Elijah - Elijah in Islam

Elijah in Islam

Elijah (Arabic:إلياس; Ilyas) is also mentioned as a prophet in the Qur'an. Elijah's narrative in the Qur'an and later Muslim tradition resembles closely that in the Hebrew Bible and Muslim literature records Elijah's primary prophesying as taking place during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel as well as Ahaziah. He is seen by Muslims to be the prophetic predecessor to Elisha. While neither the Bible nor the Qur'an mentions the genealogy of Elijah, some scholars of Islam believe he may have come from the priestly family of the prophet Aaron. Elijah in Muslim theology is very rarely associated with the events of the eschaton, as he is in Jewish tradition, and Islam generally views Jesus as the Messiah. Elijah's figure has, however, been identified with a number of other prophets and saints, including Idris, which is believed by some scholars to have been another name for Elijah, and Khidr. Islamic legend later developed the figure of Elijah, greatly embellishing upon his attributes, and some apocryphal literature gave Elijah the status of a half-human, half-angel. Elijah also appears in later works of literature, including the Hamzanama.