Travel to the Junction of the Two Seas

[Warrior of Light]

This is one of my favorite islamic stories of the Prophets of Allah.

 

 

Travel to the Junction of the Two Seas

By Mufti Md. Shahbuddin Sabeeli

 

 

Prophet Musa (Pbuh) got up to deliver a speech before the children of Israel and he was asked who is the most learned person among the people? Hazrat Musa (Pbuh) replied, “I am the most learnedâ€. Allah admonished him for he did not ascribe knowledge to Allah alone. So Allah revealed to him: At the junction of the two seas there is a slave of ours who is more learned than you. Hazrat Musa (Pbuh) asked, “O my Lord! How can I meet himâ€? Allah said, Take a fish and put it in a basket (and set out) and where you, will lose the fish, you will find him.

 

So Hazrat Musa took a fish and put it in a basket and set out, along with his boy-servant Yusha bin Nun, till they reached a rock on which they both lay their heads and slept. The fish moved vigorously in the basket and got out of it and fell in to the sea and there it took its way through the sea (straight) as in a tunnel. When Hazrat Musa got up, his companion forgot to tell him about the fish and so they carried on, their journey during the rest of the day and the whole night.

 

The next morning Hazrat Musa asked his servant ‘Bring us our early meal, no doubt, we have suffered much fatigue in this journey of oursâ€. Hazrat Musa did not feel tired till he had passed the place which Allah had ordered him to seek for. His boy-servant then said to him.

 

“Do you remember when we were resting on the rock! Indeed we forgot the fish, none but Satan made me forget to remember it. It took its course into the sea in a marvellous way. There was a tunnel for the fish and for Hazrat Musa and his boy-servant. Hazrat Musa said: “That is where what we have been seeking for.†So they returned, retracing their steps till they reached the rock. Behold! There they found a man covered with a garment. Hazrat Musa greeted him. Hazrat Khidhar said astonishingly ‘Is there such a greeting in your land’? Hazrat Musa said. “I am Mosesâ€. He said: “Are you the Moses of the children of Israel? Hazrat Moses said, “Yes†and added, “I have come to you so that you may teach me of what you have been taughtâ€. Hazrat Khidhar said “you will not be able to have patience with me. O Moses? I have some of Allah’s knowledge which He had bestowed upon me but you do not know it, and you too have some of Allah’s knowledge which he has bestowed upon you, but I do not know it.â€

 

Hazrat Musa said “Allah willing you will find me patient and I will not disobey you in anythingâ€. Hazrat Khidhar said to him `If you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I myself speak to you concerning it? After that both of them proceeded along the sea coast till a boat passed by and they requested the crew to let them get on board.

 

The crew recognised Hazrat Khidhar and allowed them to get on the boat free of charge. When they got on board, suddenly Hazrat Musa saw that Hazrat Khidhar had pulled out one of the planks of the boat with an adze. Hazrat Musa said to him: “These people gave us a free ride, yet you have scuttled their boat, so as to drown its people Truly! You have done a dreadful thing.â€

 

Hazrat Khidhar said: “Didn’t I tell you that you will have no patience with me?†Hazrat Musa said: “Call me not to account for what I forgot and be not hard upon me for my mistake.†The first excuse given by Hazrat Musa (Pbuh) was that he had forgottenâ€. Then a sparrow came and sat over the edge of the boat and dipped its beak once in the sea. Hazrat Khidhar said to Hazrat Musa My knowledge and yours compared to Allah’s knowledge is like what this sparrow has taken out of the sea. Then they both got out of the boat and while they were walking on the sea shore. Hazrat Khidhar got hold of the boy twisted his head and killed him. Hazrat Musa said, “have you killed an innocent soul who has killed nobody! Truly you have done an atrocious thing.†He said: “Didn’t I tell you that you would not have patience with me?†Hazrat Musa said: “If I ask you about anything after this, keep me not in your company.†Then they both proceeded until they came to the inhabitants of a town. They asked them for food but the people refused to entertain them, (in that town) there they found a wall on the verge of falling down Hazrat Khidhar set it straight with his own hands. Hazrat Musa said: “These are the people to whom we came but they neither fed us nor received us as guests. If you had wished, you could surely have exacted wages for it. Hazrat Khidhar said: This is the parting between me and you. (Bukhari:12/690)

 

Moral of the Story

There are numerous issues to be discussed on. But we are going to limit ourselves to a few of them for the sake of abridgement. A widely known Islamic scholar Ibn Munabhah has written that the name of Hazrat Khidhar was “Ablayan bin Malkanâ€. His fore-father was Hazrat Noah (Pbuh). (Qurtubi:11/30)

 

“Khidhar†is an Arabic word which means green or verdant. He was called Hazrat Khidhar as whenever he used to sit on barren land and desolate place, the land was changed into a greenland. (Tirmizi:2/148). There are a number of commentators who thought that he was a Prophet (Ranul-Ma’ani:15/293). But he was given inspired knowledge by revelation (Tafseer-e-Razi:1/350)

 

Some scholars say that Hazrat Khidhar is still alive, because he drunk water of immortality. Allama Qurtubi favours this opinion. But the proofs he gave for his idea, are not very convincing and accurate. (Qurtubi:11/30). On the contrary Hafiz Ibn Kaseer and Ibn Jauzi have given various reasons to condemn that idea and they said with firm conviction that Hazrat Khidhar is not alive. He died a natural death. Imam Bukhari, Qazi Abu Bakar Ibn Arabi and other scholars of tradition agreed with this point of view. (Tafseer Ibn Kaseer:3/98)

 

There are more points in the story which are as follows: We should travel in search of knowledge whether it be a long journey or short and likewise face all sorts of difficulties that come in our way. The Prophet (Pbuh) himself said encouraging the seekers of knowledge, Allah makes way easy for him to Heavenâ€. (Abu-Dawood: 2/513).

 

However, Islamic knowledge has very different and lofty position among other worldly knowledge, therefore the seekers of knowledge travelled throughout the world to get it. Imam Bukhari and other scholars of tradition have mentioned this Hadith under the chapter “Excellence of journey for the sake of knowledgeâ€. This particular journey of Hazrat Musa was of a similar nature.