Prophets Who Are Still Alive Fatwa No: 87455
- Fatwa Date:25-4-2004
My question is that where is the Holy Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and can he watch us? I would like to ask about the 5 or 6 Prophets who are still alive like Khidr, Enoch and others). What duties do they perform?
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
For your first question, please refer to Fatwa 83787.
It is confirmed that ‘Eesa (Jesus) is still alive in the heaven, and he will descend at the end of time. He will break the cross and kill the pigs, and kill the Antichrist (al-Masseeh ad-Dajjaal).
We do not know of any scholar who says that, Nooh is alive. However, some scholars say that Khidr is still alive. This is a matter of difference of opinion for a very long time. All of the following are of the view that he is still alive: Al Qurtubi, An-Nawawi, Ibn Salah, Al-Iraqi, and Al-Ramli. On the contrary, Al-Bukhaari and some scholars of Hadeeth are of the view that he is dead. Ibn Al-‘Arabi, Ibn Hajar, Ibn Al-Jawzi, Ibn Katheer, Abu al-Khattab, Abu At-Tayyib al-‘Abadi and Shaykh al-Ameen Ash-Shanqeeti are of this opinion.
However, Ibn Katheer, Ibn Hajar and Ibn al-Jawzi are of the viewpoint that the Ahadeeth which report that Khidr is still alive, are weak.
Moreover, Ibn al-Jawzi considers that these narrations are fabricated. It is also reported that Idris is alive and was lifted to the heavens like ‘Eesa (Jesus) .
Mujahid reported that ‘It has been reported that Ibn ‘Abbas and Ka’b al-Ahbar narrated that he is dead.’
Ibn Hajar, however, stated in al-Fath, that ‘The opinion of him being taken to the heavens is not confirmed.’
Some scholars are of the view that Ilyas is alive and that he meets with al-Khidr every year in Hajj and during Ramadan.
In al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah, Ibn Katheer stated that there is no authentic narration that supports that al-Khidr is alive, and that the evidence confirms that he is dead.
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 81886.
Allah knows best.