Prophet Idris (peace be upon him)   Did all the people follow Prophet Sheth (peace be upon him)? Some peole just didn't follow him from the beginning while others did believe in Allah and live good, peaceful lives. However, after many years and generations some people forgot Prophet Sheth's teachings and they became lazy or maybe they just didn't care anymore. They started living bad lives and doing things that Prophet Sheth (peace be upon him) had taught the believers, the mu'mineen, to avoid. Some people even started to worship pictures they had made themselves. Can you believe that? How can pictures drawn by pople be able to help the people at all? The pictures can't do anything; they can't even move from one wall to another! But Allah did not let the message of Islam be forgotten forever and Allah didn't leave his creation, people, without guidance. How do you think Allah reminded the people? Yes, Allah sent them a prophet! This prophet's name was Idris. In the Quran Allah tells us "Remember Idris in the Book, he certainly was a man of truth and a prophet and We raised him to a high station." (19:56) Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) told his people to believe in only Allah and to give up believing in their idols. He told them to not be obsessed by the life in this world and its wealth and things. He taught them about prayer and fasting and charity. And do you know what else he taught his people? He also told them not to drink alcohol or wine. This sounds exactly like another prophet I know. Do you know? Did you guess, yet? Exactly, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Do you think everyone followed Prohet Idris (peace be upon him)? Well, just like the people of other prophets, some followed him and some fought him. But, did Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) just give up? No, he was patient and kept telling the people about Allah. In the Quran Allah tells us that Idris was patient and didn't give up. Allah tells us that Prohet Idris was righteous. (21:85-86) So, what does righteous mean? It means to obey Allah, do what Allah tells us to do. Even though Prohet Idris never gave up, his people still wouldn't live good lives. So, with Allah's guidance, Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) moved to Egypt and settled on the bank of the river Nile. Did you know that the Nile River is the longest river in the world? Yes, and that's where Prophet Idris started going around to the local tribes and teaching them about Allah and about how to do good things and avoid doing bad things. His teachings helped make the Nile River area a much better place to live. Some of the things he taught the Nile River people were: don't be jealous of what others have and what they do not be happy with what they have and don't always want more and more don't break promises be patient worship Allah sincerely Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) learned more from Allah. He was the first man who learned to write. And (now hold onto your seats!) he was the inventor of the sciences of astronomy and arithmetic. That means that he was the first one who started studying the stars, planets and the whole galaxy. He also started studying how things add and subtract and divide and multiply. Allah gave Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) 30 parts of divine scriptures, those are books that come from Allah. At the age of 365 years Prophet Idris' angel friend took Idris up into the heavens and when they arrived in the fourth heaven, they met the Angel of Death. The angel questioned the Angel of Death about how many more years Prophet Idris would live. The Angel of Death said, "Where is Idris because I have been commanded to end his life." Prohet Idris (peace be upon him) then stayed in the fourth heaven and died in the wings of his angel friend. (narrated by Ibn Jarir in Rauzatul Ahbab)   Allah knows best. Any errors are my own and any truth is only from Allah.   Sources: From Adam to Muhammad by Abdur Rehman Shad Qissasul Anbiya translated by Badr Azimabadi