What Surah Kahf says about the relationship between parents and children - Part 2

The second story regarding the relationship between parents and children comes much later in the surah, where Musa AS is following Khidr to gain some knowledge from him. 

Khidr surprises Musa AS by killing a young boy, which was by the command of Allah SWT. Musa AS considered Khidr's crime to be a "horrible crime," but Khidr himself explains why he killed the boy:

And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy.

وَأَمَّا ٱلْغُلَـٰمُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَآ أَن يُرْهِقَهُمَا طُغْيَـٰنًۭا وَكُفْرًۭا ٨٠

فَأَرَدْنَآ أَن يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُ زَكَوٰةًۭ وَأَقْرَبَ رُحْمًۭا ٨١

Khidr also tells Musa AS that what he did was not from his own desires, but from what he was commanded to do:

وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُۥ عَنْ أَمْرِى 

And I did it not of my own accord.

This boy was going to grow up to be a disbeliever, backed by the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas that Ubayy bin Ka'b narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: 

"The boy that Al-Khidr killed was destined to be a disbeliever the day he was created.'" 

(Jami’ At-Tirmidhi 3150)

If the boy had lived, the righteous parents would have been happy in the beginning, but devastated in the end. They would have seen their innocent, sweet, child grow up to be a rebellious disbeliever, and that sadness would last with them till the day they died. 

On top of that, their child will not be with them in Jannah.

But because Allah took the boy early, the boy died a believer, and will be reunited with his parents in Jannah. Not only that, but Allah SWT gave the parents another child who was a righteous child.

In the second scenario, the parents will go through immense grief in the beginning, but in the end, they will be even more happy and rejoiceful. 

They will be with both children instead of one in Jannah. 

If you read from the Tafsir as-Sa'di about this ayah, you will find another reason why Allah ordered the boy to be killed. The parents themselves would have ended up as disbelievers, due to the child either forcing them to disbelieve and transgress, or due to the parents' love for the child, or need for the child.

This is a phenomenon we see today, where a child’s decision to do something against Islam leads to their parents reluctantly agreeing at first, and then out of love for the child, end up fully advocating for that same cause which goes against Islam. (Feminism anyone?)

We need to be loving and firm from the beginning with our children, letting them know that our love for Allah SWT and the Prophet ﷺ is our priority, even at the expense of our kids being displeased with us temporarily.

In conclusion, this story is just one of many examples that answers the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

What we consider to be "bad" is actually a blessing in disguise that we won’t know about until later on, either in this life or the next. 

In the case of the boy killed by Khidr, three lives were saved!

The boy was saved from disbelief, and the parents were also saved from disbelief.

This is a huge lesson for us, because when a parent loses a child, one cannot even imagine the kind of pain that parent goes through. It is a huge test, and one that the parent will have to live with for the rest of their life. 

In the end though, we just have to always remember that Allah wants what is best for us, and put our ultimate trust in His divine decree.