His Lineage and History
He was Khunukh, and as mentioned by many geneologists, he was the ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam on the line of the genealogical tree.
He was the first to be made a Prophet after Hazrat Adam Alayhis Salam and Hazrat Shith Alayhis Salam. He was the contemporary of Hazrat Adam Alayhis Salam for 308 years.
Ibn Ishaq has mentioned that Hazrat Idris Alayhis Salam was the first man to write with a pen. It is indicated in a Hadith that when the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam was asked about drawing lines, he said, “There was a Prophet who drew lines, so if they do it as they did, that is allowable.”
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala has surely praised Hazrat Idris Alayhis Salam in Surah Maryam (19:56-57):
‘And mention in the Book Idris. Surely he was a truthful man, a Prophet. And We raised him to a high position.’
Hilal bin Yasaf has said that Ibn Abbas asked Ka’b, “What do the words of Allah about Sayyindina Idris Alayhis Salam imply – and We raised him to a high position?” Ka’b answered, “As for Sayyidina Idris Alayis Salam, Allah had revealed to him: ‘I will raise for you every day the like of the deeds of the children of Adam.’ So, Hazrat Idris Alayhis Salam yearned to increase his deeds. With this urge within him he met his friend among the angels and confided to him what Allah had said and what he hoped and added, ‘Recommend to the angel of death to increase my age that my deeds may multiply.’ The angel took him up on his wings and flew with him to the heavens upto the fourth heaven where they met the angel of death. The angel put in a word in favour of Sayyidina Idris Alayhis Salam and he asked, ‘Where is he?’ ‘Oh, here over my back!’. The angel of death then remarked, ‘How surprising! I was sent and told to extract his soul on the fourth heaven, and I said to myself, how could I take out his soul on the fourth heaven while he was on earth?’ Thus, the angel of death took out his soul there. And this is the meaning of, ‘We raised him to a high position’.