''Illiyin'', ''Illiyun'' or ''Elliyoun'' ( ar, عِلِّيِّين, عِلِّيُّون, ʿilliyyīn, -ūn literally: heaven, upperworld) is a

Quranic The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

term referring to either the "most high" and "supreme" places above

Jannah In Islam, Jannah ( ar, جَنّة, janna, pl. ''jannāt'',lit. "paradise, garden", is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of f ...

, i.e. the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan- Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2-3 and Ezekiel 28 ...

paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in para ...

, in the seventh heaven closest to the Throne of God (al-ʿArsh), or, according to a different interpretation, a register for the blessed or record of the righteous, which is mentioned i
verses 83:18–20
of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...

. It is also understood as the abode of the believers before

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

. The

antithesis Antithesis ( Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together ...

of ''Illiyin'' is '' Sijjin''.

Etymology

The word as an adjective, apparently pronounced in such a way to parallel with ''sijjīn'' (a commonly seen aspect of the Quran), is a plural of ''ʿaliyy'' ( ar, عَلِيّ) meaning "high, exalted, lofty, excellent" from the very common root ʿ-L-W () related to exalting, becoming high or elevating. The very similar-sounding

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

word '' ʿelyṓn'' () meaning "upper, top, uppermost" or "Most High" as an epithet of God, derives from an equivalent root but is however not a direct cognate since Hebrew plurals end in "-im".

Shia tradition

According to some

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

traditions, the

Ahl al-Bayt Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. I ...

were created from the earth of ''Illiyin''.Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi ''The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam'' SUNY Press 2016 page 166

References

Quranic words and phrases Jannah {{Islam-stub

Etymology

Shia tradition

See also

References