Born in 1392 at Shibam in northern Yemen, Idris was descended from the Banu al-Walid al-Anf family, of the Quraysh tribe.

The family had provided the Tayyibi Isma'ili head missionaries (da'is) in Yemen reaching back to the early 13th century.

'absolute/unrestricted missionary') signified their position as the de facto leaders of the Tayyibi community in their capacity as vicegerents of the hidden imam.

Muhammad Izz al-Din I, the 23rd Da'i al-Mutlaq, was the last of his line, and on his death the first Indian, Yusuf ibn Sulayman, was nominated as his successor.

[1] States People Centers Other Alongside his religious and political duties, Idris was also a dedicated scholar and prolific writer.

The modern historian Ayman Fuʾad Sayyid enumerates eleven whose authorship is certain, and three more where it is attributed to Idris, but doubtful.

[1] His main work is the seven-volume Uyun al-akhbar ("Flowing springs of historical reports"), a history of Islam from Muhammad, through the 21 Isma'ili Imams up to the end of the Fatimid Caliphate, as well as the start of the Tayyibi da'wa in Yemen under the Sulayhid dynasty.