him back to what was correct. This is what Abū Bakr did with Umar on the day of al-Hudaybiyyah, on the day the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died, regarding fighting those who withheld zakah, and on other occasions. We have discussed this subject at length elsewhere.

The point is that nothing in the story of al-Khidr permits anyone whatsoever to contravene the law of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Admittedly, the term “religious law” has acquired several meanings in common usage. Some people use it to mean judicial rulings. Undoubtedly, a judge’s ruling may accord with the underlying truth, or it may contradict it. Hence the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in the hadith narrated by Umm Salamah and recorded by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim:

“You bring your disputes before me, and some of you may present their arguments more eloquently than others. I judge only according to what I hear. If I award anyone something that rightfully belongs to his brother, he must not take it, for I am only awarding him a piece of the Fire.”

Muslims agree that a judge’s ruling concerning rights in general does not alter the underlying reality of the matter. Thus, if he were to award Zayd’s property to Umar on the basis of an admission or evidence,