Who is the Prophet Enoch? What is your thought on his book?

- ​ Enoch is said to be the source of all divine books. I could not find any question or explanation about it on your website. He is known as the Prophet Idris in Islam. I think that this book consists pages that were distorted; they claim that all divine religions originated from it. In my opinion, they are trying to show religions as human inventions.
- What is your idea about it?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The origin of the name Enoch, which is mentioned as Uhnukh in Islamic sources, and Enoch and Henoch in Western languages, is Hanok in Hebrew.

The Prophet referred to as Ehnukh or Uhnukh in some sources, is the Prophet Idris. (1)

However, we think that it would not be appropriate to say anything definite about whether the book that is said to have been found today consists of the pages given to the Prophet Idris.

There are certainly some wise reasons why the Quran expresses the name Ehnukh or Uhnukh as Idris in terms of its Arabic connotation.

According to some linguists, the word Idris is derived from the root DRS, which means education and training. The reason why that name was given to that prophet is to attract attention to the fact that he was a person who read the book of Allah a lot and to encourage other people to be like him. (2)

There are also some scholars who say this name is directly of Arabic origin and Idris was given this name to indicate that he read a lot of books. (3)

Although some scholars say that it is not possible to accept that the word Idris is derived from DRS, which is an Arabic word (4), many famous grammarians such as Zamakhshari, Qadi Baydawi and Alusi point out that even if it is not Arabic, it may have been used in the sense of education and training in its own language and hence Idris may have taken this name, which means the same thing in Arabic, because of this (5).

Considering that, Idris was the first person who used a pen and write after the Prophet Adam, thought about astronomy and mathematics for the first time, invented sewing clothes for the first time though people wore animal skins before him, wore stitched clothes, and that a 30-page book was sent to him by Allah, and if the relations between the names of other prophets and their lives are also remembered, it is considered very reasonable to accept that Idris means a researcher, a reader, a learner, in short, a person who made important studies in the field of science and education. (6)  

According to what Alusi reports from some scholars, the father of the Prophet Idris was a person who knew the sciences of the era - which he learned from his own father. In addition to the knowledge he learned from the pages sent down to the Prophet Adam, he learned astronomy, astrology and other sciences and taught them to his son Idris. Besides, after Idris became a prophet at the age of forty, he was given a 30-page book and became the greatest scholar of the era.

The Prophet Idris, who was born in Egypt, traveled to different places and conveyed Allah’s commands to people. (7)

“Also mention in the Book the case of Idris: He was a man of truth (and sincerity), (and) a prophet: And We raised him to a lofty station.” (8) The sentence "Remember Idris in the Book" in the verses above seems to be related to that name.  In the whole Quran, the phrase "Remember … in the Book" is used only in the chapter of Maryam and only for Maryam, Ibrahim, Musa, Ismail and Idris - respectively.

There are definitely some wise reasons for other names, but the relationship between the word Idris and the book is very clear. The sentence “We raised him to a lofty station” indicates that he was raised to the skies or Paradise as it is mentioned in some hadith narrations.

Thirty pages containing divine information were sent down to the Prophet Idris. He carried the pages of the Prophet Adam and Shit (Seth) on his heart. There was information about the heavenly secrets, the methods of ruling the spiritual beings, and the features of beings in his pages. (9)

References:

1) see Qurtubi, 6/15.
2) cf Jawhari, as-Sihah, (DRS) item.
3) see Baydawi, 4/165, Hazin, 4/165.
4) see Nasafi, 4/165.
5) cf Zamakhshari, 3/23; Alusi, interpretation of Maryam 56.
6) cf Baghawi, Alusi, Maryam, 56, Alusi, interpretation of Maryam 56.
7) see Alusi, interpretation of al-Baqara, 69 and al-Kahf, 65.
8) Maryam, 19/56-57.
9) Ibnul-Athir, al-Kamil, 1/54-55; Mir’ât-ı Kâinat, 1/124-128.
(See also Niyazi Beki, Kur’an’daki İsimlerin Esrarı, İdris item; TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, İdris item)

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