Elijah in Islam occupation preacher
Legacy
Muslim literature and tradition recounts that Ilyas preached to the Kingdom of Israel, ruled over by Ahab and later his son Ahaziah. He is called a "prophet of the desert—like Yahya". Ilyas is believed to have preached with zeal to Ahab and his wife Jezebel, who according to Muslim tradition was partly responsible for the worship of false idols in this area. Muslims believe that it was because the majority of people refused to listen to Elijah that Elisha had to continue preaching the message of God to Israel after him.
Ilyas has been the subject of legends and folktales in Muslim culture, usually involving his meeting with Khidr. According to a Muslim exegete report, Muhammad met Ilyas in Mecca. In Islamic mysticism, Ilyas is associated closely with the sage Khidr. One hadith reported that Ilyas and Khidr met together every year in Jerusalem to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca. Ilyas appears also in the Hamzanama numerous times, where he is spoken of as being the brother of Khidr as well as one who drank from the Fountain of Youth. Further, It is narrated in Kitab al-Kafi that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was reciting the prostration of Ilyas in the Syrian language and began to weep. He then translated the supplication in Arabic to a group of visiting scholars:
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