Abstract

This thesis attempts to answer the following questions, each of which corresponds, sequentially, to chapter in this thesis: What is the internal composition and the historical contextualization of the 18th chapter of the Qur'an, the Surat al-Kahf? Who is al-Khadir, a figure in the Surat al-Kahf, verses 66-82? How has he been described in Muslim commentary and how has he been analyzed in nineteenth and twentieth century scholarship; and with whom has he been associated and/or identified in such commentary and scholarship? How are probable prototypes or parallels of Khadir portrayed in non-Islamicate documents traceable to before the advent of Islam? What are the characteristics of the association/identification of Khadir with Elijah?