Maryam 19:57

Mentioning Idris

Allah complimented Idris for being a truthful Prophet and He mentioned that he raised him to a high station. It has previously been mentioned that in the Sahih it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by Idris on the night of the Isra (Night Journey) and he (Idris) was in the fourth heaven. Sufyan reported from Mansur that Mujahid said,

وَرَفَعْنَاهُ مَكَاناً عَلِيّاً

(And We raised him to a high station.) "This means the fourth heaven." Al-Hasan and others said concer- ning Allah's statement,

وَرَفَعْنَاهُ مَكَاناً عَلِيّاً

(And We raised him to a high station.) "This means Paradise."

وَرَ‌فَعْنَاهُ مَكَانًا عَلِيًّا

"And We raised him to a high place." - 19:57.

It means that he was granted a special position among prophets and was close to Allah Ta` ala. There are also other versions about his ascent to the sky, about which Ibn-e-Kathir has said

ھٰذا من اخبار کعب الاحبار الاسرایٔلیات وفی بعضہ نکارۃ

"This is taken from the traditions of the Israelites as reported by Ka'ab Al-Ahbar, some of which are disputed, and unfamiliar."

The Qur'anic words are not specific on the subject whether he was given a sublime position or was physically lifted to the sky. Therefore, his physical ascent to the sky is not definite. In any case commentary of the Holy Qur'an is not dependent on this issue. (Bayan ul-Qur’ an)

From Bayan ul-Qur'an - The difference between the definition of 'Rasul' and 'Nabi' and their inter-relationship.

"The words Rasul and Nabi have been variously explained. Having considered all possibilities I have come to the conclusion that the relationship between the two is on being specific or general on the basis of their application.

Rasul is one who delivers a new code to those among whom he is sent, even though the code may be new to himself as well, like Torah to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) or the code be new only to his people, as was the case with Sayyidna Ismail (علیہ السلام) . The code that he was preaching was in fact given to his father, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) ، but it was new for the tribe of Jurhum who did not know about it beforehand, and learnt its details from Sayyidna Ismail (علیہ السلام) only, who was sent to them for this purpose. It, therefore, follows that it is not necessary for a Rasul to be Nabi just as the angels who are Rasul but not Nabi or the messengers sent to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) who are referred in Qur'an as Rasul, although they were not Nabi. إِذْ جَاءَهَا الْمُرْ‌سَلُونَ (36:13).

On the other hand Nabi is the one who is the bearer of Wahy (Allah's message) regardless of whether he preaches an old or a new religious code. Many a prophets from Bani Isra'il fall under this category, as they preached the religious code given to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، therefore, follows that the word Rasul is more general compared to Nabi. But in certain other ways converse is the case. Where the two words are used together, as in the case of this verse where they appear as رَ‌سُولًا نَّبِيًّا ، there is no problem in that they can be taken both in specific or in general term, and there will not be any contradiction. But in such situations where the two words appear separately one against the other, then having regard to the relative position of the two words in the verse the term Nabi will denote someone who is following the religious code brought by someone else.