Why did Al-Khidr kill a boy?

Question

First of all, I am new to reading the Quran, so forgive me for any misunderstanding that I may cause.

In Surat Al-Kahf aya 74, the journey between Al-Khidr and Moses, Al-Khidr kills an innocent boy and later on explains to Moses that the boy's parents were of the believers and they feared lest he(the boy) should oppress them with rebellion and disbelief. Here is the the whole story is taken from alim.org. Not sure if I am citing the right source, so I would welcome any corrections:

Moses said to him (Khidr) "May I follow you so that you teach me something of that knowledge (guidance and true path) which you have been taught (by Allah)?" He (Khidr) said: "Verily! You will not be able to have patience with me! And how can you have patience about a thing which you know not?" Moses said: "If Allah will, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught." He (Khidr) said: "Then, if you follow me, ask me not about anything till I myself mention it to you. So they both proceeded, till, when they were in the ship, he (Khidr) scuttled it. Moses said: "Have you scuttled it in order to drown its people? Verily, you have done Imra - a Munkar (evil, bad, dreadful) thing." He (Khidr) said: "Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me?" (Moses) said: "Call me not to account for what I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you)." Then they both proceeded, till they met a boy, he (Khidr) killed him. Moses said: "Have you killed an innocent person who had killed none? Verily, you have done Nukra a great Munkar (prohibited, evil, dreadful) thing!" (Khidr) said: "Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me?" (Moses) said: "If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me." Then they both proceeded, till, when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found therein a wall about to collapse and he (Khidr) set it up straight. (Moses) said: "If you had wished, surely you could have taken wages for it!" (Khidr) said: "This is the parting between me and you. I will tell you the interpretation of (those) things over which you were unable to hold patience. 'As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working in the sea. So I wished to make a defective damage in it, as there was a king after them who seized every ship by force. "And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebellion and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should change him for them for one better in righteousness and near to mercy. "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, 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 I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of those (things) over which you could not hold patience. Surah 18: 60-82

(Bold emphasis is mine.)

Please submit your answer with authentic sources.

Answer 1

The answer for why the boy was killed is in Qur'an itself. Khidr explains his action:

وَأَمَّا الْغُلَامُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَا أَن يُرْ‌هِقَهُمَا طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرً‌ا

Interpretation of the meaning:

And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. [Al-Kahf:80]

It is also explained in tafsir Ibn Katheer

Ibn Abbas narrated from Ubayy bin Ka`b that the Prophet said:

الْغُلَامُ الَّذِي قَتَلَهُ الْخَضِرُ طُبِعَ يَوْمَ طُبِعَ كَافِرًا

The boy Al-Khidr killed was destined to be a disbeliever from the day he was created.

Now, he was killed not only because he was a disbeliever or bad person but because it was feared he would oppress his parents (who were believers) to disbelief.

It is mentioned in Tafsir Ibn Kathir.

It was recorded by Ibn Jarir from Ibn `Abbas. He said:

فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَا أَن يُرْهِقَهُمَا طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا his parents were believers, and we feared he would oppress them by rebellion and disbelief [Muslim 2380]

There are many other hadith regarding this as well.

Ubayy b. Ka’b said:

I heard the Apostle of Allah (May peace be upon him) explaining the verse “As for the youth his parents were people of Faith,” he was created infidel the day when he was created.

حَدَّثَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ خَالِدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْفِرْيَابِيُّ، عَنْ إِسْرَائِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أُبَىُّ بْنُ كَعْبٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ فِي قَوْلِهِ ‏{‏ وَأَمَّا الْغُلاَمُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ ‏}‏ ‏"‏ وَكَانَ طُبِعَ يَوْمَ طُبِعَ كَافِرًا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ [Sunan Abi Dawud 4706]

Tafseer Ibn Katheer explained further why he was killed as:

Their love for him might make them follow him in disbelief.

And it quotes Qatadah who said:

"His parents rejoiced when he was born and grieved for him when he was killed. If he had stayed alive, he would have been the cause of their doom. So let a man be content with the decree of Allah, for the decree of Allah for the believer, if he dislikes it, is better for him than if He were to decree something that he likes for him.'

And this was from knowledge of Allah who knows the future and he knew that this boy would drive his parents to disbelief. So, he was killed in order to protect the belief and faith of his parents. The practical message from this is that there are several things in our life which might seem disastrous to us, a lost job perhaps, an accident or money lost. However, while we do not know, it might be actually good for us in long time. Hence, what is good for a believer is to be content with the will of Allah and not be sad or impatient.

And Allah says in Qur'an:

and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you.[Al-Baqarah :216]

Answer 2

The short answer is:

According to the rules of religion, it is not allowed to kill such boy. But he did not kill based on religion. God directly ordered him to kill the boy. It is like a disaster, such as an earthquake. In this case, God wanted to use Khidr as a tool of killing, instead of a disaster.

Actions such as this, that contradict religion, are only allowed of those who have a direct connection with God. They are called Wali. Wali means those who can meet God, and are close friends of God. Allah may use them as a mean like the other means of Him in the universe and they will obey Him just like those other means do obey him without any excuse or question. At the scale of the truth they have reached they see only the truth and no ambiguity exists there that they will fall in doubt if this is really a command from Allah or an inspiration from Satan or desires. Of course this is not something that can be generalized to all and so cannot be a part of religion, the set of rules for all. Like to say prostration for anyone except Allah is forbidden but only if Allah command to do it directly then it will be obligatory.

The same God who said that killing an innocent boy is sin, issued the command to kill this boy. Therefore, it is not a sin, because the command of God is above religion.

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Reference and detailed answer:

• al-Khidr’s actions in the Qur’an

Answer 3

If we looked at how the root term ره ق ra ha qa is used in the Quran such as (18:73, 10:27, 72:13, etc) seems to suggests that the act of رهق rahaqa has the notion of forcefully covering/engulfing to the point of hardship that offers no alternative choice but to accept or suffer the consequence.

Thus the output of rahaqa is the yielding of the subject imposed on. So when the Qur'an stated ان يرهقهما this would imply that the fear that the parents has yielded to kufr.

The teenager/Ghulam has acted on his parent in forceful manner (18:80) which will cause Fitna/hardship/tribulation/severe test on his parents that will cause them to yield to Kufr by giving them no choice but to accept or suffer a dire consequences.

Since the Qur'an adheres to the values of no compulsion on any belief system (2:256) therefore whenever this is jeopardized the risk must be subdued or eliminated.

wallahua3lam

Answer 4

That the youth himself deserved death is abundantly clear. His inordinacy had now reached an extreme — the circumstances seem to have been known to Kha˙ir, though not to Moses — when it was feared that his innocent parents would be involved in the trouble which must befall him as a result of his wrongdoing. Note that the word used to indicate the youth’s wrongdoing is ∆ughyån, which means exceeding all limits in wrongdoing.