Who Is the Most Knowledgeable?

We will move on to a story — an interesting story, an amazing story — that happened with Mūsā. The reason I delayed it until now is that we do not know exactly where this story fits in the chronological order of events. This is the story of Mūsā and al-Khaḍir. It is a story of ʿajāʾib, of astonishing events, from beginning to end.

The way it happened is that Mūsā stood one day on the minbar, the pulpit, speaking to Banū Isrāʾīl. And one of the men of Banū Isrāʾīl, the children of Israel, stood up and said: O Mūsā, who is the most knowledgeable man? Who is the most knowledgeable person? Mūsā said: I am. Because he was the prophet of Allah (swt); he was the nabī; he was the one receiving revelation from Allah (swt). According to his knowledge, he was the most knowledgeable person — because he was the nabī, the prophet, the one with a direct link between him and Allah, receiving the waḥy from Allah (swt). So he said: I am. And this hadith, again, is in al-Bukhārī.

Allah (swt) told Mūsā: how come you did not say Allāhu aʿlam? How come you did not say that Allah knows best who is the most knowledgeable person? There is a man who has knowledge that you do not have.

Mūsā did not say that he was the most knowledgeable because he was proud or arrogant; that is not the reason. Mūsā is the nabī of Allah (swt), and he would not do that. He said he was the most knowledgeable person because that was according to his knowledge. So when it came to Mūsā's knowledge that he was not the most knowledgeable person, he was so humble that he asked Allah (swt) to allow him to be that man's student. He said: O Allah, how can I learn from him? Allah (swt) told him: you can meet him in the place where you miss — where you lose — your fish. That is where you will meet this learned man, this wise man.

And the name of this man is al-Khaḍir. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says in a hadith — an authentic hadith — that the reason he was called al-Khaḍir is that al-Khaḍir in Arabic means green. The reason he was named al-Khaḍir is that he was once sitting on dry grass, and when he stood up, the grass beneath him was green. That is why he was given the name al-Khaḍir. Karāmāt were happening at the hands of al-Khaḍir.