Omar offers a fresh and insightful narrative of a timeless, ubiquitous, protean, and always engaging figure in Islamicate literature and lore. He draws on a wide range of sources, from exegesis of the Qur’an’s Sura of the Cave (18) to mystical texts elaborating on Al-Khiḍr’s unique spiritual credentials. Omar emphasizes throughout Al-Khiḍr’s role as an interreligious cross-cultural symbol of mediation and liberation from stereotypes—an ‘initiator’ who continually surprises with manifestations of his stature and versatility as a paradigmatic sage and mentor.
— John Renard, Saint Louis University
Irfan Omar has done an splendid job in bringing to light the enigmatic story of Khidr, the mysterious prophet in Islam. Khidr’s mystical significance as a grand Sufi master is particularly noteworthy here.
— Mehdi Aminrazavi, University of Mary Washington
Prophet Al-Khiḍr: Between the Quranic Text and Islamic Contexts brings to readers the wisdom of the past and the life lessons drawn from Khiḍr’s story for making meaning in the contemporary world. Khiḍr’s story appeals to Muslims across geographical and temporal boundaries. It is produced and reproduced through Quranic and prophetic interpretations, literature, poems, and Sufi manuals spanning through several centuries. In Omar’s book, Khiḍr becomes alive through his relationship as a Sufi master to Moses as his disciple and various mystical interpretations. He reaches a legendary status on accounts of his spiritual roles, popular folk tales, and scriptural narratives. Dr. Omar shows how Khiḍr’s story gets Islamized and becomes “Islamic.” He masterfully infuses Khiḍr’s story with the complexity of an intricate relationship between a Sufi master and a disciple, a mode of knowing through intuition and revelation, the tension between the law (shar‘īah) and the mystical path (ṭarīqah), and the realization of the two intersecting worlds of the hidden (bāṭin) and the apparent (ẓāhir) as part of everyday life. In all, Prophet Al-Khiḍr: Between the Quranic Text and Islamic Contexts benefits readers looking for spiritual connection and intellectual engagement to the life journey of Khiḍr and his transformative impacts across cultures, histories, and geographies.
— Etin Anwar, Hobart and William Smith Colleges