We will look at Al-Khidr, Musa's teacher, God's friend, the man who never died. Was he possibly Hermes/Thoth or Osiris?
This is the second article in a series of two. The first one is The Green Man I: From the Celts to Old Egypt & Sumer.
I.
Al-Khidr is a pre-Islamic figure, fictive or real. Although not named there, Sura 18:65-82 of the Qur'an is often said to refer to him. There he is "God's unnamed servant" and a teacher of Musa (Moses). His identity and status are not undisputed. He is said to have eternal life, look like an adult but with white beard, etc... Sometimes he is counted as one of the prophets, sometimes as a saint, God's friend, or a "ghawth". The whole person of Al-Khidr is shrouded in legend, interpretation and speculation, and his relation to Islam is problematic and contains troublesome contradictions. His position amongst the Sufis [Sufi = an Islamic mystic] is especially strong. According to Schimmel's "Mystical Dimensions of Islam", one of the greatest Islamic mystics, Moorish Ibn Arabi, received his khirqa from Khidr. ["Khirqa" is a cloak a Sufi receives from his spiritual guide as a symbol of having entered "the path".]
Al-Khidr means The Green Man, or strictly "the green". According to Bukhari, the Prophet Mohammed said, "Al-Khidr was so named because he sat on a barren white land once, after which it turned luxuriantly green with vegetation."
As related by al-Bayhaqi in "Dala'il al-Nubawwah", Al-Khidr was present at the funeral of Mohammed, at the condolences; and he should have said: "Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you, members of the Family of the Prophet."
In Sri Lanka, there is a house, Khizr Maqaam [Khizr being another form of Khidr], in a region called Kathirkamam. There (according to the locals) should be to find Al-Khidr's spring, Maul Hayat [Living Water], the one whose water bestows eternal life upon the one drinking it.
Musa (Moses) met al-Khidr "at the place where two currents meet and merge into the sea". According to local tradition, that is where the river Menik Ganga meets an underground stream of grace, or wisdom. In Sri Lanka. This place can be visited.
Al-Khidr's eternal life is sometimes interpreted literally, a man never dying. But this man can also be a personification of the "spirit of life".
The nature of this figure - and his identity - is a never ending problem for Islamic scholars. The most radical position was taken by Sayyid Qutb, of the Muslim Brotherhood, who cut off Al-Khidr from Islam completely, denied he was the nameless servant of God mentioned in the Qur'an, thus removing him from all religious speculation.
Al-Khidr is pre-Islamic, so interesting questions arise. Can he be actually traced further back in time? And if his pre-Islamic existence can be more defined, has he survived in other traditions too? It is impossible to say anything with certainty, but we can speculate over these questions, and perhaps find some plausible theory.
II.
"Sages affirm that all antediluvian sciences originate with the first Hermes who lived in Said in upper Egypt."
(Toledo, Moorish historian, d. 1069)
Al-Khidr was a teacher and initiator, he taught Musa (Moses) wisdom and the Sufis consider him as the master of the path.
The meaning of the name Enoch of the book of Genesis, is "initiator". Moreover, he lived for 365 years on earth, but was then taken to God. What this story tells is that he never died. He was a teacher, and a master of science and arts.
In "Theosophy and Islam", Theja Gunawardhana suggests that Enoch and Al-Khidr are the same person. Considering the similarities, it is a not too far-fetched conclusion. Further he identifies this person with two other names, namely Idris, and finally Hermes. Theja Gunawardhana [in my opinion correctly] connects Hermes with the Temple mysteries of old Egypt.
So now we are in Egypt again! But who was Hermes? This most certainly is a Greek name of someone in or from Egypt, and a genuine Egyptian figure ought to exist somewhere behind. Osiris again? No! I have previously mentioned Hermes Trismegistus [in Hermeticism & Holographic Microsystems], who most probably is another name of the old Egyptian god Thoth. And he was a teacher and initiator. According to legend he introduced script, and was a master of science and arts, magic and wisdom.
So, is Al-Khidr another name of Thoth? We can say nothing with certainty, but it is a plausible theory.
On the other hand, the step from Enoch/Idris to Hermes is questionable, and the identification of Khidr with Enoch is far from certain or even mainstream; there are many suggestions of his identity. He has been connected with Elijah, Jeremiah, St George; or even Ahasuerus, The Wandering Jew; or Melchizedek. It has been suggested that the legend about him is taken from the Alexander Romance or the epic of Gilgamesh... Speculation will never end.
Before ending this, one more word about Osiris, The Great Green. Stephen Van Nattan identifies Idris with Osiris (instead of with Enoch). If Al-Khidr is Idris, that would again lead us to Osiris. His theory, however, of which this is only a small part, has its disputable points. But it is nonetheless interesting and should be mentioned.
Copyright © 2011, 2021 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved.
(The lead image shows a horned (!) Moses. From statue by Michelangelo in San Pietro in Vincoli. Photo by LoggaWiggler/Pixabay, CC0/Public Domain. The original photo has been cropped.)
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These subjects are exciting where the imagination reaches an unusual height based on the skirmishes left by time.
Something that makes a lot of sense in almost all traditions is that there seems to be a common cultural base. In this sense, the archetypes acquire power over this conjecture.
It seemed to me that both articles weave together the trail of the so-called green man with much documentary precision. Something that for open-minded people leads him to reflect.
How much history is lost in detail behind the myths?
Thanks for such interesting articles.