Elijah (Hebrew: , Eliyahu, meaning "My God is Yahu") was a prophet and a wonder-worker in the northern kingdom of Israel[4] during the reign of Ahab (9th century BC), according to the biblical Books of Kings. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the Canaanite idol Baal. He also had God perform miracles for him, which included raising the dead, bringing fire down from the sky, and having himself be taken up, "by a whirlwind". [5] In the Book of Malachi, Elijah's return is prophesied "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord", [6] making him a harbinger of the Messiah and the eschaton in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible. References to Elijah appear in the Talmud, the Mishnah, the New Testament and the Qur'an. In Judaism, Elijah's name is invoked at the weekly Havdalah ritual that marks the end of Shabbat, and Elijah is invoked in other Jewish customs, among them the Passover seder and the Brit milah (ritual circumcision). He appears in numerous stories and references in the Haggadah and rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian Talmud. In Christianity the New Testament describes how both Jesus and John the Baptist are compared with Elijah and on some occasions thought by some to be manifestations of Elijah, and Elijah appears with Moses during the Transfiguration of Jesus. Elijah is also a figure in various Christian folk traditions, often identified with earlier pagan thunder or sky gods. In the Qur'an and certain Islamic traditions, Elijah is described as a great and righteous man of God and one who powerfully preached against the worship of Baal.