Al-Khidr (/ˈxɪdər/, Arabic: ٱلْخَضِر, romanized: al-Khaḍir; also Romanized as al-Khadir, Khader, Khidr, Hidr, Khizr, Kezr, Kathir, Khazer, Khadr, Khedher, Khizir, Khizar, Khilr) is a figure not mentioned by name in the Quran. He is described in Surah Al-Kahf, as a righteous servant of God possessing great wisdom or mystic knowledge. In various Islamic and non-Islamic traditions, Khidr is described as an angel, prophet, or wali,[3][4] who guards the sea, teaches secret knowledge[5] and aids those in distress.[6] He prominently figures as patron of the Islamic saintibn Arabi.[7] The figure of al-Khidr has been syncretized over time with various other figures including Dūraoša[8] and Sorūsh in Iran,[9][10][11]Sargis the General[12][13] and Saint George in Asia Minor and the Levant,[14]Samael (the divine prosecutor) in Judaism, Elijah among the Druze, John the Baptist in Armenia, and Jhulelal[15] in Sindh and Punjab in South Asia.[16][17][18][19][20][21] He is commemorated on the holiday of Hıdırellez.
Though not mentioned by name in the Quran, he is named by Islamic scholars as the figure described in Quran18:65–82 as a servant of God who has been given "knowledge" and who is accompanied and questioned by the prophet Musa (Moses) about the many seemingly unfair or inappropriate actions he (Al-Khidr) takes (sinking a ship, killing a young man, repaying inhospitality by repairing a wall). At the end of the story Khidr explains the circumstances unknown to Moses that made each of the actions fair and appropriate.
Many mystics and some scholars who give credence to Abu Ishaq's narration of a hadith about Khidr's meeting with Dajjal (a false Messiah figure in Islamic eschatology)[22] believe that Khidr is still alive, whereas for others there are contradictory, more reliable narrations[23] and ayahs.[24]
^Aksoy 2012, p. 65-80; Elizabeth Key Fowden, The Barbarian Plain: Saint Sergius between Rome and Iran, Berkeley, 1999, University of California Press; F.W. Hasluck, 'Ambiguous Sanctuaries and Bektashi Propaganda', The Annual of the British School at Athens, Vol. 20 (1913/1914), p. 101-2
^Theo Maarten van Lint, "The Gift of Poetry: Khidr and John the Baptist as Patron Saints of Muslim and Armenian šīqs – Ašułs", Van Ginkel J.J., Murre-van den Berg H.L., Van Lint T.M. (eds.), Redefining Christian Identity. Cultural Interaction in the Middle East since the Rise of Islam, Leuven-Paris-Dudley, Peeters, 2005 (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 134), p. 335-378 ISBN90-42914181
^H.S. Haddad, "Georgic" Cults and Saints of the Levant, Numen, Vol. 16, Fasc. 1, Apr. 1969, p. 21-39, see JSTOR3269569; J. Mackley, "St. George: patron saint of England?", paper presented to: Staff Researches Seminar, University of Northapmton, 5 May 2011
^Badamo, Heather A. (2011). Image and Community: Representations of Military Saints in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean (PhD thesis). University of Michigan. hdl:2027.42/89747.
^Sahih Muslim 2938a; In-book reference: Book 54, Hadith 136; English translation: Book 41, Hadith 7017; https://sunnah.com/muslim:2938a
^Sahih Muslim 2538a; In-book reference: Book 44, Hadith 310; English translation: Book 31, Hadith 6162; https://sunnah.com/muslim:2538a