الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Ilyas (AS)
After the death of Prophet Sulayman (AS), his kingdom was broken down. There was virtually the rule of Satan all around. The religious people were mocked at, and a large number of learned people were killed. When the evil reached its peak, Allah sent the Prophet Ilyas (AS) (also known as Elijah in the Bible) to reform mankind. It is said that he was the son of Yasin ibn Fanhas ibn Al-Izar ibn Harun. The Qur’an makes mention of Prophet Ilyas (AS) in verse 85 of Surat al-An’am.
وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَإِلْيَاسَ ۖ كُلٌّ مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
And Zakariya, and Yahya, and ‘Isa, and Ilyas – all were of the righteous. (al-An’am, 6: 85). And in Surat as-Saffat, Allah says about him:
وَإِنَّ إِلْيَاسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ () إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ () أَتَدْعُونَ بَعْلًا وَتَذَرُونَ أَحْسَنَ الْخَالِقِينَ () اللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ وَرَبَّ آَبَائِكُمُ الْأَوَّلِينَ () فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ () إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ () وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآَخِرِينَ () سَلَامٌ عَلَى إِلْ يَاسِينَ () إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ () إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
“And indeed, Ilyas was one of the messengers. He said to his people, ‘Do you not fear? Do you call on B’al, and abandon the best of creators – Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers?’ But they denied him, so they will certainly be brought forth (to the punishment), except the chosen slaves of Allah. And we left his good name among the later generations. Peace be upon Ilyas. Thus we reward the virtuous. He was one of our believing slaves.” (as-Saffat, 37:123-132)
Ilyas (AS) tried his best to save the people from polytheism. He forbade them to worship Ba’l, a well-known idol of his nation whom they used to worship. He advised them to ward off evil by worshipping the one true God – Allah (SWT).
When his efforts bore no fruit, he appeared before the king and foretold him that severe drought and famine would overtake his kingdom, and that their deity – Ba’l would be powerless to avert it.
The people paid no heed to his warnings and did not mend their ways. The prophecy of the Prophet Ilyas (AS) turned out to be true and whole of the kingdom came under the sway of famine. The people began to starve. After three years, Ilyas (AS) supplicated to Allah to show mercy to the people struck by famine. Soon after the rain came and ended the draught.
Ilyas (AS) was then directed by Allah to call upon Al-Yasa to be his successor, which he did.
Al-Yasa (AS)
Al-Yasa (AS) (known as Elisha in the Bible) was one of the Children of Israel descendent from Yusuf ibn Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (peace be upon all of them).
It is said by the great Islamic scholar – Ibn Kathir that after passing away of Ilyas (AS), dissension rose, events took momentum and sins increased everywhere. Eventually the number of tyrants increased in size and sought to kill the Prophets. There are sources that claim that Al-Yasa had been hiding with Ilyas in a cave to escape from the king of Ba’alabak. When Ilyas passed away, Al-Yasa succeeded him as Prophet.
He lived among his people and called upon them to obey the laws and commands of Allah. Not much is known about his life, but the Qur’an speaks highly of him in the two verses he is mentioned. Allah says in Surat Al-An’am, verse 86,
وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَالْيَسَعَ وَيُونُسَ وَلُوطًا وَكُلًّا فَضَّلْنَا عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ
“And Isma’il and Al-Yasa and Yunus and Lut – and all of them, we preferred over the worlds.” (al-An’am, 6:86). In Surat Saad, verse 48, Allah (SWT) says,
وَٱذْكُرْ إِسْمَٰعِيلَ وَٱلْيَسَعَ وَذَا ٱلْكِفْلِ ۖ وَكُلٌّ مِّنَ ٱلْأَخْيَارِ
“And remember Isma’il, and Al-Yasa, and Dhul-Kifl, and all are among the outstanding.” (Saad, 38:48)
The story of Al-Yasa is told in more detail in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Bible, but across all texts one thing remains consistent which we can learn from his character. He was committed to guiding his people on the right path. He was righteous and consistently showed humility, passion and did the right thing. This is something we can all strive for and practice.
Allah says in verse 177 of Surat al-Baqarah,
“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah (obligatory charity); [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and ailment and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.” (al-Baqarah, 2:177)”
Dhul-Kifl (AS)
Imam Ibn Jarir gives an account of Dhul-Kifl which provides some insight into his life. When Al-Yasa (AS) grew old he was looking to appoint a successor that could help guide the Bani Israel and needed someone with a calm character and a clear mind. He assembled a group of companions and is said to have set out three conditions which he believed would be an evidence of a great leader. He is reported to have said: “The person who will be considered for my replacement is one who fasts year around during the day, remembers Allah in prayer throughout the night, and must not ever lose his temper.”
A relatively unknown person, who was held in contempt by the people, stood up and offered himself for the job. Prophet Al-Yasa asked him whether these three conditions were met. The man replied yes to all three but for whatever reason Al-Yasa did not believe his claim and rejected him.
After a few more days, Al-Yasa gathered the group again and repeated if his conditions were met. Everyone remained seated besides the same man. Al-Yasa seeing his persistence appointed the man to serve as his deputy. But to truly test the man’s will, he asked a few people to try and persuade the man into doing something that would result in him being removed from being his deputy. They all tried and they all failed.
Then Iblis (Satan) offered his services to Al-Yasa, “Leave him to me. I will take care of him.”
The man at this point developed a routine which involved fasting during the day, making prayer remembering Allah throughout the night. In the afternoon, he would take a nap to rejuvenate himself.
Iblis decided to disturb the man right before his afternoon nap by knocking at the door and begging to be let in saying, “I am an old tortured man.”
Iblis was welcomed in and began to ramble on about the cruelty and injustice which he suffered. He stretched the story so long that no time was spared for the man’s daily nap. The man offered to Iblis to come visit him in his court the next day so that justice would be done for him.
The man waited for the Iblis the next day but he did not turn up. The next morning, he waited for the Iblis to return but he did not return again. Finally, in the afternoon, right before the man was about to take his nap, Iblis came and started banging on the door. The man, still calm, questioned him, “Didn’t I tell you to come to my court yesterday, but you failed to appear, nor did you come this morning?”
To this the Iblis replied, “Sir, my enemies are very wicked people; when they learnt that you were sitting in your court and would force them to give back to me what was due, they agreed to settle the matter out of court. But as soon as you left your court, they went back on their promise.”
The conversation continued for a long time where he missed his usual nap, the man asked Iblis to visit his court again to settle matters. Once again, the man waited patiently in the court but Iblis did not visit. When he returned home that day, he was felt very tired because the lack of sleep. He asked the family members not to allow anyone to knock at the door.
Iblis once again tried to disturb his sleep so he would not be able to fast, pray and hoped he would grow in anger but when he tried knocking on the door the man’s family members stopped him. Iblis was determined. He forced another way into the man’s home and started knocking at the door of his room.
The man saw Iblis had come inside the house while the door remained shut. Then he suddenly became aware that the man standing before him was Iblis and asked him, “Are you the enemy of God?”
He admitted that he was Iblis and remarked, “You have thwarted all my plans and frustrated all my efforts to entice you in my design. My intention was to make you angry somehow, so that one of your claims before Al-Yasa could be proven false.” It was because of this episode the man was given the title Dhul-Kifl, a title meaning “possessor of, or giving, a double requital. We have in Surat Saad,
وَٱذْكُرْ إِسْمَٰعِيلَ وَٱلْيَسَعَ وَذَا ٱلْكِفْلِ ۖ وَكُلٌّ مِّنَ ٱلْأَخْيَارِ
“And remember Isma’il, Al-Yasa, and Dhul-Kifl, and all are among the outstanding.” (Saad, 38:48) And we have in Surat al-Anbiya’,
وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِدْرِيسَ وَذَا الْكِفْلِ كُلٌّ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ () وَأَدْخَلْنَاهُمْ فِي رَحْمَتِنَا إِنَّهُمْ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ()
“And Ismail and Idris and Dhul-Kifl; all were of the patient ones. And We admitted them into Our mercy for they were truly righteous.” (al-Anbiya’, 21:85-86),
This story shows us the importance of justice and fulfilling responsibilities in Islam, even when it comes to dealing with an evil person which in this case was the most evil individual in existence, Iblees (The Devil).
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Resources and References:
Imam Ibn Kathir – Stories of the Prophets
Mufti Menk – Lessons from the Stories of the Prophets in the Qur’an (https://muslimahlifestyle.com/lessons-stories-prophets-quraan-mufti-menk-creation-of-aadam-as/)
Anwar Al-Awlaki – The Lives of the Prophets (https://www.kalamullah.com/anwar-alawlaki.html)
Aisha Stacey – The Religion of Islam (islamreligion.com)
