The Story of Job (peace be upon him)

Ibn Isḥāq said: He was a man from among the Romans; his full name was Job son of Maws, son of Rāziḥ, son of al-ʿĪṣ, son of Isaac, son of Abraham the Friend.

Others maintain that he was Job son of Maws, son of Raʿwīl, son of al-ʿĪṣ, son of Isaac, son of Jacob. Still other lines of descent have also been reported.

Ibn ʿAsākir relates that his mother was a daughter of Lot, peace be upon him. Another view states that his father was one of those who believed in Abraham, peace be upon him, on the day he was cast into the fire and it did not burn him. The most widely held opinion, however, is the first, for Job is counted among the offspring of Abraham, as we clarified when commenting on the verse:

“And of his descendants are David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron …” (Qur’an 6:84).
There we pointed out that the pronoun “his” refers to Abraham, not to Noah, peace be upon them both.

Job is also one of the prophets explicitly mentioned as having received revelation in Sūrat al-Nisā’, where Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him, and We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Tribes, Jesus, and Job …” (Qur’an 4:163).

The sound position, then, is that he descends from al-ʿĪṣ son of Isaac.

As for his wife, it is said that her name was Liyā, daughter of Jacob. Others say she was Raḥmah, daughter of Ephraim; still another view is that she was the daughter of Manasseh, son of Joseph, son of Jacob. This last opinion is the most widespread, and for that reason we have cited it here. After recounting his story, we shall, if Allah wills, turn to the prophets of the Children of Israel. In Him we place our trust, and upon Him we rely.

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“And remember Job, when he called out to his Lord, ‘Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ So We answered him, removed the harm that was upon him, and restored his family to him—together with the like of them— as a mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers.” (Qur’an 21:83–84)

He also says in Sūrat Ṣād:

“Remember Our servant Job, when he cried to his Lord, ‘Indeed, Satan has afflicted me with weariness and torment.’ [We said], ‘Strike the ground with your foot; here is a cool spring for bathing and drinking.’ And We granted him his family and the like of them along with them, as a mercy from Us and a reminder for those of insight. And [We said], ‘Take in your hand a bundle of thin twigs, then strike with it, and do not break your oath.’ Indeed, We found him patient—how excellent a servant! He was ever turning back to Us.” (Qur’an 38:41–44)

Ibn ʿAsākir also transmitted, through al-Kalbī, that he said: “The first prophet to be sent was Idrīs, then Noah, then …”