Idris (prophet)

Prophet
Idris
إدريس
Idris the prophet visiting heaven and hell.
Born
Babylon[a]
TitleProphet
SuccessorNuh[a]
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
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Idris Instructing his Children, Double page from the manuscript of Qisas al-Anbiya by Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Nishapuri. Iran (probably Qazvin), 1570–80. Chester Beatty Library.

Idris (Arabic: إدريس, romanized: ʾIdrīs) is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Qur'an, who Muslims believe was the second prophet after Adam.[1][2] He is the third prophet mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition has unanimously identified Idris with the biblical Enoch.[3][4] Many Muslim scholars of the classical and medieval periods held that Idris and Hermes Trismegistus were the same person.[5][6]

He is described in the Qur'an as "trustworthy" and "patient"[7] and the Qur'an also says that he was "exalted to a high station".[8][9] Because of this and other parallels, traditionally Idris has been identified with the biblical Enoch,[10] and Islamic tradition usually places Idris in the early Generations of Adam, and considers him one of the oldest prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, placing him between Adam and Noah.[11] Idris' unique status[12] inspired many future traditions and stories surrounding him in Islamic folklore.

According to a hadith narrated by Malik ibn Anas and found in Sahih Muslim, it is said that on Muhammad's Night Journey, he encountered Idris in the fourth of the seven heavens.[13] The traditions that have developed around the figure of Idris have given him the scope of a prophet as well as a philosopher and mystic,[14] and many later Muslim mystics, or Sufis, including Ruzbihan Baqli and Ibn 'Arabi, also mentioned having encountered Idris in their spiritual visions.[15]


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  1. ^ Kīsāʾī, Qiṣaṣ, i, 81-5
  2. ^ "İDRÎS - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi". islamansiklopedisi.org.tr. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  3. ^ Erder, Yoram, “Idrīs”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
  4. ^ P. S. Alexander, "Jewish tradition in early ☪️ The case of Enoch/Idrīs," in G. R. Hawting, J. A. Mojaddedi and A. Samely (eds.), Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern texts and traditions in memory of Norman Calder ( jss Supp. 12), Oxford 2000, 11-29
  5. ^ W.F. Albright, Review of Th. Boylan, The hermes of Egypt, in Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society 2 (1922), 190-8
  6. ^ H. T. Halman, "Idris," in Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2004), p. 388
  7. ^ Qur'an 19:56-57 and Qur'an 21:85-86
  8. ^ Quran 19:56–57
  9. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, "Idris", Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344
  10. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 559
  11. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344: (His translation made him) "Islamic tradition places him sometime between Adam and Noah."
  12. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 344: (His translation made him) "a unique human being."
  13. ^ Sahih Muslim 162a; 164a
  14. ^ Wheeler, Historical Dictionary of the Prophets in Islam and Judaism, Idris, pg. 148
  15. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Juan Eduardo Campo, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pg. 345"