The Story of Murdering Gholam by Khidr; An Analysis of Exegetical Approaches

Verses 74 and 80 of Surah al-Kahf are among verses which in a superficial inspection are not compatible with some principles of belief and theology in Islam. Giving the command to murder Gholam before his crime is proved and justifying that by some evidences such as awareness of his heresy in future or fear and reluctance of the incoming heresy are some of the most basic apparent drawbacks in these verses. Some commentators have attempted to make use of narrative, literary, juristic, theological, and mystical approaches to solve this problem. Making a reference to historical and rational evidences, they have presented some analyses of this event and in this regard, they have often been influenced by the exegetical movements relying on those evidences. Using descriptive analysis, the present study aims to discover each of the abovementioned approaches, then determine and evaluate their underlying viewpoints and finally explore the effect of various exegetical schools on the Sunni and Shi’ite commentators’ views during the history of Qur’anic exegesis. It seems that using the theological approach, especially belief in the divine wisdom, has been more effective that other alternatives as it is compatible with foundations and ancillaries of faith as well as the rest of approaches.
Received: 9/5/2018   |   Accepted: 19/12/2018