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Day 61: Tafsir Part 54

SURAH AL-KAHF INTRO TO THE STORY OF MUSA AND KHIDR (PART 4)

AND AYAH 60
Description:
This video completes the intro to the story of Musa and Khidr and begins the tafsir of ayah 60 of Surah Al-Kahf.
Introductory Comments
The thematic study of Surah Al-Kahf is very diverse
There are 4 stories all together in the Surah
One way of thinking about them, which is very brief, is that three of these stories are about out attitudes
towards worldly life
o i.e. what are the things that worry me and if they are not going right they can shake my faith?
The first thing is the future. I am worried about what will happen tomorrow. This is covered very
beautifully in the story of the people of the cave
The next thing we worry about is the things we own and have and the people we have. We
worry about our relationships and families, property, money, assets, etc. This is covered well in
the story of the gardeners. And the conclusion of this story is that money and children are a
beauty and decoration in life
The next one is our experiences why did this happen that way, or that way? This is covered
through the story of Musa and Khidr where someone with such strong faith as Musa cant even
handle the experiences sometimes. By the end of it, it is something that Musa has to experience
himself
If any of these go wrong, they will shake our faith
In these 3 stories is everything we go through in worldly life in one way or another
The last story which we wont get into now, is the story of Dhul Qarnayn who goes around fixing
things. In other words, he is not concerned about himself but he is concerned about making the
world a better place. He is a contributor
The premise in these stories is that if your faith in Allah is solid on all of the above fronts, i.e. you are not worried about
money or children and have placed your reliance on Allah, you are not insecure about your future, you know no matter
what experiences you go through Allah has a grand plan for you and at the end of the day Allah is looking out for you, if
you have this kind of security and faith then you are of benefit to others and then you can actually benefit others and
become a contributor

One of the discussions in this story is that it seems that a Prophet is being corrected. And there are many
instances of this in the Quran even with the Prophet (pbuh) in Surh Abasa or with Nuh alayhi alsalam when
Allah corrected him about his son when he was drowning
So how do we understand it when the prophets are being corrected or they are on a journey and they are
imperfect?
o Some mufassiroon have denied the fact that these stories are actually about prophets
o Some have outright rejected them

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There are benefits however

Shows that prophets are human and are not perfect. Only Allah is perfect
The Jewish extreme is that prophets are deeply flawed
The Christian extreme view is that the prophets are divine
In Islam, the prophets are of impeccable character but it doesnt mean that they are
beyond human
One of the most powerful lessons that comes out of this is that I am never beyond correction. If
the prophets are being corrected, then I should be humble and know that I am never beyond
being corrected and I should never be offended that somebody corrected me
If you do a careful study of all the prophets that are being corrected, youll find that there is never a single case
where they are actually sinful. They never disobey Allah in any way.
o But they are independent matters where they exercise their free will and judgment and Allah merely
corrects them and tells them there is a better way to do things
o We believe that the prophets are the most intelligent people. But even a prophet can be corrected by
Allah in ways that human beings cannot understand

Correlations between Ayahs

In the previous passage, Surah Al-Kahf Ayah 54

We gave in this Quran all kinds of examples and here Allah gives an example
Human beings are most argumentative about most things and this story will have some argumentation
This texture of the story is something that the Prophet alluded to in a hadith that is narrated by Abu
Dawood

I am holding on to a house for a person who left argumentation even if he felt he was right
This hadith is quoted by some mufassiroon only because Musa felt like he had to speak out and
question what was happening, when in reality in his position as a student he should have held
himself back and learned no matter how much his patience got tested

AYAH 60

Translation: When Musa alayhi alsalam said to his young servant, I will continue until I reach the merging place of both
seas or I spend lifetimes looking for the place where the two seas meet

Root Analysis of

are the root letters and lots of words with different meanings come out of them

Something that descends or falls apart

Something that becomes apparent and something that gets exposed

As fort he meaning of disappearing and not lasting they say for a person who left and didnt stick around

means Im not going to leave my place

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But not literally it is figurative; i.e. I wont leave this journey or leave my commitment until I find the
place
It is also used in the Quran that we are not going to leave our commitments sitting infront of these idols we
wont leave our devotion to these gods

to be exhausted to the point where you are going to pass out

Musa is therefore saying I am not going to get agigtated or get sick or fall apart, Im going to stay
committed until I find this place. Hes basically going to exhaust every last limb in his body until he falls
sick

- Extreme winds

The Word

means young lad or young man

The word or youth has come up before in this Surah several times in the beginning about the young

people of the cave who had no mentor and just had each other
Allah didnt say Musa said to THE young man... Allah said, Musa said to HIS young man... So what does this
mean?
o There is a narration of the Prophet (pbuh) from Sahih Muslim that sheds light on the language uses of
this word

No one of you should dare say my slave or my female slave. All of you are slaves of Allah and all of your women of
slaves of Allah. But he should say instead, my young boy/girl, my young man/woman

In other words, the Prophet (pbuh) did not add which means servant

means young boy

means young girl

means young man

means young women

These are actually terms of endearment as opposed to terms of ownership

So the Prophet (pbuh) is actually even honoring these slaves and servants by giving them terms
that are loving and endearing
And in any language, when you say my boy, that sounds like he is your son. Like youre going to
treat them like your own kid but it gives almost the same connotation that you will treat them
like your own

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The other thing is the word here is used for Yusha alayhi alsalam and we know he is a heroic prophet of
banu Israel he is responsible for leading the Jews in battle and bringing them out of diaspora after Musa alayhi
alsalam
o Yet his description in the Quran is his young lad
o Humility is illustrated here
Musa alayhi alsalam left teaching the Israelites to go learn so its OK sometimes to leave your teaching and go
learn

Thematic Benefits in this Ayah

Musa alayhi alsalam is speaking to this young man
o The idea that Allah highlights is a prophet that is going to go on his own journey and he is going to go for
his own personal quest. But he even takes that as an opportunity to take someone with him and mentor
them
o Mentorship is part of leadership sometimes it means you take one person and you take them under
your wing and teach them what you can
There is something special about this young lad that Musa picked to go with him from among everyone else to
go on the journey
o But Musa is having him bring out the food. Nothing special that Musa is having him do
o When you take someone under your wing, one of the first qualities that must have is that they must be
willing to do anything and to not think that anything is beneath them.
o One of the barriers to learning is thinking very highly of yourself as a special student. And another
barrier is lack of patience
And both of these barriers have been highlighted beautifully inside this story
So the position of a teacher is to teach and the position of a student is to learn
o But the wording here is strange. Musa talked to his young lad but he didnt say anything except about
himself I am not going to quit I will stay committed so I can find the location or I will stay lifetimes
looking for it
o But he is showing the commitment one should have. He is telling his student that he himself is a
committed student. And he isnt imposing this commitment on him.
o Mentorship isnt just telling the person under you what to do. But showing them how committed you
are
The other thing is the fact that Musa alayhi alsalam doesnt know where the two seas meet. And that is
indicated from the fact that he doesnt give a deadline for when they will find it and he has no idea so much so
that he is willing to look for multiple lifetimes
o So Musa is acknowledging that the journey he is going on he doesnt know where or how long it will take
o Musa is setting the right expectation with this young man that the hourney they are embarking on is a
quest they may never find the end to
o To have this openness as a student, of embarking on a journey the wisdom is the lost treasure of a
believer wherever he may stumble upon it he should hold it
Musa in this language is not interested in the destination he is more interested in the direction and journey
Therefore the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) of pursuit of knowledge our goal in life is pursuit not the end
destination
Brings to Mind Surah Al-Kahf Ayah 24

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Perhaps Allah will guide me to something closer closer necessarily means progress and not destination you
are asking Allah in this duaa to continuously make progress the destination is with your Rabb that is where it
stops. Before that, you just keep getting closer.
So long as you are marking progress, that is what is valuable to Allah.

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