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ELISHA-Elijah –( Iliyas)
6:85 - And Zakariya and John and Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of the righteous: 905
905 The third group consists not of men of action, but Preachers of Truth, who led solitary lives. Their epithet is: "the
Righteous." They form a connected group round Jesus. Zakariya was the father of John the Baptist, the precursor of
Jesus (iii. 37-41); and Jesus referred to John the Baptist as Elias, "this is Elias, which was to come" (Matt xi. 14); and
Elias is said to have been present and talked to Jesus at the Transfiguration on the Mount (Matt. xvii. 3). Elias is the
same as Elijah. (6.85)
37:123 - So also was Elias among those sent (by us). 4112
4112 See n. 905 to vi. 85. Elias is the same as Elijah, whose story will be found in the Old Testament in I Kings xvii-xix. and
2 Kings i-ii. Elijah lived in the reign of Ahab (B.C. 896-874) and Ahaziah (B.C. 874-872), kings of the (northern)
kingdom of Israel or Samaria. He was a prophet of the desert, like John the Baptist,-unlike our holy Prophet, who took
part in, controlled, and guided all the affairs of his people. Both Ahab and Azariah were prone to lapse into the worship
of Baal, the sun-god worshipped in Syria. That worship also included the worship of nature-powers and procreative
powers, as in the Hindu worship of the Lingam, and led to many abuses. King Ahab had married a princess of Sidon,
Jezebel, a wicked woman who led her husband to forsake Allah and adopt Baal-worship. Elijah denounced all Ahab's
sins as well as the sins of Ahaziah and had to flee for his life. Eventually, according to the Old Testament (2 Kings, ii-
11) he was taken up in a whirlwind to heaven in a chariot of fire after he had left his mantle with Elisha the prophet.
(37.123)
EZEKIEL-(Dhu Al Kifl)
21:85 - And (remember) Ismail Idris and Zul-kifl all (men) of constancy and patience; 274127422743
2743 Zul-kifl would literally mean "possessor of, or giving, a double requital or portion"; or else, "one who used a cloak of
double thickness," that being one of the meanings of Kifl. The Commentators differ in opinion as to who is meant, why
the title is applied to him, and the point of his being grouped with Isma'il and Idris for constancy and patience. I think
the best suggestion is that afforded by Karsten Niebuhr in his Reisebeschreibung nach Arabian, Copenhagen, 1778,
ii. 264-266, as quoted in the Encyclopaedia of Islam under "Dhul-Kifl". He visited Meshad 'All in 'Iraq, and also the little
town called Kefil, midway between Najaf and Hilla (Babylon). Kefil, he says, is the Arabic form of Ezekiel. The shrine
of Ezekiel was there, and the Jews came to it on pilgrimage. If we accept "Zul-kifl" to be not an epithet, but an
Arabicised form of "Ezekiel", it fits the context. Ezekiel was a prophet in Israel who was carried away to Babylon by
Nebuchadnezzar after his second attack on Jerusalem (about B.C. 599). His Book is included in the English Bible (Old
Testament). He was chained and bound, and put into prison, and for a time he was dumb (Ezekiel, iii. 25-26). He bore
all with patience and constancy, and continued to reprove boldly the evils in Israel. In a burning passage he
denounces false leaders in words which are eternally true: "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed
themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them
that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was
sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken ...... etc. (Ezekiel, xxxiv. 2-4). Zul-kifl is again mentioned in
xxxviii. 48 along with Isma'il and Elisha. (21.85)
21:85 - And (remember) Ismail Idris and Zul-kifl all (men) of constancy and patience; 274127422743
2741 Isma'il is mentioned specially, apart from the line which descended through Isaac (xxi. 72), as he was the founder of a
separate and greater Ummat. His sufferings began in infancy (see n. 160 to ii. 158); but his steady constancy and
submission to the will of Allah were specially shown when he earned the title of "Sacrifice to Allah" (see n. 2506 to xix.
54). That was the particular quality of his constancy and patience. (21.85)
2742 For Idris see n. 2508 to xix. 56. He was in a high station in life, but that did not spoil him. He was sincere and true, and
that was the particular quality of his constancy and patience. (21.85)
2743 Zul-kifl would literally mean "possessor of, or giving, a double requital or portion"; or else, "one who used a cloak of
double thickness," that being one of the meanings of Kifl. The Commentators differ in opinion as to who is meant, why
the title is applied to him, and the point of his being grouped with Isma'il and Idris for constancy and patience. I think
the best suggestion is that afforded by Karsten Niebuhr in his Reisebeschreibung nach Arabian, Copenhagen, 1778,
ii. 264-266, as quoted in the Encyclopaedia of Islam under "Dhul-Kifl". He visited Meshad 'All in 'Iraq, and also the little
town called Kefil, midway between Najaf and Hilla (Babylon). Kefil, he says, is the Arabic form of Ezekiel. The shrine
of Ezekiel was there, and the Jews came to it on pilgrimage. If we accept "Zul-kifl" to be not an epithet, but an
Arabicised form of "Ezekiel", it fits the context. Ezekiel was a prophet in Israel who was carried away to Babylon by
Nebuchadnezzar after his second attack on Jerusalem (about B.C. 599). His Book is included in the English Bible (Old
Testament). He was chained and bound, and put into prison, and for a time he was dumb (Ezekiel, iii. 25-26). He bore
all with patience and constancy, and continued to reprove boldly the evils in Israel. In a burning passage he
denounces false leaders in words which are eternally true: "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed
themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them
that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was
sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken ...... etc. (Ezekiel, xxxiv. 2-4). Zul-kifl is again mentioned in
xxxviii. 48 along with Isma'il and Elisha. (21.85)
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