People of Ilyas
Nation of the Quran
People of Ilyasقوم إلياس
The Quran gives no dateBaalbek, Lebanon (one opinion)
Ilyas was sent to a people who worshipped an idol called Baal. He asked how they could call on Baal and abandon Allah, the best of creators, their Lord and the Lord of their fathers (37:125-126). They rejected him.
What does the Quran say?
Do you call upon Ba'l and leave the best of creators -
Quran 37:125
How did they end?
The Quran says they will be brought to account, except the sincere servants of Allah among them (37:127-128); it describes no worldly destruction.
What do historians say?
Baal was a storm god widely worshipped in Canaan and Phoenicia, known from the texts of Ugarit (c. 1300 BCE). Some commentators linked Ilyas's people to Baalbek, whose huge Roman temples still stand.
The lesson
False gods change their names, but the call to the One stays the same.
Everyone and everything in the timeline
People named in the Quran and the hadith, the Prophet's ﷺ family and Companions, scholars, rulers, the nations of the Quran, the world's empires and the places where it all happened. Where scholars differ, each entry says so.
Nations of the Quran
- People of Nuh
- Ad
- Thamud
- People of Lut
- Madyan
- Companions of the Thicket
- Companions of the Rass
- People of Tubba
- Saba (Sheba)
- Bani Israil
- People of Firaun
- People of Yunus
- The city of the Sleepers
- Companions of the Ditch
- Companions of the Elephant
- People of the Sabbath
- Yajuj and Majuj
- Quraysh
- Thaqif
- Hawazin
- Aws and Khazraj (the Ansar)
- The Romans (Rum)
- The Persians
- People of Ibrahim
- Jurhum
- People of Ilyas
- People of the Town (Ya-Sin)
- The Sabians
- The Magians (Majus)