Translation:
So also was Elias 4112 among those sent (by Us).
So also was Elias 4112 among those sent (by Us).
Translation:
AND, BEHOLD, Elijah [too] was indeed one of Our message-bearers 48
AND, BEHOLD, Elijah [too] was indeed one of Our message-bearers 48
Commentary:
48 The Hebrew prophet Elijah (Ilyas in Arabic) is mentioned in the Bible (I Kings xvii ff. And II Kings i-ii) as having lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah - i.e., in the ninth century B.C. - and having been succeeded by Elisha (Al-Yasa in Arabic). The above stress on his, too, having been "one of the message-bearers" (min al-mursalin) recalls the Quranic principle that God makes "no distinction between any of His apostles" (cf. 2:136 and 285, 3:84, 4:152, and the corresponding notes).
48 The Hebrew prophet Elijah (Ilyas in Arabic) is mentioned in the Bible (I Kings xvii ff. And II Kings i-ii) as having lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah - i.e., in the ninth century B.C. - and having been succeeded by Elisha (Al-Yasa in Arabic). The above stress on his, too, having been "one of the message-bearers" (min al-mursalin) recalls the Quranic principle that God makes "no distinction between any of His apostles" (cf. 2:136 and 285, 3:84, 4:152, and the corresponding notes).
4112 See n. 905 to 6:85. Elias is the same as Elijah, whose story will be found in the Old Testament in 1 Kings 17-19 and 2 Kings 1-2. 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 Prophet, who took part in, controlled, and guided all the affairs of his people. Both Ahab and Ahaziah were prone to lapse into the worship of Ba'l, 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 Ba'1-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, 2:11 ) he was taken up in a whirlwind to heaven in a chariot of fire after he had left his mantle with Elisha the prophet. (R).