Surah Maryam (Mary) 19 : 54

Overview (Verses 54 - 57)

More Prophets
 
Now the sūrah refers to the other branch of Abraham’s seed, bringing in Ishmael, the father of the Arabs, for special mention: And mention in the Book Ishmael who was always true to his promise, and was a messenger of God, a prophet. He used to enjoin on his people prayer and charity, and his Lord was well pleased with him. (Verses 54-55)
 
The sūrah highlights a special quality of Ishmael’s, which was his being true to his promise. This is a characteristic common to all prophets and all God-fearing men and women. The fact that it is highlighted here suggests that in Ishmael’s case it must have had very special significance. Moreover, Ishmael is given the status of messenger of God, which means that he preached God’s message to the Arabs of old. Indeed he was their highest grandfather. We know that even shortly before the advent of the message of the Prophet Muĥammad, there were some individual Arabs who believed in one God. Most probably they were the last remnants of Ishmael’s followers.
 
The sūrah also mentions that the fundamentals of his faith included prayer and zakāt, which he ordered his family and his people to observe. Moreover, the sūrah leaves us in no doubt that Ishmael earned God’s pleasure, which imparts a sense of contentment and satisfaction to anyone. This contentment is another aspect that permeates the whole sūrah, in the same way as mercy. In fact the two aspects of mercy and contentment are mutually related.
 
The last prophet to be mentioned in this sūrah is Idrīs: “And mention in the Book Idrīs, who was a man of truth, a prophet. We raised him to a lofty station.” (Verses 56-57) We have no way of determining during which period of history Idrīs lived. Most probably he was ahead of Abraham. He was not one of the Jewish prophets. There is no mention of him in the Jewish books. The Qur’ān describes him as a man of truth and a prophet. It records the fact that God granted him honour and made him worthy of praise, elevating him to a lofty position.
 
There is a view we would like to mention here without suggesting whether it is true or false. Some Egyptologists suggest that Idrīs is an Arabicized form of Osiris in the same way as Yohanna is Arabicized as Yaĥyā, and Eliesha as Al-Yasa`. We know that around Osiris many a legend has been woven. It is said that old Egyptians believed that he was elevated to heaven where he was established on a throne. Whoever, after death, is found to have to his credit more good deeds in this life than bad ones will join Osiris who has become an Egyptian deity. He is also said to have taught the Egyptians all that they knew before he was elevated to heaven.
 
Be that as it may, we confine ourselves to what the Qur’ān states about Idrīs, without indulging in speculation. We only say that it is more probable that he lived before the time of Abraham.