How to distinguish between a Prophet and one who is inspired, such as al-Khidr?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... What is the criterion? ... al-Khidr ... How do we say that this is not a Prophet, yet revelation was sent to him?
The Shaykh : The revelation of the message or prophethood is different from the revelation of inspiration. The revelation of inspiration is found even in animals[An-Nahl 16:68] One knows that he is a Prophet either by an explicit text or by something other than that.
The questioner : That is, he is not measured by the standard of a Prophet ...
The Shaykh : Until it is known that he is a Prophet, yes.
The questioner : Revelation was sent to him.
The Shaykh : No, it is not merely that revelation was sent to him ... otherwise the mother of Musa would have been a Prophet, yes.
The questioner : We said, O Shaykh, that al-Khidr is not a Prophet, ... what is the basis ... evidence regarding the Prophets, or for example ...
The Shaykh : All right, even if we said he is a Prophet, would that not be evidence that al-Khidr is better than Musa, and Musa is among the resolute ones? All right, if you have not resolved this, we say he is not better than Musa, even if he were a Prophet or a close friend of Allah, yes. Also, regarding the status of being a close friend of Allah, we cannot establish that al-Khidr is a close friend of Allah, even in this case. Merely that Allah taught him these things does not establish the status of being a close friend of Allah, because the status of being a close friend of Allah is for those who believed and were mindful of Allah. We do not criticize al-Khidr, but if someone asked us to testify, saying, "Do you testify that he is among the close friends of Allah?" we would not be able to testify to that. But yes, he is a righteous man. As for the status of being a close friend of Allah, it is a great rank, yes.
The Shaykh : The revelation of the message or prophethood is different from the revelation of inspiration. The revelation of inspiration is found even in animals
And your Lord inspired to the bee, "Take for yourself among the mountains, houses
وأوحى ربك إلى النحل أن اتخذي من الجبال بيوتاًThe questioner : That is, he is not measured by the standard of a Prophet ...
The Shaykh : Until it is known that he is a Prophet, yes.
The questioner : Revelation was sent to him.
The Shaykh : No, it is not merely that revelation was sent to him ... otherwise the mother of Musa would have been a Prophet, yes.
The questioner : We said, O Shaykh, that al-Khidr is not a Prophet, ... what is the basis ... evidence regarding the Prophets, or for example ...
The Shaykh : All right, even if we said he is a Prophet, would that not be evidence that al-Khidr is better than Musa, and Musa is among the resolute ones? All right, if you have not resolved this, we say he is not better than Musa, even if he were a Prophet or a close friend of Allah, yes. Also, regarding the status of being a close friend of Allah, we cannot establish that al-Khidr is a close friend of Allah, even in this case. Merely that Allah taught him these things does not establish the status of being a close friend of Allah, because the status of being a close friend of Allah is for those who believed and were mindful of Allah. We do not criticize al-Khidr, but if someone asked us to testify, saying, "Do you testify that he is among the close friends of Allah?" we would not be able to testify to that. But yes, he is a righteous man. As for the status of being a close friend of Allah, it is a great rank, yes.