Ibn al-Arabi's interpretation upon the qissa/story of Musa-Khidir in Quran

In this thesis, the interpretation of Muḥyi 'l-Dīn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) about the story of Mūsā-al-K̲h̲iḍr, according to the Quran, is examined regarding the methodology and content. His evaluation of the story is based on its historical context. Therefore, regarding the explanations of the Quranic stories, to comprehend the methodology of Sufism and the Ishārī tradition, until the Ibn al-ʿArabī's period, is essential to understand his interpretations. Accordingly, in the first chapter, the concept of the Sufi and Ishārī tradition, to interpret the story of Mūsā-al-K̲h̲iḍr, was analysed until the era of Ibn al-ʿArabī. This chapter has also covered the exegeses with the Ishārī methodology despite their non-attachment to the Ishārī tradition. The second chapter was evaluated the methods of Ibn al-ʿArabī by interpreting the story, regarding his walāya theory, in the context of the story, and his idea about ẓāhir-bāṭin discourse; as a result of his perspective to explain the story with the walāya theory and ẓāhir-bāṭin discourse. First evaluation of this study is his inspiration from the previous commentaries, as seen the example of al- Ḳus̲h̲ayrī (d. 465/1072) and Ibn ʿAṭiyya (d. 541/1147); moreover, he developed and systemised the walāya theory, which belonged to Ḥākim al-Tirmid̲h̲ī (d. 320/932), who was the first scholar, in the Sufi tradition, studied the nubuwwa- walāya discourse in a comparative method. Keywords: Ibn al-ʿArabī, Mūsā, al-K̲h̲iḍr, walāya, nubuwwa, ẓāhir, bāṭin, Ishārī