Former Prophets

The Scuttled Boat

Musa and al-Khidr, the holed fishing boat (Q 18:71)

Time of Musa (peace be upon him)

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Scuttled Boat

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

A harbour at the junction of the two seas (majma' al-bahrayn), traditional and not fixed

28.0000, 34.5000 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

Surat al-Kahf tells how Musa (peace be upon him) set out to the junction of the two seas (majma' al-bahrayn) to meet a servant of Allah who had been given knowledge from Him (Q 18:60-65); the sign of the meeting place was a fish that came to life and slipped away into the sea at a rock, an episode narrated more fully in the hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari. Musa asked to follow this servant, whom the tradition knows as al-Khidr, that he might learn from what he had been taught; al-Khidr warned that Musa would never be able to bear patience with him, for how could he be patient with what he did not encompass in knowledge (Q 18:66-68). On the journey al-Khidr did three things that Musa could not accept: he bored a hole in the boat of poor fishermen, he killed a young boy, and he restored a falling wall in a town that had refused them hospitality, asking no wage (Q 18:71-77). Each time Musa objected, until at last they parted, and al-Khidr explained the hidden wisdom of each deed: the boat belonged to poor people working the sea, and he damaged it because behind them was a king who seized every sound boat by force, so the apparent harm in fact preserved it for them (Q 18:79); the boy and the wall likewise had their reasons known to Allah (Q 18:80-82). The passage is a lesson in the hidden wisdom (hikmah) of the divine decree and the limits of human knowledge. This scene depicts the first deed only: the drawn-up fishing boat with a hole freshly bored in a plank, the adze and rope beside it, in a quiet harbour at the meeting of the seas. The place of majma' al-bahrayn is debated and the scene keeps it symbolic; neither Musa nor al-Khidr is shown.

What you see

A small fishing harbour on a coast where two seas seem to meet, plain boats drawn up on the strand. This is the kind of shore Musa (peace be upon him) sought, the junction of the two seas (majma' al-bahrayn, Q 18:60).

A wooden fishing boat has been drawn up, and a fresh hole has been knocked in one of its planks low on the hull; an adze, a coil of rope and folded nets lie beside it on the sand.

This is the first of the three deeds of the servant of Allah whom Musa followed: he bored a hole in the boat of poor fishermen (Q 18:71). Musa objected, and only later was it explained that a king behind them seized every sound boat by force, so the damage in fact saved it (Q 18:79).

A lesson in the hidden wisdom of Allah's decree, that an apparent harm may be a mercy. You will never be able to bear patience with me over what you do not encompass in knowledge (Q 18:67-68).

No figure is present. The holed plank, the boat-builder's adze and rope, and the quiet harbour carry the story; the people are kept out of view.

The narrative is Q 18:60-82 (Surat al-Kahf), with the fuller account of the fish and the rock in Sahih al-Bukhari. The servant is called one of Our servants to whom We had given mercy and knowledge from Us (Q 18:65); the tradition knows him as al-Khidr.

Primary sources

The Qur'an, Surat al-Kahf (18:60-82): The journey of Musa to the junction of the two seas, the servant given knowledge, and the three deeds including the holing of the boat. The primary source.

Sahih al-Bukhari (the hadith of Musa and al-Khidr; the fish and the rock): The fuller Prophetic narration of the meeting and the sign of the fish; the standard Sunni elaboration of the Qur'anic account.

Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim and Qisas al-Anbiya' (14th c.): Standard Sunni exegesis and narrative; the discussion of al-Khidr and the meaning of the three deeds.

al-Tabari, Jami' al-Bayan: Standard Sunni tafsir for Surat al-Kahf and the story of Musa and al-Khidr.

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