Al-Khidr (peace and blessings be upon him) is that religious servant whom Allah the Almighty mentioned in the Qur’an in Surat Al-Kahf. Prophet Musa (peace and blessings be upon him) accompanied Al-Khidr and learned many lessons from him. According to the view which is deemed to be the most correct, Al-Khidr is no longer alive. In addition, he was a Prophet according to the preponderant view.
The stories of Al-Khidr told by the righteous are innumerable. They claim that he and Ilyas perform Hajj each year and they narrated supplications from them. These stories are well known and widespread, but the basis of what they say is very weak because most of the stories are narrated from some of those who are thought to be righteous, or from dreams and hadiths that are attributed to Anas or others. But all of them are da`if or weak and cannot be used to prove anything.
What seems to us to be more likely, based on the evidence concerning this matter, is that Al-Khidr is not alive; rather, he died. This is for a number of reasons:
1. The apparent meaning of the verse, “And We granted not to any human being immortality before you (O Muhammad); then if you die, would they live forever?” (Al-Anbiyaa’: 34)
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “O Allah, if You allow this group of Muslims to be destroyed, You will not be worshiped on earth.” (Reported by Muslim)
3. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that one hundred years after the night on which he was speaking, none of the people who were on the face of the earth then would still be alive. If Al-Khidr had been alive at that point, he would not have remained after the hundred years mentioned. Muslim ibn A-Hajjaj said that `Abdullah ibn `Abdullah ibn `Umar said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in praying `Isha’ one night towards the end of his life, then he stood up and said, ‘Do you see this night of yours? One hundred years from now not one of those who are on the face of the earth now will remain.’” Ibn `Umar said, “The people did not understand these words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they said that this meant that the Day of Resurrection would come after one hundred years. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “‘Not one of those who are on the face of the earth now will remain’ meaning that that generation would pass away.”
4. If Al-Khidr had lived until the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Al-Khidr would have followed the Prophet, supported him, and fought alongside him because the Prophet was sent to the two races of jinn and mankind.
Clarifying whether Al-Khidr was a Prophet or not, we would like to cite the following: “From the general meaning of the Qur’anic verses it appears that he was a Prophet.
The late prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Shinqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his commentary on the verse “Then they found one of Our slaves, on whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us.” (Al-Kahf: 65)
But it may be understood from some verses that the mercy mentioned here was the mercy of Prophethood, and that this knowledge which came from Allah was the knowledge of revelation or wahy. It is known that mercy and the bestowal of knowledge from Allah is more general and comes in more ways than via Prophethood. The fact that something general exists does not necessarily imply that something more specific exists, as is well known. One of the indications that the mercy and knowledge with which Allah blessed His slave Al-Khidr came by way of Prophethood and revelation is the verse “And I did them not of my own accord” (Al-Kahf: 82), that is, I did them by the Command of Allah; the Command of Allah is only conveyed via revelation because there is no way for the commands and prohibitions of Allah to be known except through revelation from Allah, especially with regard to the killing of an apparently innocent soul and damaging a ship by making a hole in it, because committing acts of aggression against people’s lives and wealth can only be validated via revelation from Allah.”