Idrīs (AS)

Idrīs ibn Yard (AS) is one of the early prophets mentioned in the Qurʾān and is widely identified in Islamic tradition with the biblical Enoch. He occupies an important place in Islamic prophetic history as a model of truthfulness, wisdom, patience, and devotion to Allah. Although the Qurʾān refers to him only briefly, it praises his elevated spiritual status and righteousness. Allah states: “And mention in the Book Idrīs. Indeed, he was a man of truth and a prophet. And We raised him to a high station” (Qurʾān 19:56–57). Islamic scholars interpreted these verses as evidence of Idrīs’s exceptional rank among the prophets and his nearness to Allah.

Classical Islamic traditions portray Idrīs (AS) as one of the earliest prophets after Ādam (AS) and Shīth (AS). He is often described as a prophet who taught wisdom, writing, mathematics, and practical skills to humanity. Some Islamic historical sources credit him with introducing sewing, astronomy, and the use of the pen, thereby portraying him as an important civilizational figure in early human history. Muslim exegetes and historians also associated him with deep contemplation, regular worship, and ascetic devotion. His life therefore became symbolic of the harmony between knowledge, spirituality, and moral discipline.

The Qurʾānic statement that Allah “raised him to a high station” generated extensive discussion among Muslim scholars. Some interpreted this elevation spiritually, referring to his rank and honor before Allah, while others understood it literally as bodily ascension to the heavens. Various narrations in tafsīr and ḥadīth literature mention Idrīs (AS) in connection with the heavenly realms. In the famous narrative of al-Isrāʾ wa al-Miʿrāj, the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ encountered Idrīs (AS) in one of the heavens during the ascension journey, further emphasizing his elevated status among the prophets.

Within Islamic intellectual tradition, Idrīs (AS) represents wisdom, learning, patience, and closeness to Allah. His story, though brief in the Qurʾān, contributed significantly to later Islamic reflections on prophecy, knowledge, and civilization. In the context of sīrah studies, references to Idrīs (AS) also highlight the continuity of prophetic missions culminating in the mission of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. Muslim scholars consistently viewed him as one of the righteous prophets whose life embodied devotion, truthfulness, and the transmission of divine guidance to humanity.

## References

1 Qurʾān 19:56–57. 2 Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, trans. Syed Muḥammad Ibrāhīm and Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān Ṣiddīqī (Karachi: Nafīs Academy, 1990), 1:118. 3 Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-Baṣrī, Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd, trans. ʿAbdullāh al-ʿAmadī (Karachi: Dār al-Ishāʿat, 2003), 1:48. 4 Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1997). 5 Qāḍī Muḥammad Sulaymān Salmān Manṣūrpūrī, Wa-mā arsalnāka illā raḥmatan li’l-ʿālamīn (Lahore: Progressive Books, 2022), 2: 217.6 Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., ed. P. Bearman et al. (Leiden: Brill, 1960–2005), s.v. “Idrīs.” 7 Jane Dammen McAuliffe, ed., Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān (Leiden: Brill, 2001–2006), s.v. “Idrīs.”