Summary:
He was a truthful prophet and one of the patient ones, the first prophet sent to earth after Adam, and he is the grandfather of Noah. Thirty pages were sent down to him, and he called to the oneness of God and a thousand people believed in him. He was the first to write with a pen, the first to sew and wear clothes, and the first to study the science of the stars and their paths.
His biography:
Idris, peace be upon him, is one of the honorable messengers whom God Almighty spoke about in His Noble Book, and mentioned him in several places in the chapters of the Qur’an. He is one of those who must be believed in in detail, meaning that his prophethood and message must be believed in with certainty and conviction because the Qur’an mentioned him by name and spoke about his person, describing him as a prophet and a truthful one.
His lineage:
He is Idris bin Jared bin Mahalalel, and his lineage goes back to Seth bin Adam, peace be upon him, and his name in Hebrew is (Khanukh) and in the Arabic translation (Akhnoukh), and he is one of the ancestors of Noah, peace be upon him. He was the first of Adam's sons to be given prophecy after (Adam) and (Seth), peace be upon them. Ibn Ishaq mentioned that he was the first to write with a pen. He lived 308 years of Adam's life, peace be upon him, because Adam lived a long life, about a thousand years.
His life:
Scholars differed about his birth and upbringing. Some of them said that Idris was born in Babylon, and others said that he was born in Egypt, and the first is correct. He took knowledge from Seth, son of Adam, in his early life. When he grew up, God gave him prophecy, so he forbade the corruptors from the sons of Adam from disobeying the law of (Adam) and (Seth). A few obeyed him, and a group of guards disobeyed him. He intended to travel away from them and ordered those who obeyed him to do so. The departure from their homelands was difficult for them, so they said to him, "Where can we find if we travel like (Babylon)?" He said, "If we migrate, God will provide us with something else." So he went out and they went out until they reached the land of Egypt. They saw the Nile, so he stood on the Nile and glorified God. Idris and those with him stayed in Egypt calling people to God and to good morals. He had sermons and manners, as he called to the religion of Allah, and to the worship of the Creator, the Most High, and to free souls from torment in the hereafter, by doing good deeds in this world. He urged asceticism in this fleeting and transient world, and ordered them to pray, fast, and give zakat, and he was strict with them in purification from major ritual impurity, and he forbade intoxicants from all kinds of drinks and was extremely strict in it. It was said that in his time there were 72 languages spoken by people, and Allah taught him their language so that he could teach each group of them in their language. He was the first to teach civil politics, and he drew up for his people the rules for urbanizing cities, so each group of nations built cities in its land, and 188 cities were established in his time. He was famous for his wisdom.
His death:
There is disagreement about his death.. On the authority of Ibn Wahb, on the authority of Jarir bin Hazim, on the authority of Al-A'mash, on the authority of Shammar bin Atiyah, on the authority of Hilal bin Yasaf, he said: Ibn Abbas asked Ka'b while I was present and said to him: What is the saying of Allah Almighty to Idris {And We raised him to a high station}? Ka'b said: As for Idris, Allah revealed to him: I raise for you every day the equivalent of all the deeds of the sons of Adam - perhaps he was from the people of his time - so he wanted to increase his deeds, so a friend of his from the angels came to him and said to him: Allah revealed to me such and such, so he spoke to the Angel of Death until he increased his deeds, so he carried him between his wings and then ascended with him to the heaven, and when he was in the fourth heaven, the Angel of Death met him descending, so he spoke to the Angel of Death about what Idris spoke to him about, so he said: And where is Idris? He said: Here he is on my back, so the Angel of Death said: How strange! I was sent and it was said to me to take the soul of Idris in the fourth heaven, so I kept saying: How can I take his soul in the fourth heaven while he is on earth?! So his soul was taken there. This is what Allah the Almighty said {And We raised him to a high station}. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated it when interpreting it. And he said to that king: Ask the Angel of Death for me how much of my life is left? So he asked him while he was with him: How much of his life is left? He said: I do not know until I look, so he looked and said: You are asking me about a man who has only the blink of an eye left of his life, so the angel looked under his wing at Idris and he saw that he had been taken without him realizing it. This is from the Israelite narrations, and some of it is strange. And the statement of Ibn Abi Najih from Mujahid in his statement: {And We raised him to a high station} he said: Idris was taken and did not die as Jesus was taken. If he meant that he has not died until now, then there is a consideration in this, and if he meant that he was taken alive to the heaven and then taken there, then it does not contradict what was mentioned previously from Kaab al-Ahbar. And Allah knows best.
Al-Awfi said on the authority of Ibn Abbas regarding his statement: {And We raised him to a high station}: He was raised to the sixth heaven and died there, and Ad-Dahhak said the same. The agreed upon hadith that he was in the fourth heaven is more authentic, and it is the statement of Mujahid and more than one. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: {And We raised him to a high station}: He said: To Paradise, and some said he was raised during the life of his father, Yard bin Mahlayl, and Allah knows best. Some of them claimed that Idris was not before Noah, but during the time of the Children of Israel.
Al-Bukhari said: It is mentioned on the authority of Ibn Masoud and Ibn Abbas that Elias is Idris, and they relied on what came in the hadith of Az-Zuhri on the authority of Anas in Al-Isra’: that when he passed by him, peace be upon him, he said to him, “Welcome to the righteous brother and righteous prophet,” and he did not say as Adam and Abraham said: “Welcome to the righteous prophet and righteous son.” They said: If he had been in his lineage, he would have said to him as they said to him.
This does not necessarily indicate that the narrator may not have memorized it well, or perhaps he said it out of modesty and humility, and he did not give him the status of fatherhood as he gave to Adam, the father of mankind, and Abraham, who is the friend of the Most Merciful, and the greatest of those with resolve after Muhammad, may God’s prayers be upon them all.
