Taken in the Fourth Heaven

There is a story about the death of Sayyidunā Idrīs from al-Isrāʾīliyyāt. Allah (swt) revealed to Idrīs, and told him that every day your deeds are equivalent to the good deeds of everybody else on the face of the earth. With simple calculation, Sayyidunā Idrīs said: if that is the case, then if I ask Allah (swt) to give me a longer life, I would be able to accumulate more good deeds.

So he told one of his friends — an angel who was a friend of his — he told him: why don't we go and speak to the Angel of Death, and see if we can go to Allah (swt) and ask Him to give me a longer life? So the angel said: okay, ride on my wings. Sayyidunā Idrīs went on the wings of this angel, and the angel carried him up in the samāwāt. So they passed the first heaven, al-samāʾ al-ūlā, and then the second heaven, al-samāʾ al-thāniyah, the third heaven, al-samāʾ al-thālithah, the fourth heaven, al-samāʾ al-rābiʿah — and when they were going up, the Angel of Death was coming down.

The Angel of Death said: subḥān Allāh! I just received an order from Allah (swt) to take the soul of Idrīs in the fourth heaven, and I had no idea how I was going to do it when he's on earth. The angel — this angel speaking with the Angel of Death — looked on his back, and saw that Idrīs had already passed away.

They use this as an explanation of the ayah where Allah (swt) says wa rafaʿnāhu makānan ʿaliyyā: We elevated him to a very high level. So Allah (swt) took his soul in al-samāʾ al-rābiʿah, in the fourth heaven, and elevated him to a very high level. Nobody — nobody — passed away at that level except Sayyidunā Idrīs; and that's why Allah (swt) specifically said in the Qur'an: wa rafaʿnāhu makānan ʿaliyyā, We have elevated him to a very high level.

And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), in the authentic hadith, did meet Sayyidunā Idrīs in the fourth samāʾ, in the fourth heaven, in al-Isrāʾ wa al-Miʿrāj. In the Miʿrāj, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) met Idrīs in al-samāʾ al-rābiʿah.