And when both oppression and poverty were a cause for his action, he preferred them over oppression, indicating that the stronger of the two causes that led to his action was compassion for the poor. As for the boy, meaning the one whom I killed, his parents were believers, and he was predisposed to disbelief, as will come in the narration of Ubayy, may Allah be pleased with him.

And when it was possible for Al-Khidr, peace be upon him, to consider that this boy, despite his disbelief, could be a cause for the disbelief of his parents if he grew up, and since Allah's command to him to kill him was like the action of one who fears that, he attributed the action to them in his saying: 'So we feared that he would overwhelm them,' meaning that he would cover them and lead them astray if he grew up due to their love for him or due to his boldness and harshness, exceeding in injustice and excess in it, and disbelief in their blessing, so he would corrupt their worldly life or their love for him would lead them to tyranny and disbelief in Allah out of obedience, thus corrupting their religion. Muslim narrated in Al-Qadar, and Abu Dawood in Al-Sunnah, and Al-Tirmidhi in the Tafsir from Ibn Abbas from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Indeed, the boy whom Al-Khidr killed was born a disbeliever, and if he had lived, he would have overwhelmed his parents with tyranny and disbelief.' This narration: 'Allah knows best what they were doing' indicates that the punishment, had its condition been met, would have occurred, and it is only upon what is innate and natural, not upon what is incidental; otherwise, the parents would have been punished based on the assumption that the known disbelief was from either of them.