Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Gerald R. Hawting, The Idea of Idola-

try and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to His-

tory (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999); 

Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, The Book of Idols: Being a Transla-

tion from the Arabic of the Kitab al-asnam. Translated 

by Nabih A. Faris (1952. Reprint, Princeton, N.J.: 

Princeton University Press, 1972); Elizabeth Sirriyeh, 

“Modern Muslim Interpretations of shirk.” Religion 20 

(1990): 139–159; Muhammad I. H. Surty, The Quranic 

Concept of al-shirk (Polytheism) (London: Ta Ha Pub-

lishers, 1982); Alford T. Welch, “Allah and Other 

Supernatural Beings: The Emergence of the Quranic 

Doctrine of tawhid.”  Journal of the American Academy 

of Religion, Thematic Issue: Studies in Quran and Tafsir

47, no. 4 (1979): 733–753.

Idris

 

Islamic prophet, usually identified with the 

biblical Enoch

Idris is an unusual prophet briefly mentioned 

twice in the q

Uran

 (Q 19:56–57; 21:85–86), 

where he is described as trustworthy and patient. 

The Quran adds that God had “raised him up to 

a high place” (Q 19:57), a statement that most 

Muslim commentators believe meant that God let 

him enter 

paradise

 without first dying. This made 

him a unique human being. Even his name is an 

unusual one; it probably originated as a term in 

ancient Hebrew for “interpreter” (doresh) of the 

K  344  

Idris

---

t

orah

. This is an early Jewish reference to Enoch, 

who is mentioned in the Bible as a descendant of 

a

dam

 and an ancestor of Noah who had “walked 

with God.” Likewise, Islamic tradition regards 

Idris as a prophet who lived between the time of 

Adam and Noah. Eighth-century Muslim sources 

explicitly mention that Idris’s true name is Enoch 

and that he is called Idris in Arabic because of his 

devotion to the study (dars) of the sacred books 

of his ancestors Adam and Seth (a son of Adam). 

In the line of legendary prophets who preceded 

m

Uhammad

 (d. 632), he is credited with being the 

first person to write with a pen, to sew clothes, 

and to study astronomy. According to one prophet 

story, Idris’s great piety attracted the attention 

of the angel of death, who visited him for three 

days in his human form and then rewarded him 

with a tour of heaven, hell, and the gardens of 

paradise. Muhammad is said to have met Idris in 

the fourth heaven during his n

ight

 J

oUrney

 

and

a

scent

. Sufi masters such as r

Uzbihan

  b

aqli

 (d. 

1209) and m

Uhyi

 

al

-d

in

  i

bn

 

al

-a

rabi

 (d. 1240) 

also mention that they encountered him in their 

visionary journeys.

See also  J

Udaism

 

and

  i

slam

; 

prophets

 

and

prophecy

.