Prophet Shiya (Isaiah) AS is one of the prophets sent to the Children of Israel between the era of Prophet Dawood (David) and Prophet Zakariya (Zechariah). His full name is recorded by historians as Shiya Ibn Amoz (Isaiah son of Amoz). According to Muhammad Ibn Ishaaq, Isaiah (pbuh) appeared before Zakariya (pbuh) and Yahya (John the Baptist) (pbuh). He is among those who prophesied about the coming of Isa (Jesus) (pbuh) and the final messenger, Muhammad (pbuh). He stood as a beacon of monotheism during a time of political turmoil and spiritual decline among the Israelites.
The king of the Israelites during the time of Isaiah was called Hezekiah (Hazkia). He was a righteous and just king who ruled by the Torah. He listened to Prophet Isaiah and was obedient to him in what he advised him to do and prohibit for the good of the state. Under this partnership of Prophethood and Kingship, affairs took momentum among the Israelites, and they enjoyed a period of stability and faith.
However, trials soon befell them. King Hezekiah became sick with a severe infected foot (gangrene). While he was bedridden, a massive army approached Jerusalem. King Sennacherib (Sinharib) of Babylon (or Assyria) advanced towards them with sixty thousand men (some narrations say hundreds of thousands). The people were terrified, as they were militarily weak and their king was dying.
The people were greatly terrified. The King asked Isaiah: “What did Allah reveal to you regarding Sennacherib and his army?” He replied: “He has not yet revealed anything to me.” Then the revelation came down, but it was not what the King hoped for. Allah commanded Isaiah to tell King Hezekiah to appoint a successor and make his will, because his end was at hand.
When Isaiah told him this, the king turned his face to the qibla (the direction faced in prayer); he prayed, glorified Allah, invoked Him, and wept. Weeping and invoking Allah the All-Powerful and majestic with a sincere heart, trust and patience, he said:
Allah answered his prayers and had compassion on him. He revealed to Isaiah to tell him the glad tidings that He had compassion for his weeping and would extend his life for a further fifteen years and save him from the enemy, Sennacherib. When Isaiah told this to Hezekiah, his disease was healed. Evil and sadness departed, and he fell prostrate, saying: “O Lord, it is You Who grants kingship to whomsoever You wish and dethrones whomsoever You wish and elevates whomsoever You wish and degrades whomsoever You wish, Knower of the unseen and the evident. And lo! You are the First and the Last; the Manifest and the Perceived; You grant mercy and answer the prayers of the troubled ones.”
When he raised his head, Allah revealed to Isaiah to command the king to extract the water of the fig and apply it to his sore, and he would be whole and cured. He did so and was miraculously cured.
Then Allah sent death upon the army of Sennacherib. In the morning they were all corpses, except Sennacherib and five of his companions, among them the famous Nebuchadnezzar (Bukhtanasar). The king of Israel immediately sent for them, put them in shackles and displayed them in the land for seventy days to spite and insult them. Every day each of them was fed a loaf of barley bread; after seventy days he confined them in prison.
Allah then revealed to Isaiah that the king should send them back to their country so that they might warn their people what would happen to them. When they returned, Sennacherib gathered his people and told them what had happened to them. The priests and magicians said to him: “We told you about their Lord and their prophets, but you did not listen to us. It is a nation which, with their God, nobody can overcome.” So, Sennacherib was afraid of Allah. He died seven years later.
Ibn Ishaaq also reported that when King Hezekiah of Israel died, the Israelites’ condition deteriorated rapidly. There was political confusion, and their wickedness increased. They abandoned the laws of the Torah and fell into sin. Isaiah stood firm, preaching to them what Allah revealed to him. He directed them to righteousness and warned them of Allah’s severe punishment if they did not repent. His preaching made him their enemy, as the truth often angers the corrupt. They decided to kill him, so he escaped from them.
Ibn Ishaaq reported a famous narration regarding the death of Prophet Isaiah (pbuh). As he fled from his people who were seeking to kill him, he passed by a large tree. By the permission of Allah, the tree opened up, and he entered therein to hide. However, Satan saw him and seized the loop of his garment, leaving it sticking out of the tree trunk so it would be visible.
When the pursuers saw the garment, they knew he was inside. They brought a saw and sawed the tree in half, cutting through the tree and the Prophet Isaiah with it. He did not scream or waver, showing ultimate patience until his soul departed. Indeed, from Allah we come and to him we return.