Saint Lazarus in Islam

Lazarus also appeared in medieval Islamic tradition, in which he was honored as a pious companion of Jesus. Although the Quran mentions no figure named Lazarus, among the miracles with which it credits Jesus includes the raising of people from the dead (III, 43/49). Muslim lore frequently detailed these miraculous narratives of Jesus, but mentioned Lazarus only occasionally. Al-Ṭabarī, for example, in his Taʾrīk̲h̲ talks of these miracles in general. Al-T̲h̲aʿlabī, however, related, closely following St. John’s Gospel: “Lazarus [Al-ʿĀzir] died, his sister sent to inform Jesus, Jesus came three (in the Gospel, four) days after his death, went with his sister to the tomb in the rock and caused Lazarus to arise; children were born to him”. Similarly, in Ibn al-At̲h̲īr, the resurrected man is called “ʿĀzir”,which is another Arabic rendering of “Lazarus.”