Rafa'ah
Definition
Rafa'ah — raising or elevation — is the verb used in the Quran for what Allah did with Idris: 'We raised him to a high place.' The same root is used for the raising of Isa (Jesus) to the heavens, leading scholars to draw comparisons between the two figures and to speculate about what 'raising' means for a prophet. Ibn Kathir presents narrations suggesting that Idris was physically carried by an angel to the heavens, where he remains — neither dead in the ordinary sense nor alive in the earthly sense. This mysterious state of elevation makes Idris one of the most spiritually intriguing figures in the entire prophetic tradition.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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