The Orphans' Wall

Next: the story of the wall. Al-Khaḍir erected the wall. Al-Khaḍir said: that wall belonged to two orphans in the town, and beneath the wall was a treasure. Al-Khaḍir was instructed to build the wall so that the orphans would grow up and retrieve their treasure later. Because if the wall fell down — if al-Khaḍir had left the wall alone, what would have happened? It would have fallen down, and the treasure would have been exposed. And these orphans are young; they would not be able to defend their treasure.

I mean, we know that the people of that town were not going to leave that treasure alone. Those people, who refused to feed al-Khaḍir and Mūsā — who refused even to give them some food — were not going to leave this treasure with two kids. They were going to take it away from them. If these people were so miserly and stingy that they did not even feed Mūsā and al-Khaḍir, we would not expect them to be honest. They were going to steal that money; they were going to rob them. So Allah wanted al-Khaḍir to build the wall again, so that the orphans would grow up, and when they were grown and strong, they would be able to retrieve their treasure.

And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town, and there was under it a treasure belonging to them, and their father was a righteous man. Underline this. Why did Allah send al-Khaḍir to rebuild the wall? Why? Because the father of the two orphans was — what? Righteous. Allah protected the orphans; Allah protected the children, because the father was righteous.

If you want Allah to protect your children, then protect them with your good deeds. Protect them with al-ʿamal al-ṣāliḥ. Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, one of the major tābiʿūn, told his son: yā bunayya, innī la-astakthiru min al-aʿmāl al-ṣāliḥah ḥattā yaḥfaẓaka Allāh — O my son, I am doing so many good deeds because I want Allah to protect you with them. Our good deeds are a protection for our children. If we want Allah (swt) to take care of our children, let us take care of them with our good deeds, and Allah (swt) will take care of them even when we are not around.

This man was dead, and Allah (swt) took care of those orphans. Allah sent al-Khaḍir specifically — specifically sent al-Khaḍir — to go and fulfil that mission. Why? To serve that man who had died, because he was righteous. So Allah (swt) will take care of your affairs; do not worry. Allah will take care of you, whether you are dead or alive. If you take care of the commands of Allah — iḥfaẓ Allāha yaḥfaẓk — take care of the commandments of Allah, and what will happen? Allah will take care of you.

Their father was a righteous man, and your Lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And then al-Khaḍir says something important: wa mā faʿaltuhū ʿan amrī — and I did it not of my own accord. These things you saw me do — Allah is the One who told me to do them. This is knowledge from Allah. And that is how the believer should be: you never give credit to yourself; you give credit to the One to whom credit belongs, and that is Allah.

This is the story of Mūsā and al-Khaḍir. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: yarḥamu Allāhu Mūsā, law ṣabara la-quṣṣa ʿalaynā min amrihimā — may Allah have mercy on Mūsā; if he had been patient, we would have been told more about their story. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) wanted to know more about the details of the life of this learned, wise man, al-Khaḍir.