His younger brother, Habib Ur Rehman, has served as an independent Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly from the Nuh constituency.

He first entered electoral politics in 1987, after the death of his father, contesting from the Nuh constituency under the banner of the Lok Dal (LKD), though he was unsuccessful.

His first electoral victory came in 1991, where he served as the Minister of State for Power and Irrigation under the Bhajan Lal's Congress government.

Ilyas achieved a significant win in 2000, securing the Ferozepur Jhirka seat as a candidate of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), where he served as the Minister of State for Animal Husbandry under Om Prakash Chautala's fifth ministry.

[5] In the 2024 Haryana Legislative Assembly election, Ilyas retained his seat and won the from the Punahana constituency with a victory margin of 31,916 votes.