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-Khi?r’s unique spiritual credentials. Omar emphasizes throughout Al-Khi?r’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-Khi?r: Between the Quranic Text and Islamic Contexts brings to readers the wisdom of the past and the life lessons drawn from Khi?r’s story for making meaning in the contemporary world. Khi?r’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, Khi?r 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 Khi?r’s story gets Islamized and becomes “Islamic.” He masterfully infuses Khi?r’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‘iah) and the mystical path (?ariqah), and the realization of the two intersecting worlds of the hidden (ba?in) and the apparent (?ahir) as part of everyday life. In all, Prophet Al-Khi?r: Between the Quranic Text and Islamic Contexts benefits readers looking for spiritual connection and intellectual engagement to the life journey of Khi?r and his transformative impacts across cultures, histories, and geographies.

Etin Anwar, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Omar’s Prophet al-Khi?r is a highly valuable addition to the literature on Khi?r because of Omar’s insightful and nuanced discussions, careful and thorough research, robust compilation of references and footnotes, and the synthetic overview, the book provides a multivalent and longstanding religio-spiritual resource that is the Khi?r story. [It] makes clear that the Khi?r story is deeply resonant with important themes and questions surrounding knowledge and how the divine makes it accessible to humans. The book also makes clear that the Khi?r story remains alive because it offers infinite possibilities for the interpretation of themes central to Islamic piety ranging from the lofty to the mundane. Overall, readers can take from Omar’s highly engaging and nuanced study an increased appreciation for the power and influence of the Khi?r story in Islamic tradition as well as a broader view of central themes in Islam that the Khi?r narrative and symbology—and questions surrounding them—can illuminate.

Islamic Studies