Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj (Gog and Magog) Part 1

(00.44) So we had finished the issue of the Dajjāl (the Antichrist) and now we move on to the next of the major signs and that is the issue of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj (Gog Magog). The issue of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is actually for our modern times I would say one of the most, if not the most, problematic of the Signs of Judgment Day and it has caused many of our youth to question and doubt. I myself have met people that have actually left Islam because of these types of tales and we have to be honest and frank and not pretend as if this doesn't exist. Perhaps some of you are not accustomed to hearing people speak like this, but my philosophy is different.

We are dealing with a crisis of people leaving our faith: our own children our own young men and women. One of the reasons why is that we are not answering some of these issues that they bring and we dismiss them. I myself have discussed many of these issues with these types of people and one of them, while not the only one, is Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So, we have to be very clear and frank and think critically even as we look at our tradition.

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj in the Quran

(2.06) Let us begin from the beginning: who are Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj and what do the Quran and Sunnah say about them? The issue of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is something that doesn't just occur in the Hadith, it is also explicit in the Quran. Therefore, it is pretty clear that this is not something that you can brush to the side and say that it's only found in one Hadith. No! It is found in many aḥādīth (pl. Hadith) Even more importantly, it is found in the Quran in only two specific verses.

First Mention: In the Story of Dhū al-Qarnayn

(02.54) The first of them is toward the end of Sūrat al-Kahf where Allah ﷻ mentions the story of Dhū al-Qarnayn. Allah ﷻ says, "And they ask you, ⌜O Muhammad⌝, about Dhū al-Qarnayn..." (Kahf 18:83). Now, this is an entire lecture and an entire tafsīr altogether and I do not have time to go into Dhū al-Qarnayn and the tafsīr of Sūrat al-Kahf, even though it's very juicy. Allah ﷻ says: that He gave him power in this world, and He allowed him a path everywhere; and Dhū al-Qarnayn went to the easternmost and he went to the westernmost. There are stories mentioned in the Quran about Dhū al-Qarnayn, that he was a just king; and that He thanked Allah ﷻ; that he found people of all different types and persuasions. The final group of people he came across are mentioned in the passage (Kahf 18:93-99):

Introduction to Dhū al-Qarnayn

الكهف ٨٣ — وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَن ذِى ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ ۖ قُلْ سَأَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْهُ ذِكْرًا ۝ إِنَّا مَكَّنَّا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَءَاتَيْنَٰهُ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ سَبَبًا ۝

Kahf 18:83 — And they ask you, ⌜O Muhammad⌝, about Dhū al-Qarnayn. Say: I will recite to you about him a report. 84 Indeed We established him upon the earth, and We gave him to everything a way.

Building of the wall inability of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to escape until the End Times

الكهف ٩٢-٩٤ — ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا ۝ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ بَيْنَ ٱلسَّدَّيْنِ وَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمَا قَوْمًا لَّا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ قَوْلًا ۝ قَالُوا۟ يَٰذَا ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مُفْسِدُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَهَلْ نَجْعَلُ لَكَ خَرْجًا عَلَىٰٓ أَن تَجْعَلَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ سَدًّا ۝ قَالَ مَا مَكَّنِّى فِيهِ رَبِّى خَيْرٌ فَأَعِينُونِى بِقُوَّةٍ أَجْعَلْ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ رَدْمًا ۝ ءَاتُونِى زُبَرَ ٱلْحَدِيدِ ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا سَاوَىٰ بَيْنَ ٱلصَّدَفَيْنِ قَالَ ٱنفُخُوا۟ ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَعَلَهُۥ نَارًا قَالَ ءَاتُونِىٓ أُفْرِغْ عَلَيْهِ قِطْرًا ۝ فَمَا ٱسْطَٰعُوٓا۟ أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا ٱسْتَطَٰعُوا۟ لَهُۥ نَقْبًا ۝ قَالَ هَٰذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّى ۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى جَعَلَهُۥ دَكَّآءَ ۖ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى حَقًّا ۝ وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِى بَعْضٍ ۖ وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَجَمَعْنَٰهُمْ جَمْعًا ۝

Kahf 18:92-99 — Then he followed a way. 93 Until, when he reached ⌜a pass⌝ between two mountains, he found beside them a people who could hardly understand ⌜his⌝ speech. 94 They said, "O Dhū al-Qarnayn, indeed Gog Magog are ⌜great⌝ corrupters in the land. So may we assign for you an expenditure that you might make between us and them a barrier?" 95 He said, "That in which my Lord has established me is better ⌜than what you offer⌝, but assist me with strength; I will make between you and them a dam." 96 "Bring me sheets of iron." Until, when he had leveled ⌜them⌝ between the two mountain walls, he said, "Blow ⌜with bellows⌝," until when he had made it ⌜like⌝ fire, he said, "Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten copper." 97 So Gog Magog were unable to pass over it, nor were they able ⌜to effect⌝ in it any penetration. 98 ⌜Dhū al-Qarnayn⌝ said, "This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and ever is the promise of my Lord true." 99 And We will leave them that day surging over each other, and ⌜then⌝ the Horn will be blown, and We will assemble them in ⌜one⌝ assembly."

(03.55) Dhū al-Qarnayn came to essentially a valley where there are two mountain slopes. He found a group of people that did not understand them. In other words, this was a civilization that had no middle ground in the good old days. Once upon a time before Google Translate how did people translate from one another? There were people, intermediaries, who had traveled to both lands and inevitably would find somebody who spoke Latin and Arabic and who spoke this language and that language. You would find somebody. Dhū al-Qarnayn went to such a faraway land that the language of those people and the language of Dhū al-Qarnayn had no middle ground. So Allah ﷻ is mentioning that this is a far-flung civilization where Dhū al-Qarnayn came from. So how then did they communicate when there is no which they communicated? With signs. You know when you're a tourist in a different land, a strange land, and you have no language whatsoever you are forced to communicate with your hands. And, mā shāʾ Allāh, you can only communicate so much with your hands, right? Well, when you really have to, you can figure things out. So they are communicating with their symbols and with their gestures.

(05.13) This is the first mention of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. They say: this group of people, Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, they are wreaking havoc in this world; so Dhū al-Qarnayn, you are a mighty king and you are a powerful person; we will give you something; we will give you money – whatever is the symbol for money – and you build a wall; you protect us from those people; O Dhū al-Qarnayn, you are clearly a man of intellect and power a mighty king; you have a civilization that we do not have; you have the strength that we do not have; so we want you to do something to protect us. So, Dhū al-Qarnayn has gone to the furthermost regions of the world and there is a group of people even beyond that region – these are called the Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj – and this civilization is saying: we want protection; we'll pay you to build this barrier between us and them. So, Dhū al-Qarnayn says: I don't need your money; I have plenty; what are you going to give me?; rather I understand these people are evil. So, Dhū al-Qarnayn sympathizes with this other nation against Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So, Dhū al-Qarnayn said, ok; you know these people are really bad, i.e. Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj; I'll help you; this is what I need from you: I need your strength I need manual power; I know what to do; I have the brains for it but I need the bronze; I need the people.

(06.51) So Allah ﷻ then mentions that they took big bellows of furnace and iron and copper and they made a special type of barrier, and they put these people. they used these bellows of the furnaces at a massive scale, and they made an iron barrier that Allah ﷻ mentions, that neither could they climb over the wall, nor could they come underneath it, nor could they bore a hole between it. So, it is an effective barrier. Dhū al-Qarnayn, when he saw what he had done, he said this is from Allah; Allah has blessed me; Allah has given me; this is not from me; it is from Allah ﷻ. Then, either Dhū al-Qarnayn or Allah is speaking, we don't know which one; most likely it's Dhū al-Qarnayn or an angel or somebody is saying this; that this wall is temporary; when the command of Allah comes then this wall will be of no use; it will be gone; and on that day these groups will be like waves just intermixing amongst one another and the trumpet will be blown. So this is the first mention of a Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj and it deals with the wall that was built by Dhū al-Qarnayn.

Second Mention: Regarding the Last Day

(08.17) The next mention of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ, verses 96 to 97, where Allah ﷻ mentioned in the Quran regarding Judgment Day:

Escape of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj during the End Times

الأنبيآء ٩٦ — حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُم مِّن كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنسِلُونَ ۝ وَٱقْتَرَبَ ٱلْوَعْدُ ٱلْحَقُّ فَإِذَا هِىَ شَٰخِصَةٌ أَبْصَٰرُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ يَٰوَيْلَنَا قَدْ كُنَّا فِى غَفْلَةٍ مِّنْ هَٰذَا بَلْ كُنَّا ظَٰلِمِينَ ۝ إِنَّكُمْ وَمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ حَصَبُ جَهَنَّمَ أَنتُمْ لَهَا وَٰرِدُونَ ۝

Anbiyāʾ 21:96 — Until when ⌜the barrier of⌝ Gog Magog has been opened and they, from every elevation, descend 97 and ⌜when⌝ the true promise has approached; then suddenly the eyes of those who disbelieved will be staring ⌜in horror, while they say⌝, "O woe to us; we had been unmindful of this; rather, we were wrongdoers." 98 Indeed, you ⌜disbelievers⌝ and what you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell. You will be coming to ⌜enter⌝ it.

That: until finally Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will be allowed out, and they are going to be pouring down from every single slope from every mountain; they're going to be coming; and Judgement will now be asunder; will now be well close. So, Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are right before Judgment Day. This is pretty clear in the Quran. In Sūrat al-Kahf and over here: and the inevitable hour is coming. So twice in the Quran, Allah mentions Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj both of them linking it directly to Judgement Day, right before Judgment Day.

Identity of Dhū al-Qarnayn

(09.18) Now, by the way, who is Dhū al-Qarnayn? Dhū al-Qarnayn is an enigmatic figure and some of our medieval commentators and then, especially, the most famous of our translators of the Quran of the previous century, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Yusuf Ali^[1]), whose impact on the translation was well known to all of us who grew up in the 70s, 80s, 90s. We know of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation as being the one that had the most impact. Even though, a long story, but it wasn't very accurate: number one. Number two, can you believe, and this is a complete tangent, however, that Abdullah Yusuf Ali couldn't speak Arabic properly? There's another point that he plagiarized it (Svensson^[2]), but that's a whole different story not related to our topic here. Nonetheless, his translation went viral.

Is Dhū al-Qarnayn Alexandar the Great?

And in ⌜Yusuf Ali's⌝ translation and his commentary, he mentions that Dhū al-Qarnayn is... who does he mention? Alexander! All of you know this. He mentioned Dhū al-Qarnayn is Alexander the Great (Yusuf Ali^[3],^[4]) and it kind of spread amongst the masses. This is what happens, subḥān Allāh, how thoughts spread even if they're incorrect. And so many people thought to thought Dhū al-Qarnayn is Alexander, but this is really almost a hundred percent wrong for many reasons. The most obvious is that we know a lot about Alexander the Great. We know a lot about him and he was not a believer in Allah. He was a pagan. He worshiped the idols. And Allah praises Dhū al-Qarnayn as being a worshipper and Allah praises Dhū al-Qarnayn as being a righteous person. Allah never praises paganism, and Allah never praises someone in this manner. Allah ﷻ mentions Dhū al-Qarnayn as saying: "This is a mercy from my Lord." (Kahf 19:98). So, Alexander? Really almost impossible.

Is Dhū al-Qarnayn King Cyrus?

Some modern commentators have said that it is the the Persian king Cyrus: King Cyrus, who ruled from around 600 BC to 530 BC (Wheeler^[5]). So, we're talking about 2,600 years ago. The Persian king, Cyrus, they say that he's a candidate because he ruled over perhaps the largest empire the world has ever seen. Or, maybe, the second or third largest: you know there have these massive empires. Alexander the Great probably did rule over the most largest empire but temporarily. The Muslims, by the way, ruled over the largest for the longest period of time but that's a different thing. Alexander, for a period of time, had more, but it fizzled out with his death. The benefit or the beauty of Islam is that wherever the Muslims went, Islam remained. And Islam and the Muslim civilization was the largest, but it wasn't unified as solid as it was under Alexander. So, they say, Cyrus. But, firstly, there are a number of things that don't match up and, secondly, once again, Cyrus was a clear-cut pagan.

Is Dhū al-Qarnayn King Darius I the Great?

(12.00) There is a third theory that I personally am very sympathetic to. But these are just theories at the end of the day. If you don't like it or you like it it doesn't matter. It's just my opinion or the opinion of some modern scholars. If Dhū al-Qarnayn were a historic figure, (what do I mean by historic), I mean, somebody whom we know because it is always possible that Dhū al-Qarnayn is pre-historic, from pre-recorded history, because recorded history begins around 4,000 years ago. Before that, we don't really have records. Before that is just unknown as a big black box. Perhaps Dhū al-Qarnayn is of that timeframe, Allah knows. As for reported history, it goes back roughly 4,000 years or a bit more than that, and we know pretty much all of the massive empires and the great kings of that time frame. If Dhū al-Qarnayn was one of the kings of this era then we should know about him in terms of recorded history. Humanity would have known of these types of great kings who have conquered large swaths of the earth.

So, another candidate that I am personally very sympathetic to is the Persian Emperor Darius who ruled from 552 BC to 486 BC (Ali^[6]). Darius ruled over most of the known world at that time, most of what we now called Asia Minor: the Caucasus, the Balkans, Central Asia, even Egypt, and North Africa. He had a massive empire and he himself traveled to the furthest east and the farthest west. He led expeditions in his entire kingdom and he fought against the Egyptians; he fought against the Chinese, (I mean, the people of that region, call him what you will,) but he fought against all of these people.

What is interesting about Darius unlike Cyrus and definitely unlike Alexander, is that Darius was a monotheist in contrast to the people before him and after him. We know from the books of history that Darius was an ardent monotheist. He was a strict believer in one God who was beloved to his people and he had the reputation of being a just king. We have records of Darius. We have inscriptions to this day of Darius in which he is saying: I am King Darius whom God has bestowed power to. (Behistun Inscription^[7]). In other words, "This is a mercy from my Lord" (Kahf 18:98). It is very rare to find an ancient king who, basically۔۔۔ I mean, Pharaoh said: "I am your most exalted lord." (Nāziʿāt 79:24). It is very rare to find an ancient king who is saying: look, I am a king but the one above is the one who made me the king; he's the one who gave this to me.

So, and by the way, there's also a very enigmatic inscription of Darius in which he is depicted as having two horns as well (Dhū al-Qarnayn may also mean one of two horns). So, that kind of, yaʿnī, adds a little bit of spice, you know, to the whole mix there, that Darius seems to be a likely candidate, and he was an ardent believer.

(14.57) Now, some can say, for those of you who know your history, that Darius was a Zorastrian. And we say, well, there was no Islam per se at this point in time. We're talking 2,000 years ago and Darius believed in the one supreme God that they called Ahūrā Mazdā (lord of wisdom): that was their name. For them but it was one god that they believed in. So, Allah ﷻ knows best, we are not 100% sure.

In any case, and it is also possible that, Dhū al-Qarnayn could be somebody in recorded history whom we don't know but that seems a bit difficult to swallow for someone like me. But those of you who wish to, they can do that. But you have two main options in my opinion: (1) either it's one of these historic figures, or (2) it's pre-recorded history. But then the issue comes again: to make the issue more enigmatic, generally speaking, Quranic history is recorded history, yaʿnī, only Nūh and some are pre-history. Otherwise, Ibrāhīm, Ismāʿīl, Isḥāq, and the rest of them, they're basically in the timeframe that most civilization is known. So, Allah ﷻ knows best.

(16.00) In any case, Dhū al-Qarnayn is called Dhū al-Qarnayn according to our tradition either because he had two streaks of white hair or because he wore a helmet with two horns – and Darius is depicted as two horns – or because he went to the East and the West, so the qarn here is the East and West, meaning the owner of the East and the West. So this is the notion of Dhū al-Qarnayn.

Now, we're going to get to Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, but before I talk about my own understandings and whatnot, let's see what else is mentioned. So this is Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj in the Quran. We don't have much about them other than they seem to be a race of savages; they seem to be race that is barbaric, killing, looting, plundering, and Dhū al-Qarnayn who has never met them is sympathetic that these people are bad; he just wants to build a wall to protect these strangers from Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj.

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj in the Sunnah

(16.53) So what do the aḥādīth say? The aḥādīth are numerous. In fact, in the six books of Hadith, there are around a dozen narrations of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So it's not a small amount. There are around a dozen.

Hadith 1: Ten Signs of the Last Hour

Bukhārī and Muslim have around six or seven. So it is mentioned in the most authentic books, Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. The concept of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is found in our tradition and of these aḥādīth, is the hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim where our Prophet ﷺ said: ten are the major signs of Judgment Day (Muslim 2901a). And he mentions (1) al-Dukhkhān, (2) al-Dajjāl, (3) al-Dāʾbbah, (4) the rising of the Sun in the West, (5) the descent of ʿĪsá b. Maryam, (6) and Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So number six on this list mentions Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. This hadith is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. So he mentions Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj as being one of the ten major signs.

Ten signs of the Last Hour

مسلم ٢٩٠١ — عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ بْنِ أَسِيدٍ الْغِفَارِيِّ: اطَّلَعَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ عَلَيْنَا وَنَحْنُ نَتَذَاكَرُ فَقَالَ: «مَا تَذَاكَرُونَ؟» قَالُوا: نَذْكُرُ السَّاعَةَ۔ قَالَ: «إِنَّهَا لَنْ تَقُومَ حَتَّى تَرَوْنَ قَبْلَهَا عَشْرَ آيَاتٍ» فَذَكَرَ (١) الدُّخَانَ، (٢) وَالدَّجَّالَ، (٣) وَالدَّابَّةَ، (٤) وَطُلُوعَ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، (٥) وَنُزُولَ عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ﷺ، (٦) وَيَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ، وَثَلاَثَةَ خُسُوفٍ: (٧) خَسْفٌ بِالْمَشْرِقِ، (٨) وَخَسْفٌ بِالْمَغْرِبِ، (٩) وَخَسْفٌ بِجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِ، (١٠) وَآخِرُ ذَلِكَ نَارٌ تَخْرُجُ مِنَ الْيَمَنِ تَطْرُدُ النَّاسَ إِلَى مَحْشَرِهِمْ۔»

Muslim 2901a — Ḥudhayfah b. Asīd al-Ghifārī: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us all of a sudden as we were ⌜busy⌝ in a discussion. He said, "What are you discussing?" They said: We are discussing the Last Hour. Thereupon he said, "It will not come until you see ten signs before and he made a mention of the (1) smoke, (2) Dajjal, (3) the beast, (4) the rising of the sun from the west, (5) the descent of Jesus the son of Mary ﷺ, the (6) Gog and Magog, and landslides in three places: (7) one in the east, (8) one in the west, and (9) one in Arabia, at the end of which (10) fire would burn forth from Yemen and would drive people to the place of their assembly.

Hadith 2: Quantity of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

(17.44) In another hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī۔۔۔ now this is Bukhārī hadith, the Prophet ﷺ۔۔۔ actually this is a muttafaq ʿalayh of Bukhārī and Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ said that۔۔۔ he quoted the verse in the Quran (Ḥajj 22:1):

Severity of the Last Hour and the condition of the people

الحجّ ١-٢ — يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىْءٌ عَظِيمٌ ۝ يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّآ أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى ٱلنَّاسَ سُكَٰرَىٰ وَمَا هُم بِسُكَٰرَىٰ وَلَٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ ٱللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ ۝

Ḥajj 22:1 — O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the ⌜final⌝ Hour is a great thing. 2 a Day you see it ⌜where⌝ every nursing mother will be distracted from that she was nursing, and every pregnant one will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people ⌜appearing⌝ intoxicated while they are not intoxicated, but the punishment of Allah is severe.

This is the beginning of Sūrat al-Ḥajj and Allah ﷻ mentions that this is Judgment Day that: O mankind, fear your Lord, for indeed the earthquake of Judgment Day is something to be terrified; on that day you will see people; the mother will neglect her breastfeeding child and people will walk around as if they are drunk but they are not drunk but the punishment of Allah is severe. And the Prophet ﷺ some quoted this āyah and then he said that when will this happen? When will people be so terrified? When Allah will announce to the angels or to Ādam that: O Ādam take the people of Jahannam to Jahannam. And so, from every one thousand, 999 will go to Jahannam. The Ṣaḥābah said: yā Rasūlullāh ﷺ, with those odds how can we be safe? If for every one thousand, 999 are going to go to Jahannam how can we be safe? What is the statistical chance of us winning? And so, the Prophet ﷺ said I give you good news: for every one of you, there will be a thousand Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj (Bukhārī 6530). So, this hadith, which is in Bukhārī, is saying that the quantity of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is astronomical, beyond what we can even comprehend.

Out of a thousand men Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will be nine hundred and ninety nine entering the Hellfire

البخاري ٦٥٣٠ — عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: «يَقُولُ اللَّهُ يَا آدَمُ فَيَقُولُ لَبَّيْكَ وَسَعْدَيْكَ وَالْخَيْرُ فِي يَدَيْكَ» قَالَ «يَقُولُ أَخْرِجْ بَعْثَ النَّارِ قَالَ وَمَا بَعْثُ النَّارِ قَالَ مِنْ كُلِّ أَلْفٍ تِسْعَ مِائَةٍ وَتِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ فَذَاكَ حِينَ يَشِيبُ الصَّغِيرُ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سَكْرَى وَمَا هُمْ بِسَكْرَى وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ فَاشْتَدَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ» فَقَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَيُّنَا ذَلِكَ الرَّجُلُ؟ قَالَ: «أَبْشِرُوا فَإِنَّ مِنْ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ أَلْفًا وَمِنْكُمْ رَجُلٌ۔» ثُمَّ قَالَ: «وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنِّي لَأَطْمَعُ أَنْ تَكُونُوا ثُلُثَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ» قَالَ فَحَمِدْنَا اللَّهَ وَكَبَّرْنَا ثُمَّ قَالَ «وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنِّي لَأَطْمَعُ أَنْ تَكُونُوا شَطْرَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ إِنَّ مَثَلَكُمْ فِي الْأُمَمِ كَمَثَلِ الشَّعَرَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ فِي جِلْدِ الثَّوْرِ الْأَسْوَدِ» أَوْ «الرَّقْمَةِ فِي ذِرَاعِ الْحِمَارِ۔»

Bukhārī 6530 — Abū Saʿīd: that Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: "Allah will say, 'O Adam!' Adam will reply, labbayk wa-saʿdayk (ready to obey and please You), wa-al-khair fi yadaik (and all good is through You)!'" He said, "Then Allah will say, 'Bring out the people of the Fire.' Adam will say, 'Which ones are the people of the Fire?' Allah will say, 'Out of every one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.' When the children will become white-haired and 'every nursing mother will be distracted from that she was nursing, and every pregnant one will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people ⌜appearing⌝ intoxicated while they are not intoxicated, but the punishment of Allah is severe.' (Ḥajj 22:1)" They said, "O Rasūlullāh ﷺ who amongst us will be that man?" He said, "Rejoice! Among the one thousand will be Gog Magog, and from you ⌜only⌝ one man." Then he said: "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I hope that you all be one-third of the people of the Garden." He said, we then praised Allah and proclaimed Allāh akbar. Then he (the Prophet) said, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I hope that you will be one-half of the people of the Garden. Your example among other nations is like that of a white hair on the skin of a black ox," or "a round hairless spot on the foreleg of a donkey."

Also see: Bukhārī 3348, 4741; Muslim 222, 2940; Tirmidhī 3168, 3169

Hadith 3: Fighting Continues Up Until the Arrival of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

(19.42) Hadith ṣaḥīḥ in the Musnad Imām Aḥmad that the Prophet ﷺ said: that you complain that there is no enemy – some of the younger Ṣaḥābah are wanting to have a fight – you're complaining we're not fighting but you shall continue fighting; there will always be qitāl (fighting), once the fitnah (tribulation) begins – that happened at the time of ʿUthmān – and there will always be fighting until Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj come. So, the hadith is explicit that fighting will continue until Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. Then the Prophet ﷺ described them: they shall have faces that are flat; they shall have eyes that are narrow; they shall have hair that is yellowish; and they shall descend from every single plane. (Aḥmad 22331)

Fighting continues up until the arrival of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

أحمد ٢٢٣٣١ — عَنِ ابْنِ حَرْمَلَةَ عَنْ خَالَتِهِ: خَطَبَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَهُوَ عَاصِبٌ إِصْبَعَهُ مِنْ لَدْغَةِ عَقْرَبٍ فَقَالَ «إِنَّكُمْ تَقُولُونَ لَا عَدُوَّ وَإِنَّكُمْ لَا تَزَالُونَ تُقَاتِلُونَ عَدُوًّا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ عِرَاضُ الْوُجُوهِ صِغَارُ الْعُيُونِ شُهْبُ الشِّعَافِ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ كَأَنَّ وُجُوهَهُمْ الْمَجَانُّ الْمُطْرَقَةُ۔»

Aḥmad 22331 — Ibn Ḥarmalah > maternal aunt: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave a sermon with a bandage on his finger from the bite of a scorpion and said, "You all are saying that there is no enemy but you will continue to fight an enemy until the arrival of Gog Magog with flat faces, small eyes, ⌜unusually colored⌝ hair, ⌜and⌝ 'they are to descent from every elevation' (Anbiyāʾ 21:96) as if their faces are beaten shields."

See also: Bukhārī 2927-29, 3587-89, 3590, 3592; Muslim 2912; Ibn Mājah 4072, 4097-98; Tirmidhī 2215, 2237

Now important to note you shall fight until Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. He didn't say that you will fight Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. We will learn that we will not fight Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are not fightable – is that a correct verb? – they are not capable to be fought. Let us be more precise and pedantic: you cannot fight Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. We will not be fighting Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. Fighting will continue until Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, which also means what? After Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj there will be no fighting. So, Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is the final frontier after which there will be no fitan (tribulations) after your Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. This also shows that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will be of the very very very last fitan to take place. Because after Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj there will be no more major fitan for the Muslims.

Hadith 4: Ḥajj Continues Well After Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

(21.31) The Prophet ﷺ, said as well, another hadith۔۔۔ So, right now what am I doing? I'm narrating to you Quran and Sunnah. I'm narrowing down to you our sources then we will pause and go back and see what we can derive from those sources. Okay? Because we need to really think deeply. And in all likelihood, we will have to do a Part 2 for Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj because there's a lot of material to digest and discuss.

Our Prophet ﷺ said – hadith is in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī – I swear by Him in whose hands is my soul, you shall continue to perform Ḥajj and ʿUmrah and you will continue to cultivate and plant trees even after Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj (Bukhārī 1593). This hadith is in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī. So, in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī we learn another interesting fact: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is not the end of the Ummah. What is the purpose of this hadith? O Ummah, you will not be destroyed; O Muslims, you are going to be here, don't worry; no external enemy will eliminate you. This is a prediction and it has been true throughout all of history and it will continue to be true.

Ḥajj Continues well after the coming of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

البخاري ١٥٩٣ — عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ: عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ «لَيُحَجَّنَّ الْبَيْتُ وَلَيُعْتَمَرَنَّ بَعْدَ خُرُوجِ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ۔» تَابَعَهُ أَبَانُ وَعِمْرَانُ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ۔ وَقَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ شُعْبَةَ قَالَ «لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى لاَ يُحَجَّ الْبَيْتُ۔»
وَالأَوَّلُ أَكْثَرُ، سَمِعَ قَتَادَةُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ وَعَبْدُ اللَّهِ أَبَا سَعِيدٍ۔

Bukhārī 1593 — Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī: from the Prophet ﷺ who said "Absolutely ⌜the performance of⌝ Ḥajj to the House (the Kaʿbah) will continue and absolutely ʿUmrah will continue after the coming out of Gog Magog;" ⌜this statement⌝ was seconded by Abān and ʿImrān from Qatādah; And ʿAbdurraḥman said, from Shuʿbah who said, "The Hour will not be established until the Ḥajj to the House is no longer ⌜performed⌝;"

and the first is more abundant, Qatādah heard ʿAbdullah and ʿAbdullāh Abū Saʿīd.

Our Prophet ﷺ made three duʿās to Allah, and he said Allah gave me two of them and he denied me one (Muslim 2890) Remember this? We went over it a few weeks ago. The second one was: O Allah ﷻ do not allow my Ummah to be destroyed by an external enemy and Allah ﷻ said: I've given it to you; never will an external enemy decimate and eliminate the Ummah; even if they eliminate parts of the Ummah the whole Ummah will never be gotten rid of by an external enemy. So, the Prophet ﷺ is giving good tidings: you're worried about the Quraysh? You're worried about this and that? Don't worry; I am telling you; I swear by Allah, not only will you survive, you will do Ḥajj and ʿUmrah; you'll retain your religion and you will cultivate; you retain your dunya even after you Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So, even Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are not the end of Muslims; there shall be ʿUmrah and Ḥajj and there shall be cultivation and planting even after ya Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So this is another interesting thing that we derive.

Allah denied the request of the Prophet ﷺ to not have mutual violence in his Ummah

مسلم ٢٨٩٠ — عَامِرُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ: أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَقْبَلَ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ مِنَ الْعَالِيَةِ حَتَّى إِذَا مَرَّ بِمَسْجِدِ بَنِي مُعَاوِيَةَ دَخَلَ فَرَكَعَ فِيهِ رَكْعَتَيْنِ وَصَلَّيْنَا مَعَهُ وَدَعَا رَبَّهُ طَوِيلاً ثُمَّ انْصَرَفَ إِلَيْنَا فَقَالَ ﷺ «سَأَلْتُ رَبِّي ثَلاَثًا فَأَعْطَانِي ثِنْتَيْنِ وَمَنَعَنِي وَاحِدَةً سَأَلْتُ رَبِّي أَنْ لاَ يُهْلِكَ أُمَّتِي بِالسَّنَةِ فَأَعْطَانِيهَا وَسَأَلْتُهُ أَنْ لاَ يُهْلِكَ أُمَّتِي بِالْغَرَقِ فَأَعْطَانِيهَا وَسَأَلْتُهُ أَنْ لاَ يَجْعَلَ بَأْسَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ فَمَنَعَنِيهَا۔»

Muslim 2890a: ʿĀmir b. Saʿd > his father: One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived from a highland until he passed by the mosque of Banū Muʿāwiyah. He entered and offered two rakʿāt and we prayed with him and he made a long supplication to his Lord. He then came to us and said: "I asked my Lord for three things and He has granted me two but has denied me one: (1) I asked my Lord that my Ummah should not be destroyed because of famine, and He granted it to me. (2) I asked my Lord that my Ummah should not be destroyed by drowning, and He granted it to me. (3) And I asked my Lord that there should be no mutual violence among them, but He denied it to me.

Hadith 5: A Hole Has Opened Up in the Wall

(23.48) In another hadith, muttafaq ʿalayh of Bukhārī and Muslim that the Prophet ﷺ entered upon some of our mothers, some of his wives, and he was agitated; he was concerned; he was worried, and he put his finger and his thumb together in a circle and he said that lā illāha illallāh, woe to the Arabs – this means Muslims because at that time all the Muslims were Arabs – woe to the Muslims from an evil that has now come very close. What is this evil? Umm Salamah asked what is this evil? He said, today a hole of this size – hence, the ishārah (gesture) – has been opened up from the wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. Now, this hadith is muttafaq ʿalayh, the highest level of authenticity for us. Today, a hole of this size has been opened up from the wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. Umm Salamah said, yā Rasūlullāh ﷺ, will we be destroyed and they're still righteous people amongst us? Will piety not save us? And our Prophet ﷺ said, yes, even if there are still pious people; but if filth is prevalent everywhere the piety of some individuals will not protect you; it might protect them on Judgment Day; it might protect them; in fact, it will protect them on Judgment Day; but societies will not be protected when corruption and evil and fitnah; and licentiousness and nudity and fāḥishah (lewd behavior) is rampant everywhere; the piety of a few folks will not prevent the ʿadhāb (punishment) of Allah from coming, nasʾal Allāh salām wa al-ʿāfiyah, if you understand this hadith; And you should make sure you are at least pious. (Bukhārī 3346). So this hadith tells us that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj's wall has a hole this size in the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ.

Opening in the wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

البخاري ٢٢٤٦ — عَنْ زَيْنَبَ ابْنَةِ جَحْشٍ: أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا فَزِعًا يَقُولُ «لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ، وَيْلٌ لِلْعَرَبِ مِنْ شَرٍّ قَدِ اقْتَرَبَ فُتِحَ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ رَدْمِ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مِثْلُ هَذِهِ۔» وَحَلَّقَ بِإِصْبَعِهِ الإِبْهَامِ وَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا. قَالَتْ زَيْنَبُ ابْنَةُ جَحْشٍ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَنَهْلِكُ وَفِينَا الصَّالِحُونَ قَالَ «نَعَمْ، إِذَا كَثُرَ الْخُبْثُ۔»

Bukhārī 3346 — Zaynab b. Jaḥsh: ⌜Once⌝ the Prophet ﷺ came to her in a state of fear and said, "lā ilāha illa Allāh! Woe to the Arabs for a danger that has come near. Today, an opening has ⌜appeared⌝ in the wall of Gog Magog like so." and he made ring with his thumb and index finger. Zaynab bt. Jaḥsh said, "O Rasūlullāh, would we be destroyed even though there are righteous ⌜people⌝ among us?" He said, "Yes when the evil ⌜things⌝ have increased."

Hadith 6: Daily Attempts of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to Dig Out

(26.06) Hadith in Tirmidhī (Tirmidhī 3153, Ibn Mājah 4080), in which Abū Hurayrah narrates that: every single day Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj try to dig out; and every day they are met with an angel; and the angel tells them enough for today, go back; and so they go back; until finally on the final day the angel mentions the famous phrase, in shāʾ Allāh, come back; and the next day, when they come back, so the narration is very long; it basically means every day they come back and they find all of the work that they have done goes back to nothing; they have to start from the beginning again; until the last day when they find they come back, the work of yesterday is still there; they still are caved in; so, now they start from where they had left off and they break through (Ibn Mājah 4080) So, this is a hadith that mentions that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are carving every day and that every single day; they get to a place until the angel turns them back.

Daily attempts of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to dig out

الترمذي ٣١٥٣ — عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ: عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فِي السَّدِّ قَالَ «يَحْفِرُونَهُ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ حَتَّى إِذَا كَادُوا يَخْرِقُونَهُ قَالَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِمُ ارْجِعُوا فَسَتَخْرِقُونَهُ غَدًا فَيُعِيدُهُ اللَّهُ كَأَمْثَلِ مَا كَانَ حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مُدَّتَهُمْ وَأَرَادَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَبْعَثَهُمْ عَلَى النَّاسِ قَالَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِمُ ارْجِعُوا فَسَتَخْرِقُونَهُ غَدًا إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَاسْتَثْنَى۔ قَالَ فَيَرْجِعُونَ فَيَجِدُونَهُ كَهَيْئَتِهِ حِينَ تَرَكُوهُ فَيَخْرِقُونَهُ فَيَخْرُجُونَ عَلَى النَّاسِ فَيَسْتَقُونَ الْمِيَاهَ وَيَفِرُّ النَّاسُ مِنْهُمْ فَيَرْمُونَ بِسِهَامِهِمْ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَتَرْجِعُ مُخَضَّبَةً بِالدِّمَاءِ فَيَقُولُونَ قَهَرْنَا مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ وَعَلَوْنَا مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ قَسْوَةً وَعُلُوًّا . فَيَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَغَفًا فِي أَقْفَائِهِمْ فَيَهْلِكُونَ قَالَ فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ إِنَّ دَوَابَّ الأَرْضِ تَسْمَنُ وَتَبْطَرُ وَتَشْكَرُ شَكْرًا مِنْ لُحُومِهِمْ۔»

قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ إِنَّمَا نَعْرِفُهُ مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ مِثْلَ هَذَا

Tirmidhī 3153 — Abū Hurayrah: from the Prophet ﷺ about the barrier ⌜of Gog Magog⌝ and he said: "dig every day until they are about to break through ⌜when⌝ the one in charge of them says: 'Go back and you all will break ⌜through⌝ it tomorrow.' Then Allah returns it back to the way it was before. Until ⌜one day⌝, when their time has come, and Allah wills to send them upon the people, the one who is in charge of them will say: 'Go bac!k and we you all will break ⌜through⌝ it tomorrow, in shāʾ Allāh,' and they will make an exception (i.e. say in shāʾ Allāh). Then they will come back to it and it will be as they left it. So they will break through and will come out upon the people, and they will drink up the waters. The people will fortify themselves against them. Then, they will shoot their arrows towards the sky and they will return back drenched with blood and they will say: 'We have overcome the people of earth and dominated the people of heaven ⌜with our strength and our domination⌝.' Then Allah will send insects at their necks and they will with destroyed." ⌜Rasūlullāh ﷺ⌝ said: "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, the beasts of the earth will grow fat and nourish on their flesh."

Abū ʿĪsá said that this Ḥadīth is Ḥasan-Gharīb and that we do not know of it except in this context.

Daily attempts of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to dig out

ابن ماجة ٤٠٨٠ — عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ يَحْفِرُونَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ حَتَّى إِذَا كَادُوا يَرَوْنَ شُعَاعَ الشَّمْسِ قَالَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِمُ ارْجِعُوا فَسَنَحْفِرُهُ غَدًا۔ فَيُعِيدُهُ اللَّهُ أَشَدَّ مَا كَانَ حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَتْ مُدَّتُهُمْ وَأَرَادَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَبْعَثَهُمْ عَلَى النَّاسِ حَفَرُوا حَتَّى إِذَا كَادُوا يَرَوْنَ شُعَاعَ الشَّمْسِ قَالَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِمُ ارْجِعُوا فَسَتَحْفِرُونَهُ غَدًا إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَاسْتَثْنَوْا فَيَعُودُونَ إِلَيْهِ وَهُوَ كَهَيْئَتِهِ حِينَ تَرَكُوهُ فَيَحْفِرُونَهُ وَيَخْرُجُونَ عَلَى النَّاسِ فَيَنْشِفُونَ الْمَاءَ وَيَتَحَصَّنُ النَّاسُ مِنْهُمْ فِي حُصُونِهِمْ فَيَرْمُونَ بِسِهَامِهِمْ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَتَرْجِعُ عَلَيْهَا الدَّمُ الَّذِي اجْفَظَّ فَيَقُولُونَ قَهَرْنَا أَهْلَ الأَرْضِ وَعَلَوْنَا أَهْلَ السَّمَاءِ فَيَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ نَغَفًا فِي أَقْفَائِهِمْ فَيَقْتُلُهُمْ بِهَا۔» قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنَّ دَوَابَّ الأَرْضِ لَتَسْمَنُ وَتَشْكَرُ شَكَرًا مِنْ لُحُومِهِمْ۔»

Ibn Mājah 4080 Abū Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Gog Magog dig every day until they are almost able to see the rays of the sun ⌜when⌝ the one in charge of them says: '⌜Let us⌝ go back and we will dig ⌜through⌝ it tomorrow.' Then Allah returns it back ⌜to a form⌝ stronger than it was before. Until ⌜one day⌝, when their time has come, and Allah wills to send them upon the people, they would have dug until they can almost see the rays of the sun ⌜when⌝ the one who is in charge of them will say: '⌜Let us⌝ go back and we will dig ⌜through⌝ it tomorrow, in shāʾ Allāh.' So they will ⌜also⌝ make such an exception (i.e. say in shāʾ Allāh). Then they will come back to it and it will be as they left it. So they will dig out and will come upon the people, and they will dry up the water. The people will fortify themselves against them in their fortresses. Then, they will shoot their arrows towards the sky and they will return back with the blood of what they killed, and they will say: 'We have overcome the people of earth and dominated the people of heaven.' Then Allah will send insects at their necks and He will kill them through them." Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, the beasts of the earth will grow fat and nourish on their flesh."

Also see: Aḥmad 10632

Hadith 7A: None Can Fight Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

(27.15) In another hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, we learn that after the Dajjāl is killed, ʿĪsá will congratulate his followers and give consolation to his followers; and within that timeframe or a very short timeframe, Allah will inspire ʿĪsá that a new group has come: creations of mine have come; no one can fight them; so take my servants and go to Jabal Ṭūr; go to Mount Ṭūr and protect them over there; then Allah will send Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj out; and so ʿĪsá and the Muslims will not see them; they will be protected in the caves of Ṭūr Saynāʾ, somewhere wherever Mūsā was in that region; they will be protected over there (Muslim 2937a).

Events occurring after the escape of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

مسلم ٢٩٣٧ — عَنْ النَّوّاسَ بْنَ سَمْعانَ الكِلابِيَّ: ذَكَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «۔۔۔قالَ: فَبَيْنَمَا هُوَ كَذَلِكَ إِذْ أَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى عِيسَى إِنِّي قَدْ أَخْرَجْتُ عِبَادًا لِي لاَ يَدَانِ لأَحَدٍ بِقِتَالِهِمْ فَحَرِّزْ عِبَادِي إِلَى الطُّورِ ۔ وَيَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ وَهُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ فَيَمُرُّ أَوَائِلُهُمْ عَلَى بُحَيْرَةِ طَبَرِيَّةَ فَيَشْرَبُونَ مَا فِيهَا وَيَمُرُّ آخِرُهُمْ فَيَقُولُونَ لَقَدْ كَانَ بِهَذِهِ مَرَّةً مَاءٌ . وَيُحْصَرُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهُ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ حَتَّى يَكُونَ رَأْسُ الثَّوْرِ لأَحَدِهِمْ خَيْرًا مِنْ مِائَةِ دِينَارٍ لأَحَدِكُمُ الْيَوْمَ فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ فَيُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهُمُ النَّغَفَ فِي رِقَابِهِمْ فَيُصْبِحُونَ فَرْسَى كَمَوْتِ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ يَهْبِطُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ إِلَى الأَرْضِ فَلاَ يَجِدُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ مَوْضِعَ شِبْرٍ إِلاَّ مَلأَهُ زَهَمُهُمْ وَنَتْنُهُمْ فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ فَيُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ طَيْرًا كَأَعْنَاقِ الْبُخْتِ فَتَحْمِلُهُمْ فَتَطْرَحُهُمْ حَيْثُ شَاءَ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ مَطَرًا لاَ يَكُنُّ مِنْهُ بَيْتُ مَدَرٍ وَلاَ وَبَرٍ فَيَغْسِلُ الأَرْضَ حَتَّى يَتْرُكَهَا كَالزَّلَفَةِ ثُمَّ يُقَالُ لِلأَرْضِ أَنْبِتِي ثَمَرَتَكِ وَرُدِّي بَرَكَتَكِ . فَيَوْمَئِذٍ تَأْكُلُ الْعِصَابَةُ مِنَ الرُّمَّانَةِ وَيَسْتَظِلُّونَ بِقِحْفِهَا وَيُبَارَكُ فِي الرِّسْلِ حَتَّى أَنَّ اللِّقْحَةَ مِنَ الإِبِلِ لَتَكْفِي الْفِئَامَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَاللِّقْحَةَ مِنَ الْبَقَرِ لَتَكْفِي الْقَبِيلَةَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَاللِّقْحَةَ مِنَ الْغَنَمِ لَتَكْفِي الْفَخِذَ مِنَ النَّاسِ فَبَيْنَمَا هُمْ كَذَلِكَ إِذْ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ رِيحًا طَيِّبَةً فَتَأْخُذُهُمْ تَحْتَ آبَاطِهِمْ فَتَقْبِضُ رُوحَ كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ وَكُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ وَيَبْقَى شِرَارُ النَّاسِ يَتَهَارَجُونَ فِيهَا تَهَارُجَ الْحُمُرِ فَعَلَيْهِمْ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ۔»

Muslim 2937a — al-Nawwās b. Samʿān al-Kilābī: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned: "(Excerpt)... and in such circumstance, when Allah ﷻ revealed to ʿĪsá b. Maryam: 'I have already released My servants (Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj) who you will not be able to fight, so take My salves for refuge to ⌜mount⌝ Ṭūr'. Then Allah ﷻ will send forth Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, and they (as Allah ﷻ said): '...from every slope they will descend.' (Anbiyāʾ 21:96). The first ⌜batch⌝ of them will pass by the Lake of Tiberias and drink of whatsoever is in it, then the last ⌜batch⌝ of them will pass by and they will say: there used to be a body of water in this. Then Prophet of Allah, ʿĪsá, and his companions will take fort until the head of an ox would be dearer to one of them than one hundred Dinar is for you all. Then Prophet of Allah, ʿĪsá, and his companions will implore Allah ﷻ, then Allah ﷻ will send insects toward their necks, and they will turn into predator-prey (farsā) ⌜and die⌝ like the death of one person. Then the Prophet of Allah,ʿĪsá, and his companions will get down ⌜from mount Ṭur⌝ and they will not find a place as much as a handspan to stay on land except that it has been filled with a foul stench of their ⌜rotting corpses⌝. Then the Prophet of Allah, ʿĪsá, and his companions will implore Allah ﷻ ⌜again⌝, then He will send forth birds with necks like thereof Bactrian camels (vultures?), and they will carry their ⌜corpses⌝ and throw them where Allah ﷻ wills. Then Allah would send rain leaving no house of clay or a hut and it will wash the earth until it would be ⌜throughly cleansed⌝. Then the earth would be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing. Then on that day a group ⌜of people⌝ would eat a pomegranate and find shade under its cutout skin, and and milch cow would give so much milk that a whole party would be able to drink it and the milch camel would give such milk that the whole tribe would be able to drink out of that and the milch sheep would give so much milk that the whole family would be able to drink out of that. In such circumstance, Allah would send a pleasant wind which would soothe under their armpits, and would take the soul of every believer while only the wicked would survive who would commit adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come upon them."

Also see: Muslim 2942, Tirmidhī 2240, Ibn Majah 4075

Now, in this hadith, we learn that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are so dangerous and so evil that Allah Himself says nobody can fight them. Interestingly enough this Army has just fought the Dajjāl and they have won over the Dajjāl. And they are told you cannot fight Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. In fact, it is so bad that Allah ﷻ protects them even from seeing Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. They just flee by the command of Allah before Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj come. They find protection in the caves that Allah tells them to find protection in before Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj come, and they remain in those caves. For how long? Allah ﷻ knows best.

Hadith 7B: Muslims Seek Protection in a Cave

And, in fact, in one narration, it mentions that ʿĪsá and his followers, they will seek refuge in a cave for so long that the head of a ram, the head of a goat, will be more precious to them than one hundred gold dinars (Muslim 2937a). Now, the head of a ram is almost useless. It has no meat. It has nothing you can benefit from. You throw it to the side. But they will be in the cave for so long that that head will be more precious to them than a hundred gold coins, a fortune! They have nothing to eat and drink. Until, finally, when they notice whatever they notice, we don't know, the hadith doesn't mention – maybe there's something – they will say, who can go and volunteer and see what is going on outside the cave? So, a man will volunteer; he will be considered the best of them and he will resign himself to die the death of a shahīd (martyr); he's given up; he's going to die the death of passion, and he will come out only to see that the world is full of corpses of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj; and then he will call out the people, and they will come out and they will see not a single hand span of the earth except that it is piled up with Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj; and the world will stench; there will be a stench that they cannot bear from Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj's bodies; so, they will desperately plea to Allah ﷻ at this; and Allah ﷻ will send rain that will cleanse the earth: a cleansing that it has never had before, a deep cleansing from Allah ﷻ.

Hadith 7C: Birds Will Pick Up the Corpses

In another narration, Allah ﷻ will bring a special type of bird that will pick up their bodies and take them away (Muslim 2937a). So, we have the removal of the corpses, then we have a special rain that will wash away the remnants as well. So, this is another tradition from Sunan al-Tirmidhī.

Hadith 8: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj Will Dry-up Lake Tiberias

(31.26) We also have, in Musnad Imām Aḥmad (Aḥmad 17629), the phrase, which is also in other books as well, that Allah ﷻ will send Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj and they will descend from every single plane and they will pass by al-Ṭabariyyah (Muslim 2937a) and they will drink from Ṭabariyyah which is a massive lake which we will mention in a while. By the time the last of them passes by, there will be no water in the lake of Ṭabariyyah. The last batch will say there used to be water over here. And ʿĪsá and his followers will remain trapped in a cave until the head of a lamb is more precious than one hundred gold coins. I mentioned this also in Tirmidhī. Then they will make duʿāʾ to Allah ﷻ to save them from Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So Allah ﷻ will send a disease against them. Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj would not be killed with the sword, Allah ﷻ will send a disease against them that will attack their necks and they will die the death of one person. That is, when one of them dies, all of them die: a simultaneous death. These billions or millions or hundreds of millions of people will die instantaneously the death had one person. Then the hadith goes on the back to the one that I mentioned, that a man will come out terrified and scared. He will find that everybody is already dead and then ʿĪsá will come out. They will find not a single space to stand except the bodies will be rotting so ʿĪsá will make duʿāʾ again, so Allah ﷻ will send birds with the necks of bakhtarī camels (Bactrian camels with U-shaped necks, could they be vultures?). Massive birds like these will come, maybe like ṭayr abābīl like, they will take them and then throw them wherever Allah ﷻ wills.

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will dry up Lake Tiberias by drinking its water

أحمد ١٧٦٢٩ — عَنْ أبِيهِ النَّوّاسَ بْنَ سَمْعانَ الكِلابِيَّ: ذَكَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «۔۔۔قالَ: «فَبَيْنا هُمْ كَذَلِكَ إذْ أوْحى اللَّهُ إلى عِيسى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ: إنِّي قَدْ أخْرَجْتُ عِبادًا مِن عِبادِي، لا يَدانِ لَكَ بِقِتالِهِمْ، فَحَرِّزْ عِبادِي إلى الطُّورِ، فَيَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ يَأْجُوجَ ومَأْجُوجَ، وهُمْ كَما قالَ اللَّهُ: ﴿مِن كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ﴾ [الأنبياء ٩٦]، فَيَرْغَبُ عِيسى وأصْحابُهُ إلى اللَّهِ، فَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَغَفًا فِي رِقابِهِمْ، فَيُصْبِحُونَ فَرْسى كَمَوْتِ نَفْسٍ واحِدَةٍ، فَيَهْبِطُ عِيسى وأصْحابُهُ، فَلا يَجِدُونَ فِي الأرْضِ بَيْتًا إلّا قَدْ مَلَأهُ زَهَمُهُمْ ونَتِنُهُمْ، فَيَرْغَبُ عِيسى وأصْحابُهُ إلى اللَّهِ، فَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا كَأعْناقِ البُخْتِ، فَتَحْمِلُهُمْ فَتَطْرَحُهُمْ حَيْثُ شاءَ اللَّهُ ۔۔۔» قالَ ابْنُ جابِرٍ: فَحَدَّثَنِي يَزِيدَ بْنُ عَطاْءِ السَّكْسَكِيُّ، عَنْ كَعْبٍ، أوْ غَيْرِهِ قالَ: «فَتَطْرَحُهُمْ بِالمَهْبِلِ»، قالَ ابْنُ جابِرٍ، فَقُلْتُ: يا أبا يَزِيدَ، وأيْنَ المَهْبِلُ؟ قالَ: «مَطْلَعُ الشَّمْسِ»۔۔۔

Aḥmad 17629 — al-Nawwās b. Samʿān al-Kilābī: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned: "(Excerpt)... when Allah ﷻ revealed to ʿĪsá b. Maryam: 'I have already released servants from My servants (Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj) who you will not be able to fight, so take My salves for refuge to ⌜mount⌝ Ṭūr'. Then Allah ﷻ will send forth Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, and they, as Allah ﷻ said: '...from every slope they will descend.' (Anbiyāʾ 21:96). Then ʿĪsá and his companions will implore Allah ﷻ, then He will send insects toward their necks, and they will turn into predator-prey (farsā) ⌜and die⌝ like the death of one person. Then ʿĪsá and his companions will get down ⌜from mount Ṭur⌝ and they will not find a place to stay on land except that it has been filled with a foul stench of their ⌜rotting corpses⌝. Then ʿĪsá and his companions will implore Allah ﷻ ⌜again⌝, then He will send forth birds with necks like thereof Bactrian camels (vultures?), and they will carry their ⌜corpses⌝ and throw them where Allah ﷻ wills." Ibn Jābir said, then Yazīd b. ʿAṭāʾ al-Saksakī narrated to me, from Kaʿb or other than him who said: "then they threw them in the ditch (abyss)".
Ibn Jābir said: then I said, O Abū Zayd, and where is the ditch? He said: "Eastwardly..."

Also see: Muslim 2937a, Tirmidhī 2240, Ibn Majah 4075

Hadith 9: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to Kill Everyone on Earth

(33.30) Yet, in another narration Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will conquer everybody on this earth. They will kill everyone (Tirmidhī 2240). As a footnote, who will they kill? Clearly, not the followers of ʿĪsá. So the remnants of the army of the Dajjāl -- those who had fled and was not caught, or any of the human beings that had not embraced Allah and believed in ʿĪsá at this point in time -- will now be destroyed by Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. So Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will conquer the world and they will get to ⌜the mountain of⌝ Ṭūr, where ʿĪsá is. And in one narration they will get to the mountain of Quds. Which mountain is this mountain of Quds? Is it Mount of Olives or is this the mountain that is in front of al-Aqṣá? It seems that they will be in this region. They will find nobody to conquer. They've conquered everybody. So one of them will say, we have conquered the inhabitants of this world, let us conquer the inhabitants of the heavens. So they will throw an arrow towards the heavens and Allah ﷻ will cause the arrow to come back full of blood. In another narration they will wave their spears towards the heavens and Allah ﷻ will cause their spears to come back with blood. So they will say, we have now conquered those in the heavens. Then ʿĪsá will make the duʿāʾ and then they will be destroyed.

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will kill everyone on earth

الترمذي ٢٢٤٠ — عَنِ النَّوَّاسِ بْنِ سَمْعَانَ الْكِلاَبِيِّ: قَالَ ۔۔۔ فَيَمُرُّ أَوَّلُهُمْ بِبُحَيْرَةِ الطَّبَرِيَّةِ فَيَشْرَبُ مَا فِيهَا ثُمَّ يَمُرُّ بِهَا آخِرُهُمْ فَيَقُولُ لَقَدْ كَانَ بِهَذِهِ مَرَّةً مَاءٌ ثُمَّ يَسِيرُونَ حَتَّى يَنْتَهُوا إِلَى جَبَلِ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ فَيَقُولُونَ لَقَدْ قَتَلْنَا مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ هَلُمَّ فَلْنَقْتُلْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ . فَيَرْمُونَ بِنُشَّابِهِمْ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَيَرُدُّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ نُشَّابَهُمْ مُحْمَرًّا دَمًا وَيُحَاصَرُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَأَصْحَابُهُ حَتَّى يَكُونَ رَأْسُ الثَّوْرِ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَيْرًا لأَحَدِهِمْ مِنْ مِائَةِ دِينَارٍ لأَحَدِكُمُ الْيَوْمَ۔۔۔»

Tirmidhī 2240 — al-Nawwās b. Samʿān al-Kilābī: "(Excerpt)... The first ⌜batch⌝ of them will pass by the Lake of Tiberias and drink of whatsoever is in it, then the last ⌜batch⌝ of them will pass by and they will say: there used to be a body of water in this. The will then travel until they will stop at the mount of Bayt al-Maqdis then they will say: 'we have already killed everyone on earth, and come then to kill whosoever is in the sky.' Then they will throw their arrows toward the sky and Allah will return their arrows back to them red with blood. ʿĪsá b. Maryam and his companions will take fort until the head of an ox that day would be dearer to one of them than one hundred Dinar is for you all today..."

Also see: Muslim 2942, Tirmidhī 2240, Ibn Majah 4075

The Ṭabariyyah Lake

(35.04) Now, regarding this lake called Ṭabariyyah, most of our commentators mentioned that this is Lake Tiberias. It is also called by the Christians the famous Sea of Galilee and to this day it is called Ṭabariyyah by the Palestinians and the Arabs of that region. The Sea of Galilee is a massive lake and has a massive amount of water. It has fed the crops and the people for two or three thousand years.

Observations from Hadith Literature

An Unusual Enemy

What group is Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj that in one generation a lake which has given mankind water for two to three thousand years will be gone? Think about that. How much will this group drink? I have seen Ṭabariyyah like many of you and many of you have been to the Sea of Galilee. If you go to that land. When you see it it's like a mini ocean. That's why it's called the Sea of Galilee. Even though it's not a sea technically but it looks massive. You can barely see, I mean you can't see, but you can barely see the end. All this water will be gone! In one group? How? Think about this. It's very strange. How can it go? But this is what the hadith says.

An Unbeatable Enemy

(36.17) Also, what type of enemy is this that the people of ʿĪsá haven't even seen them? What type of enemy are they that they cannot physically even fight them? I mean, are they not humans? We're going to come to this. Because they (ʿĪsá and his army) fought Dajjāl and his people and they were human. What is going on here that they are not even looking at them? The man who is going to go see them is thinking he's going to die just by looking at them. He has already made up his mind that 'I'm a shahīd and I'm gonna die!' He volunteers the death of a shahīd like 'There's no way I'm going to be coming back.'

The Enormity of the Enemy

(36.53) So we also have a number of traditions demonstrating their quantity. the Prophet ﷺ said that: the Muslims will use the weapons and the armor of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj for many years to come (Ibn Mājah 4076). So they will get this stuff. In one hadith, in Musnad Imām Aḥmad, he said that the beasts of the earth will grow fat and feed themselves for many years from Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj (Ibn Mājah 4080). So the corpses will be so much that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will fertilize the earth.

Muslims will use the weapons of Yuʾjūj Maʾjūj after they're eliminated

ابن ماجة ٤٠٧٦ — عَنْ أَبِيهِ النَّوَّاسَ بْنَ سَمْعَانَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «سَيُوقِدُ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ قِسِيِّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ وَنُشَّابِهِمْ وَأَتْرِسَتِهِمْ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ۔»

Ibn Mājah 4076 — al-Nawwās b. Samʿān: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The Muslims will make use of the bows of Gog Magog, their arrows, and their shields for seven years."

From this fertilization, there shall be a time of great opulence in terms of food. Perhaps the most opulent time in the history of mankind will take place where our Prophet ﷺ said: one pomegranate, one rummān, will feed an entire tribe and one leg of lamb will be enough for a large group of people (Muslim 2937a). In other words, things are going change. Small quantities, maybe not small, maybe the rummān will be a massive size, maybe things are going change.

Again, we're going to come back to these interpretations because these are all cryptic phrases and perhaps we can rethink through them if only to save the īmān of our young men and women who are rethinking through these things as well.

One of the Last Signs of Judgement Day

(38.17) In Sunan ibn Mājah, the Prophet ﷺ said: when you see this happen, i.e. Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, then expect the Hour to come (Ibn Mājah 4081). Expect Judgment Day, expect Qiyāmah, just like the pregnant lady at the end of her labor is just waiting for the cry and she surprises the family when she goes into the pangs of labor. In other words, at that very end stage when everybody is waiting for the water to break, when will the pangs begin. And when it happens, everybody goes into panic mode. the Prophet ﷺ gave this example. When you see Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, this is the pregnant lady about to give birth. Nobody knows exactly when, but they're on alert. O husbands, remember that time frame of your life? 24-hour alert? Remember that? That is what Prophet ﷺ is talking about. Those of you who are not married, make duʿāʾ and may Allah ﷻ make it easy for you in shāʾ Allāh. At that time frame, you're just waiting when is it going to happen? You're anxious. So the Prophet ﷺ is giving a metaphor that every family knows. That time frame is tense. You don't know when but you're expecting. So the Prophet ﷺ said, when you see Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, that's the time frame, just like that pregnant lady will be giving birth at that time.

The duʿāʾ of Prophet ʿĪsá to rid-off of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj as one of the last signs of the Last Hour

ابن ماجة ٤٠٨١ — عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ: لَمَّا كَانَ لَيْلَةَ أُسْرِيَ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ لَقِيَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى فَتَذَاكَرُوا السَّاعَةَ فَبَدَءُوا بِإِبْرَاهِيمَ فَسَأَلُوهُ عَنْهَا فَلَمْ يَكُنْ عِنْدَهُ مِنْهَا عِلْمٌ ثُمَّ سَأَلُوا مُوسَى فَلَمْ يَكُنْ عِنْدَهُ مِنْهَا عِلْمٌ فَرُدَّ الْحَدِيثُ إِلَى عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ فَقَالَ قَدْ عُهِدَ إِلَىَّ فِيمَا دُونَ وَجْبَتِهَا فَأَمَّا وَجْبَتُهَا فَلاَ يَعْلَمُهَا إِلاَّ اللَّهُ۔ فَذَكَرَ خُرُوجَ الدَّجَّالِ قَالَ فَأَنْزِلُ فَأَقْتُلُهُ فَيَرْجِعُ النَّاسُ إِلَى بِلاَدِهِمْ فَيَسْتَقْبِلُهُمْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ فَلاَ يَمُرُّونَ بِمَاءٍ إِلاَّ شَرِبُوهُ وَلاَ بِشَىْءٍ إِلاَّ أَفْسَدُوهُ فَيَجْأَرُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ فَأَدْعُو اللَّهَ أَنْ يُمِيتَهُمْ فَتَنْتُنُ الأَرْضُ مِنْ رِيحِهِمْ فَيَجْأَرُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ فَأَدْعُو اللَّهَ فَيُرْسِلُ السَّمَاءَ بِالْمَاءِ فَيَحْمِلُهُمْ فَيُلْقِيهِمْ فِي الْبَحْرِ ثُمَّ تُنْسَفُ الْجِبَالُ وَتُمَدُّ الأَرْضُ مَدَّ الأَدِيمِ فَعُهِدَ إِلَىَّ مَتَى كَانَ ذَلِكَ كَانَتِ السَّاعَةُ مِنَ النَّاسِ كَالْحَامِلِ الَّتِي لاَ يَدْرِي أَهْلُهَا مَتَى تَفْجَؤُهُمْ بِوِلاَدَتِهَا۔

قَالَ الْعَوَّامُ وَوُجِدَ تَصْدِيقُ ذَلِكَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى {حَتَّى إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ}.»

Ibn Mājah 4081 — ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd: When it was the night Rasūlullāh ﷺ was taken on the Night Journey, he met Ibrāhīm, Mūsá and ʿĪsá, and they discussed the Hour. They started with Ibrāhīm, and asked him about it, but he did not have any knowledge of it. Then they asked Mūsá, and he did not have any knowledge of it. Then they asked ʿĪsá b. Maryam, and he said: 'I have been assigned to some tasks before it happens. As for as when it will take place, no one knows it except Allah.' Then he mentioned Dajjāl and said: 'I will descend and kill him, then the people will return to their lands and will be confronted with Gog Magog, who will descend from every single plane. They will not pass by any ⌜body of⌝ water except they will drink of it ⌜completely⌝ nor by anything except they will spoil it. They (the people) will implore Allah ﷻ, and I will supplicate to Allah to have them die. The earth will then be filled with their stench and ⌜the people⌝ will implore Allah ﷻ ⌜again⌝ and I will supplicate to Allah, then the sky will send down water that will carry them and throw them in the sea. Then the mountains will turn to dust and the earth will be stretched out like a hide. I have been promised that when that happens, the Hour will come upon the people, like a pregnant woman whose family does not know when she will suddenly give birth.'

ʿAwwām said: 'Confirmation of that is found in the Book of Allah: "Until when ⌜the dam of⌝ Gog Magog has been opened and they, from every elevation, descend (Anbiyāʾ 21:96)."

Opinions of Classical Scholars

(39.34) Now, what do our classical scholars say about Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj?

Etymology of the Name Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

So, firstly, is the term Arabic or is it non-Arabic? Some of our scholars said that the term is Arabic and it comes from the ⌜trilateral Arabic root⌝ ajja-yaʾujju (Qurṭubī 18:92–98). So ajja means to kindle a fire, the fire that spurns outwards. However, in my humble opinion, it is not sound to read-in Arabic meanings to proper nouns that are found in the Quran and Sunnah because Arabic is a language that has come, and at the time of our Prophet ﷺ had reached its pinnacle. But it wasn't around ten thousand years ago. It was another language back then.

The name Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is of Arabic origin

تفسير القرطبي سورة الكهف ٩٢-٩٨ — وَقِيلَ: إِنَّمَا لَمْ يَنْصَرِفَا لِأَنَّهُمَا اسْمَانِ أَعْجَمِيَّانِ، مِثْلُ طَالُوتَ وَجَالُوتَ غَيْرَ مُشْتَقَّيْنِ، عِلَّتَاهُمَا فِي مَنْعِ الصَّرْفِ الْعُجْمَةُ وَالتَّعْرِيفُ وَالتَّأْنِيثُ. وَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: هُوَ مُعَرَّبٌ مِنْ أَجَّ وَأَجَّجَ علتاه فِي مَنْعِ الصَّرْفِ التَّعْرِيفُ وَالتَّأْنِيثُ. وَقَالَ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ: يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَا عَرَبِيَّيْنِ، فَمَنْ هَمَزَ "يَأْجُوجَ" فَهُوَ عَلَى وَزْنِ يَفْعُولَ مِثْلُ يَرْبُوعَ، مِنْ قَوْلِكَ أَجَّتِ النَّارُ أَيْ ضَوِيَتْ، وَمِنْهُ الْأَجِيجُ، وَمِنْهُ مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ۔

Qurṭubī. Tafsīr Jāmiʿ al-Bayān 18:92–98 — It is said, Arabic morphology is done for them (i.e. Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj) because they are two foreign names similar to Ṭālūt and Jālūt and they are not derivatives indicated by them being foreign-word diptotes, indefinite, and that they cannot be made grammatically feminine. A group ⌜of scholars⌝ said that ⌜Yaʾjūj⌝ is derived from ajja and ajjaja indicated by them being diptotes, indefinite, and that they cannot be made grammatically feminine. Abū ʿAlī said, it is possible they both were Arabs, so if one pronounces Yaʾjūj with a hazmah then it is on the pattern of yafʿūl like yarbūʿ as in your statement ajjat al-nār that i.e., ⌜the fire⌝ was lit. And from it is al-ajīj, and milḥun ʾujāj.

If you know the study of linguistics or you know language, you know that languages evolved. Languages are things that are fluid and never stays the same. It is something that comes and goes. All languages are interconnected within the great family of languages and you have these language bundles if you like: the Afro-Asiatic languages, the Semitic and Hebrew languages, and the Romance languages. You have these language bundles that are all interconnected. Interestingly enough as a footnote here, they all go back to one language. There is the mother of all languages (Rowe^[8]).

Mentions in the Old and the New Testament

So they say that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj goes to Arabic. And I say that I'm not buying it. It's a classical noun and has very little to do with with Arabic. As well, the term Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is found in pre-Islamic literature as Gog Magog. It is found. It is pre-Islamic. And it is mentioned in the Old Testament as Gog Magog (Ezekiel 38:15–16^[9]), and in the New Testament. The Book of Revelations also mentions the release of Gog Magog, that Gog Magog are going to gather for the battle (Revelation 20:7–9^[10]). So this is in the Book of Revelations and this predates Islam. So, there are references to Gog Magog that they're going to gather for their for the great battle as well.

(41.30) So the Old Testament mentions Gog Magog, the New Testament mentions Gog Magog, and the Midrash mentions Gog Magog (Midrash^[11]). What is the Midrash? The Midrash is like tafsīr the literature for the Jews. The Midrash is the commentary on the Torah and it consists of legends and fables that go back many many centuries before Islam. You have the Babylonian Midrash and other Midrash texts. So the Midrash is pre-Islamic Jewish exegesis. It is the tafsīr literature that is ancient. It's not the Torah. It is the commentary on the Torah that the ancient sages, the rabbis, the ʿulamāʾ of the past, they commented on. And in the Midrash you find some very interesting literature, but this is not the time to go into. But there are parallels with the Quran and Sunnah which you can... anyway, let's not go down there. So the Midrash mentions Gog Magog. What does the Midrash say?

The Midrash says that there will be a forerunner to the Masīḥ (Ginzberg^[12]). We talked about the concept of the Messiah and Judaism before. And Moses Maimonides (Rambam^[13]) put belief in the Masīḥ as a part of his thirteen points of ʿaqīdah. It is either the eleventh or the twelfth point that we're going to believe in the Masīḥ and a day will come when the Masīḥ will come (Maimonides). It is a part of Jewish literature. What I didn't tell you in that class two weeks ago, because it's not related but now I should have mentioned it in hindsight, is that some segments of Judaism believe in two types of Masīḥ: the minor Masīḥ and the major Masīḥ (Ginzberg). Now that we're talking about Gog Magog, I have to bring this up. So they say that there will be a forerunner to the real Masīḥ and this forerunner will defeat Israel's enemies. When they say Israel, they don't mean the country, rather they mean Banī Isrāʾīl (Children of Israel). When the Midrash says Israel they mean _muʾmin_s or Muslims, i.e, Jews from their perspective. You understand. They don't mean the country. So they say that this Jewish messianic precursor, the minor Masīḥ, will defeat Israel's enemies, Gog Magog, and then the real Masīḥ will come, and then judgment will take place, and then the righteous will be rewarded, meaning with Jannah if that's their reward.

Parallels in Biblical and Islamic Texts

(43.49) Now, this is interesting because this is Midrashic literature and it mentions two figures, and it mentions Gog Magog, and it mentions Judgment Day, all in the same paragraph. ʿAllāh aʿlam, we have the Mahdī, we have the Masīḥ, we have Gog Magog, we have Yawm al-Qiyāmah, all in the same paragraph as well. We find those things.

Now, I did mention briefly there are two ways to interpret these things. If you're a secular agnostic or atheist, if you're a person who believes in history and not God, then you will say, 'Ah! look! Moslems, Jews they are taking from one another.' Right? And that's the standard interpretation of modern-day academics. The great flood is a myth that transcends all civilizations according to modern historians as I had mentioned I think earlier. The Great Flood is a myth, I'm saying as a secular historian that it is a myth that transcends all civilizations. Every civilization believes in a great flood. You can analyze this and say, this means it's common folklore literature. The Old Testament has it (Genesis 7^[14]), the Quran has it (Qamar 54:9–15^[15]), Native Indians have it (Chickasaw Nation^[16]), and the Aborigines have it (Coasts^[17]), so there is a myth of a great flood. Or, you can flip it around 180 degrees and you can say that the reason why all of these civilizations have the myth of the great flood is that it's not a myth. It's a fact! You can flip it around and that's what we would do. So the fact that the Midrash mentions the pre-Messiah, Gog Magog, the Messiah, the Qiyāmah, and Islam mentions it, it could be that the source is the same. Maybe that's why there are so many parallels between the two.

Opinions of Classical Islamic Scholars

(45.32) So Gog Magog are mentioned, as we said in the Quran and Sunnah. It is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, and it is mentioned in Midrashic literature. How have our historians understood Gog Magog or Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj?

They are Children of Yāfith

(45.43) Ibn Kathīr mentions that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are from the children of Adam (Ibn Kathīr. Tafsīr 18:92-96). They are banī Ādam (children of Adam, human beings). They are not alien species. They are flesh and blood like us. Some of our early historians, and this is not Quran and Sunnah. This is just folklore in history that they say that the concept of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj go back to Yāfith b. Nūh (Japeth son of Noah). Now, this motif is biblical (Genesis 10:1–5^[18]) and it is found in the tabiʿūn (Ibn Saʿd. Ṭabaqāt) and it's not in the Quran and Sunnah. It is biblical and we find in our early history, that Nūh had three sons: Sām, Hām, and Yāfith. This is a common motif that is found in the Old Testament. It is something that the Semitic races believe in and is found not in the Quran, not in the Sunnah, but in early Islamic historical traditions. This is why we don't necessarily have to believe in it. If it was the words of Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ, samiʿna wa aṭaʿna. If it's the word of a tabiʿī or even a ṣaḥābī, because this is history and it's not in ʿilm al-ghayb, we don't have to accept it. So this issue we find it in the tabiʿūn that Nūh had three sons: Sām, Hām, and Yāfith. And from Sām, we get the Semitic people: the Arab and the Hebrew race and, also according to this interpretation, Fāris and Rūm, the Persians and the Romans.

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are the progeny of Adam

التفسير لابن كثير سورة الكهف ٩٢-٩٦ — بَيْنَهُمَا ثُغْرة يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ عَلَى بِلَادِ التُّرْكِ، فَيَعِيثُونَ فِيهِمْ فَسَادًا، وَيُهْلِكُونَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ، وَيَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ مِنْ سُلَالَةِ آدَمَ، عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، كَمَا ثَبَتَ فِي الصَّحِيحَيْنِ: "إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ: يَا آدَمُ. فَيَقُولُ: لَبَّيْكَ وَسَعْدَيْكَ. فَيَقُولُ: ابْعَثْ بَعْثَ النَّارِ. فَيَقُولُ: وَمَا بَعْثُ النَّارِ؟ فَيَقُولُ: مِنْ كُلِّ أَلْفٍ تِسْعُمِائَةٌ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ، وَوَاحِدٌ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ؟ فَحِينَئِذٍ يَشِيبُ الصَّغِيرُ، وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا، فَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ فِيكُمْ أُمَّتَيْنِ، مَا كَانَتَا فِي شَيْءٍ إِلَّا كَثَّرَتَاهُ: يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ"

Ibn Kathīr. Tafsīr Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm 18:92-96 — ... a valley in between, from which Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will emerge into the land of the Turks and spread mischief there, destroying crops and people. Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are among the progeny of Adam, peace be upon him, as was recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (Bukhārī 6529, Muslim 222a): "Allah ﷻ will say, 'O Adam!' He will say, ' labbayk wa saʿdayk ' (at your service and pleasure).' ⌜Allah⌝ will say, "Send forth ⌜the group⌝ of Hell." Adam will say, 'What is ⌜the group⌝ of Hellfire?' Allah will say: 'Out of every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine will go to Hell and one will go to Paradise.' It was said to them: 'At that time young men will turn grey and every pregnant female will drop her load. Among you are two nations who never come to anything but they overwhelm it with their huge numbers: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj.'

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are the progeny of Yāfith

الطبقات الكبرى لابن سعد ج ١ ذِكْرُ نُوحٍ النَّبِيِّ — بَقالَ: أخْبَرَنا عَبْدُ الوهاب بن عطاء العجلي عن سعيد عَنْ قَتادَةَ عَنِ الحَسَنِ عَنْ سَمُرَةَ أنَّ رسول الله ﷺقال: «سامٌ أبُو العَرَبِ، وحامٌ أبُو الحَبَشِ، ويافِثُ أبُو الرُّوم» قالَ: أخْبَرَنا خالِدُ بْنُ خِداشِ بْنِ عَجْلانَ، أخْبَرَنا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ وهْبٍ عَنْ مُعاوِيَةَ بْنِ صالِحٍ عَنْ يَحْيى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ المُسَيِّبِ قالَ: ولَدُ نُوحٍ ثَلاثَةٌ: سامٌ، وحامٌ، ويافِثُ۔ فَوَلَدُ سامٍ العَرَبُ وفارِسُ والرُّومُ وفِي كُلِّ هَؤُلاءِ خَيْرٌ۔ ووَلَدُ حامٍ السُّودانُ والبَرْبَرُ والقِبْطُ۔ ووَلَدُ يافِثَ التُّرْكُ والصَّقالِبَةُ ويَأْجُوجُ ومَأْجُوجُ۔

Ibn Saʿd. Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrá Vol. 1 "Mention of Nūh the Prophet" — ʿAbdulwahhāb b. ʿAtāʾ al- ʿAjali informed us, from Saʿīd, from Qatādah, from al-Ḥasan, from Samurah that, Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: 'Sām (Shem) is the father of the Arabs, and Ḥām (Ham) is the father of the Africans, and Yāfith (Japeth) is the father of the Romans.' He ⌜also⌝ said that Khālid b. Khidāsh b. ʿAjlān informed us, ʿAbdullāh b. Wahb, from Muʿāwiyah b. Ṣalāḥ, from Yaḥyá b. Saʿīd, from Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib said, 'Nūh had three sons: Sām, Ḥām, and Yāfith. So, from Sām came the Arabs, the Persians and the Romans, and there's good in all of them. From Ḥām came the dark-skinned (Sūdān), the Berbers, and the Copts. From Yāfith came the Turks, Slavs, and Gog Magog.

(47.27) This is a bit of a tangent. Back in the 1910s, when there were race laws in America, and Hitler got his race laws from America by the way, there was a problem with how do we classify Arabs? How do we classify Desi log (South Asians)? A Hindu sued in the Supreme Court. I'm not making this up and you can look this up. It is a famous case. I forgot the title. It was a Supreme Court case and he argued that he is Aryan meaning Caucasian. In fact, he said I am the asli (Urdu for the word: real) Aryan, and you guys are naqli maal (Urdu for the phrase: fake stuff). I'm the real guy. So he used these race theories, and from this as well, Middle Easterners said well we are Caucasians. We are the descendants of Sām. They brought in the Bible. We are this. So this is now a theory that they had. And that is why, to this day, some people say that if you're Arab or Desi, you're technically Caucasian. And, in fact, all of this is a little bit antiquated, to be honest, these views. They don't add up scientifically. But the point is this is the notion that Sam is Semitic, and Ham is the father of the Barbar (Berbers), the Qibṭ (Copts), and Sūdān (dark-skinned Africans). So African peoples are from Ham. And Yāfith is the father of the ātrāk (Turks), the Slavs, and the Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. That is, the Russians and the Mongolians and whatnot are Yāfith.

(49.27) To be brutally honest, this entire trope smacks of racism and it's not found in the Quran and Sunnah and it seems to be Biblical. And it seems some of our early commentators copied and pasted from the Old Testament which is actually very common. There's a genre called isrāʿīliyyāt (Jewish lore) where some of our earliest scholars studied the Midrash, and they would study the Jewish folklore. And at that time, Jewish folklore was considered to be a civilization worthy of admiration and respect. So they would take this and then speak it in Arabic to the masses and the people would think that this is a part of Islamic folklore, even though it is coming from the Midrash. And this is well-known and I'm not inventing this. It's called isrāʿīliyyāt (Brown^[19], Ibn Taymiyyah) Look this up. So Allah knows best, but I am very skeptical of all of this. In any case. So, Ibn Kathīr says they are the children of Yāfith. That's what I'm trying to say and all of this was that. And this is the standard interpretation of the majority of our medieval scholars.

We do not worship based on Jewish lore

مجموع الفتاوى لابن تيمية ١١/٤٦٣ — ۔۔۔وذَكَرَ أنَّ وهْبَ بْنَ مُنَبِّهٍ رَوى أنَّهُ كانَ فِي بَنِي إسْرائِيلَ عابِدٌ وأنَّهُ جَعَلَ فِي عُنُقِهِ طَوْقًا فِي حِكايَةٍ مِن حِكاياتِ بَنِي إسْرائِيلَ لا تَثْبُتُ۔ فقلت لهم: لَيْسَ لَنا أنْ نَتَعَبَّدَ فِي دِينِنا بِشَيْءِ مِن الإسرائيليات المُخالِفَةِ لِشَرْعِنا۔

Ibn Taymiyyah. Majmuʿ al-Fatāwá, Vol. 11/463 — ... he mentioned that Wahb b. Munabbih narrated that in Banī Isrāʾīl there was a pious person and that he put a collar around his neck which is one of the stories from the the stories of Banī Isrāʾīl that cannot be validated. I (Ibn Taymiyyah) said to them: It is not befitting for us to worship/follow in our religion of anything from the Isrāʿīliyyāt that in conflict with our Shariʿah.

They are Human

(50.30) The fact that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are banī Ādam seems to be pretty clear from our tradition. banī Ādam is human beings. And we learned this from a number of evidences. Of them, is the famous hadith in Bukhārī itself (Bukhārī 6529), where Allah says to Adam, O Adam take the people of Hell to Hell and he shall take his children. And that's when the 999 will go. So the fact that his children include Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj shows that they are banī Ādam.

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are children of Adam

البخاري ٦٥٢٩ — عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ: أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ قَالَ: «أَوَّلُ مَنْ يُدْعَى يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ آدَمُ، فَتَرَاءَى ذُرِّيَّتُهُ فَيُقَالُ هَذَا أَبُوكُمْ آدَمُ۔ فَيَقُولُ لَبَّيْكَ وَسَعْدَيْكَ.۔ فَيَقُولُ أَخْرِجْ بَعْثَ جَهَنَّمَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ۔ فَيَقُولُ يَا رَبِّ كَمْ أُخْرِجُ؟ فَيَقُولُ أَخْرِجْ مِنْ كُلِّ مِائَةٍ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ۔» فَقَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِذَا أُخِذَ مِنَّا مِنْ كُلِّ مِائَةٍ تِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ، فَمَاذَا يَبْقَى مِنَّا؟ قَالَ: «إِنَّ أُمَّتِي فِي الأُمَمِ كَالشَّعَرَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ فِي الثَّوْرِ الأَسْوَدِ۔»

Bukhārī 6529 — Abū Hurayrah: that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The first man to be called on the Day of Resurrection will be Adam who will be shown his offspring, and it will be said to them, 'This is your father, Adam.' Adam will say, ' labbayk wa saʿdayk ' (at your service and pleasure). Then Allah will say ⌜to Adam⌝, 'Take out of your offspring, the people of Hell.' Adam will say, 'O Lord, how many should I take out?' Allah will say, 'Take out ninety-nine out of every hundred." They (the Prophet's companions) said, "O Allah's Apostle! If ninety-nine out of every one hundred of us are taken away, what will remain out of us?" He said, "My followers in comparison to the other nations are like a white hair on a black ox."

Also see: Bukhārī 3348 4741 6530, Muslim 222

(51.03) Now, we have some really bizarre interpretations that are found in our books. And again, we have to again be a bit more discerning. Just because it's written in Arabic doesn't mean it's the "Gospel truth", pun definitely not intended. Just because we find it in an ancient book doesn't mean anything. We find ancient books written in our tradition that mentioned bizarre stories that are truly mind-boggling. In some of the earliest books from Kāʿb al-Aḥbār and others, there is a tradition found that once Adam had a wet dream and his fluid fell on the earth and that earth sprouted forth and it became Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj (Ibn Kathīr). So we find this in our folklore and we find it in respectable medieval books. And that's why, dear Muslims, we do need to be critical of our own tradition. We do need to be. Our ancient scholars were not infallible. We respect them, wallāhi, we do, but they were people of their time in place and we need to look at it in our time in place and be cognizant of their humaneness as we are cognizant of our humanity as well. So this is also found that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are banī Ādam but not banī Ḥawwāʾ. Go figure.

It is not mandatory to believe in what is said in Jewish lore

التفسير لابن كثير سورة الكهف ٩٢-٩٦ — وَقَدْ حَكَى النَّوَوِيُّ، رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ، فِي شَرْحِ "مُسْلِمٍ" عَنْ بَعْضِ النَّاسِ: أَنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ خُلِقُوا مِنْ مَنِيٍّ خَرَجَ مِنْ آدَمَ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِالتُّرَابِ، فَخُلِقُوا مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَعَلَى هَذَا يَكُونُونَ مَخْلُوقِينَ مِنْ آدَمَ، وَلَيْسُوا مِنْ حَوَّاءَ. وَهَذَا قَوْلٌ غَرِيبٌ جِدًّا، [ثُمَّ] لَا دَلِيلَ عَلَيْهِ لَا مِنْ عَقْلٍ وَلَا [مِنْ] نَقْلٍ، وَلَا يَجُوزُ الِاعْتِمَادُ هَاهُنَا عَلَى مَا يَحْكِيهِ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ، لِمَا عِنْدَهُمْ مِنَ الْأَحَادِيثِ الْمُفْتَعَلَةِ، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ۔

Ibn Kathīr. Tafsīr Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm 18:92-96 — ... and Nawawī, may Allah bless him, said in commentary of Muslim (al-Minhaj Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bin Ḥajjāj) from some people that: 'Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj were created from the semen that was emitted by Adam then it mixed with sand. Thus, they were created from that, and based upon this they were created from Adam and not from Eve.' This statement is very strange, and it is not based on any evidence, neither rational nor transmitted. It is not mandatory to believe in what is said by some People of the Book because they have fabricated hadith, and Allah knows best.

Summary of Classical Opinions: They Remain Alive and Trapped by Dhū al-Qarnayn to this Day

(52.28) Getting back to Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj... time is so limited and I have so much to say, let's see if we can summarize this. To be brutally honest, the standard medieval interpretation of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is the following: this is what you find in Ibn Kathīr, you find it in the tafsīr literature of Samarqandī (Samarqandī), and of Thaʿlabī. Basically, this is the mainstream interpretation of our classical and Middle Ages of Islam. Ever since the beginning of writing tafsīr, let's say from three or four hundred Hijra to up until pre-modernity, up until 1800s CE, if you look at any book of tafsīr, any book of history, the notion was the following: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are a bizarre exotic tribe in the nether regions of the world that have been trapped by the Dhū al-Qarnayn thousands of years ago and they're still trapped to this day. Quite a few medieval historians have reported that: 'I know of a friend of mine who traveled to the end of the world and he saw with his own eyes the wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj.' We find this in respectable Islamic books the notion that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are a living tribe blocked to this day behind the wall that was built four thousand or five thousand years ago. That wall, miraculously, is still there, people can see on the one side, and on the other side you have these savages that Allah knows how they're eating, drinking, replicating, whatnot, and they're still there for eons and eons.

Exponential growth in the number of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

التفسير بحر العلوم للسمرقندي سورة الكهف ٩٢-٩٦ — ويقال: ﴿[فَـ]مَا اسْتَطاعُوا لَهُ نَقْباً﴾ أي ما تحت السد في الأرض، لأنه بناه في الأرض إلى السماء۔ قال الفقيه رضي الله عنه: حدثنا عمرو بن محمد قال: حدثنا أبو بكر الواسطي قال: حدّثنا إبراهيم بن يوسف قال: حدثنا أبو حفص، عن سعيد، عن قتادة، عن أبي رافع، عن أبي هريرة (ابن ماجة ٤٠٨٠)۔۔۔ وروى أبو صالح، عن ابن عباس: «أن يأجوج ومأجوج لا يموت الرجل منهم حتى يلد لصلبه ألف ابن، وذكر: أن يأجوج ومأجوج -كما ذكرنا- وهما ابنا يافث بن نوح، فإذا انكسر السد وذلك عند اقتراب الساعة۔

Samarqandī. Tafsīr Baḥr al-ʿUlūm 18:92-96 — ... and Allah said: "So they could not scale it or dig through it," that is, what is beneath the barrier on earth because it is built from the earth to the sky. al-Faqīh, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ʿAmr b. Muḥammad said, Abū Bakr al-Wasiṭī narrated to us, Ibrāhīm b. Yūsuf narrated to us, Abū Ḥafs narrated to us, from Saʿīd, from Qatādah, from Abū Rafiʿ, from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said (Ibn Mājah 4080)... And it is narrated from Abū Sāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās that: 'A person of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj does not die until he gives birth to one thousand children,' and he mentioned that, 'Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, as we have mentioned, they are the sons of Yāfith b. Nūh. So when the barrier is broken then that is when the Hour has come near.

This is the standard interpretation of our scholars of the tradition and not of the Quran and Sunnah. You understand what I'm gonna get at. We don't blame them. In their timeframe, the world was unexplored, and in their timeframe, nobody traveled the world. The reason why Marco Polo became famous and Ibn Baṭṭuṭah became famous was because they traveled half the world. That's it, and they became world famous because they did what nobody had done. They simply went from one side of the known civilized world to the other side and they came back: Marco Polo went to Naples or to Italy, or to Sicily, and Ibn Baṭṭuṭah to to Tunisia where he was from. So people didn't travel and folklore and legends were very common and it was easy to believe these types of things that there is this nether region. Even if you read Ibn Baṭṭuṭah, by the way, you find bizarre fables: you find belief in mermaids, and you find weird creatures and whatnot. This is what he really believed that there are races and aliens... not aliens but you get my point. This is the notion of his time. Marco Polo as well he believes these types of things. So it's not surprising that our medieval scholars believe this type of stuff.

(55.25) Obviously, dare I say, anybody who knows science and geography and modern civilization, you cannot believe that there is a tribe for four thousand years trapped behind a wall, I mean, if you believe this, that's your position. I cannot believe it. I'm just being ⌜honest⌝. I find this very difficult to believe.

Summary of Interpretations

First Interpretation: The Classical Opinion

(55.47) So this has led people to do multiple things. The first interpretation, which is the standard interpretation of medieval Islam, is that maybe there are places in the world that are undiscovered, and maybe there is a race of people locked up behind the Caucasus mountains or in Mongolia or whatever, and they're still over there. Many Muslims still believe this. I have nothing to say to this. If you believe it, I don't believe and that is all I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to dismiss any person's belief and this is the belief of medieval scholars. If you still believe that there's a big wall that is lasting for thousands of years... By the way, no human structure is that fortified for four or five thousand years that nothing happens to it. Even the Great Wall of China needs to be built up or whatnot. It doesn't work that way. But anyway, if you believe it, then I am somebody whose mind doesn't believe this.

Second Interpretation: They are Metaphors of Modern Times

(57.16) ⌜The second interpretation:⌝ Others have said, we need to reinterpret Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj metaphorically. And this goes back to another thing that I kept on stalling when we talked about the Dajjāl because I want to talk about with Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, and that is this newfangled interpretation that you do not find it in pre-modernity. This is a very modern interpretation. It only begins in the 60s and whatnot, and it has now become very common. So much so that many famous people, many mainstream people, are explicitly or implicit saying it in this land and in some islands in the Bermudas as well. There is a famous person (Hosein^[20],^[21],^[22]) who is well known for this type of theory. No names need to be mentioned. That's not my philosophy to mention names, typically, where they say: the Dajjāl and Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are symbolic. It's not an entity. Dajjāl is, he will say, globalization. and Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, they might say, is Russia and America: the superpowers.

Honestly, jokes aside, I admire the fact that they're trying to salvage the tradition because they understand that mainstream interpretation doesn't make sense. So they say, you know what, Dajjāl is a demonic force, Dajjāl is a global Empire, Dajjāl is the new world order. Then you get into the triangle and the eye and this and that and the whole rabbit's hole begins: once you go down the rabbit hole, make duʿāʾ, there's nothing to be done once the person goes down that hole. What can I say if a person believes this as well.

The Problem with Metaphorical Reinterpretation

(59.07) The problem comes that the same traditions that you get the concept of Dajjāl from, those same traditions tell you a lot about Dajjāl. So you can't pick and choose and reinterpret everything. Either you reject Dajjāl in totality, which some progressives and modernists have done that Dajjāl is not mentioned in the Quran and they reject all hadith. So they say let's be done with this. They reject Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj ahādith, so they say, well the Quran just mentions two tribes so they're going to come, some races will come and have a big war. Fair enough. If your principle is that you're going to reject hadith, that's not ours. If your principle is no-hadith, then you can derive an entire interpretation that is independent of mainstream Sunni Islam and be gone with it. But the deal of these folks is they claim to be Sunnis, and they are popular in Sunni circles, and they are trying to metaphorically reinterpret these traditions. We say, that I don't think in this case you can have your cake and eat it as well. It's nice to. I love to have my cake and eat it as well, but in this particular case I don't think it is methodologically sound because the same traditions that tell you about Dajjāl or tell you about Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, they have all of these details we mentioned. It's pretty vivid the impression given: Dajjāl will be killed by ʿĪsá, one-on-one, the blood of the spear will be shown, it's clear, Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj, the corpses will be piled up. I mean those same traditions mention what we have just mentioned. So I'm not too sympathetic to this reinterpretation as well. I personally don't buy it.

Third Interpretation: They are the Chinese Race

(1.00.47) A third interpretation: and this became common. The first person (e.g. Sāʿātī) I know who, back in the 50s as far as I know, said that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are the Chinese race and the Great Wall that was built by Dhū al-Qarnayn is the wall of China (Sāʿātī). This notion spread as well back in that era because he, as well, this scholar -- again I grant him credit that he realized that the traditional interpretation doesn't make sense -- said that, we need to rethink through this. So he attempted to rethink through and, frankly, for his time and place, it was a bold move because he was criticized by mainstream Sunnism. The mainstream Sunni scholars said, no, we believe in this and that, but he wanted to again salvage the tradition.

Land between the two barriers is China

د۔ فوزي محمد ساعاتي: (أستاذ التاريخ بجامعة أم القرى)، "فتاوى واستشارات الإسلام اليوم"، "أين يقع سد يأجوج؟!" جاوب — فتبين الآيات القرآنية التي تصف قصة ذي القرنين بأنه اتجه إلى بلاد مطلع الشمس، ثم إلى بلاد ما بين السدين، حيث إن بلاد بين السدين هي بلاد الصين۔۔۔ إن القوم الذين طلبوا من ذي القرنين بناء السد لهم، هم صينيون۔

Sāʿātī, Fawzī (Umm al-Qura University), "Where is the Wall of Yaʾjūj Located?!", "Fatwas and Opinions of Islam Today", Vol. 16, Page 222 — It is clear that the Quranic verses that describe the story of Dhū al-Qarnayn that he went to eastward lands, and then toward a land between two barriers. Therefore, the land that is between two barriers is the land of China... The nation that requested Dhū al-Qarnayn to build a wall for them, they are the Chinese.

Of course, what is the problem with believing that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are the Chinese folk and the great wall in the Quran is the Great Wall of China? What is the problem with this interpretation? Where does one begin with the problems of this interpretation? There are so many problems with this interpretation. One of the problems of this interpretation is that we know exactly who built the Great Wall and he wasn't a believer in Allah: Qin Shi Huang. He wasn't a believer in Allah, the famous emperor. He was one of the pagans of the Shinto religion or whatever it was. The Great Wall was actually built to protect the Chinese people from within not from without. Also, the Great Wall is not a barrier that is impenetrable. People go in and out all the time. In fact, I, myself have gone in and out of the Great Wall. I, in fact did a video that went viral two years ago (Qadhi^[23]). I took a group to China three years ago and I stood on the Great Wall. I have a YouTube video clip: "Is the Great Wall of China the Wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj". You can look at it yourself. I said no, it's not. Don't worry. It's not the Great Wall of theirs. So this as well doesn't make sense, na sar na per, neither heads nor tails, literally. The wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is not the Wall of China by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't make sense as well.

Fourth Interpretation: They are Underneath the Earth's Surface

(1.03.18) Where does this leave us? Another group says — and this is something that I have heard myself some ʿulamāʾ say — that perhaps Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are not on earth, but under the earth, and that's why the satellites haven't discovered them. And this, again, I appreciate the salvaging. I really do. But how can human beings survive? There's no vegetation, no plants with the Sun, no oxygen, food and drink, and for thousands of years. According to these traditions we're talking about gazillions of people.

Are We Obligated to Believe in the Current Existence of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj?

(1.04.14) What is the answer to this conundrum of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj? I will disappoint you by saying that there is no clear-cut answer. But, wallāhī, to struggle with the truth and to admit the struggle is a safer position than to invent something that is far-fetched and then pretend that it is answering the problems. I don't have a solution to Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj.

I am personally skeptical, maybe, because of my own upbringing. I have a degree in engineering. I understand mathematics and chemistry and geology. You can quote back and say that Allāha ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr (Allah is All-Capable over all things), and I say, indeed Allāhu ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr, but are we obliged to believe that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are billions of people under the earth? This is my point. If the text told us explicitly then samiʿnā wa aṭaʿnā, but when the texts don't tell us this, can we rethink through and say this:

I conclude with two opinions: The first of which is plausible, and the second is embarrassing to mention but I will mention it.

First Opinion (Plausible): No Currently Living Tribe of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj Exists

(1.05.25) As for the plausible one: Allah knows best, perhaps, perhaps this notion of a living tribe of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is not correct. Because if you look at all of the traditions, there is only one tradition that is in Tirmidhī with one isnād that mentions Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are daily digging and every single day they're told to go back. All the other traditions don't mention a living Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. As for the hadith in Bukhārī that the wall has been opened, that could be a wall. To what level of metaphor is allowed? It's ijtihādī. If it were to be said that a wall has been opened is a metaphor, that indeed Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is now closer to you, then personally, I don't see this as that much of a stretch versus interpreting all the hadith to mean that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are symbolic in nature. But again, it's ijtihādī.

Hadith Tirmidhī 3153 on Their Current Existence Has a Hidden Defect

The only tradition that mentions that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are alive right now and they are digging through every single day is a solitary narration in Tirmidhī (3153), and also in other books but the same isnād. I did my research on this because this is problematic. I have to say that I was relieved to find that classical scholars (Ibn Ḥajar), some of them, did problematize this hadith.

Hadith of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj digging out is extremely weak

فتح الباري لابن حجر العسقلاني ٧١٣٥ — وقَدْ أخْرَجَ عَبْدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ مِن طَرِيقِ كَعْبِ الأحْبارِ نَحْوَ حَدِيثِ أبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وقالَ فِيهِ فَإذا بَلَغَ الأمْرُ ألْقى عَلى بَعْضِ ألْسِنَتِهِمْ نَأْتِي إنْ شاءَ اللَّهُ غَدًا فنفرغ مِنهُ وأخرج ابن مردويه مِن حَدِيثِ حُذَيْفَةَ نَحْوَ حَدِيثِ أبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وفِيهِ فَيُصْبِحُونَ وهُوَ أقْوى مِنهُ بِالأمْسِ حَتّى يُسْلِمَ رَجُلٌ مِنهُمْ حِينَ يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أنْ يَبْلُغَ أمْرُهُ فَيَقُولُ المُؤْمِنُ غَدًا نَفْتَحُهُ إنْ شاءَ اللَّهُ فَيُصْبِحُونَ ثُمَّ يَغْدُونَ عَلَيْهِ فَيُفْتَحُ الحَدِيثَ وسَنَدُهُ ضَعِيفٌ جِدًّا۔

Ibn Ḥajr. "7135." Fatḥ al-Bārī bi-Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī — ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd collected from the path of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār similar to the Hadith of Abū Hurayrah and said in it: "When it was the time ordered, the statement 'We shall in shāʾ Allāh come tomorrow and complete it' was put on some of their tongues." Ibn Mardawayh collected from the Hadith of Ḥudhayfah similar to the Hadith of Abū Hurayrah and said in it: "Then they got up in the morning and it was stronger than it was the day before until one the men from among them became a Muslim when Allah willed for the time to be, then the believer said, 'Tomorrow in shāʾ Allāh we shall open i't, and then they woke up then started on it the next day and it opened.'" It's chain is ḍaʿīf jiddan (extremely weak).

(1.06.57) Ibn Kathīr, amongst them, who said that this tradition seems to have an ʿillah or a hidden defect and it's not from the Prophet ﷺ and it might be coming from the Isrāʾīliyyat (Ibn Kathīr) This is because Abū Hurayrah also studied with Kaʿb al-Aḥbār. Kaʿb al-Aḥbār was the son of a rabbi and he would narrate Isrāʾīliyyat. Abū Hurayrah would listen to him and narrate and one of the students of Abū Hurayrah assumed it to be from the Prophet ﷺ. This is Ibn Kathīr saying this, not me. So he said perhaps it is from the Isrāʾīliyyat. And this is what I firmly believe; simply because it is highly problematic to posit that there are billions of people somewhere in the world clawing away.

Hadith of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj digging out is likely not attributable to the Prophet ﷺ

تفسير ابن كثير سورة الكهف ٩٨ — وَرَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ أَيْضًا عَنْ حَسَنٍ هُوَ ابْنُ مُوسَى الْأَشْيَبُ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، بِهِ۔ وَكَذَا رَوَاهُ ابْنُ مَاجَهْ، عَنْ أَزْهَرَ بْنِ مَرْوَانَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الْأَعْلَى، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي عَرُوبَة، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ قَالَ: حَدَّثَ رَافِعٌ. وَأَخْرَجَهُ التِّرْمِذِيُّ، مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَبِي عَوَانَةَ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ۔ ثُمَّ قَالَ: غَرِيبٌ لَا نَعْرِفُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ۔ وَهَذَا إِسْنَادُهُ قَوِيٌّ، وَلَكِنْ فِي رَفْعِهِ نَكَارَةٌ؛ لِأَنَّ ظَاهِرَ الْآيَةِ يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَتَمَكَّنُوا مِنَ ارْتِقَائِهِ وَلَا مِنْ نَقْبِهِ، لِإِحْكَامِ بِنَائِهِ وَصَلَابَتِهِ وَشِدَّتِهِ. وَلَكِنْ هَذَا قَدْ رُوِيَ عَنْ كَعْبِ الْأَحْبَارِ: أَنَّهُمْ قَبْلَ خُرُوجِهِمْ يَأْتُونَهُ فَيَلْحَسُونَهُ حَتَّى لَا يَبْقَى مِنْهُ إِلَّا الْقَلِيلُ، فَيَقُولُونَ: غَدًا نَفْتَحُهُ. فَيَأْتُونَ مِنَ الْغَدِ وَقَدْ عَادَ كَمَا كَانَ، فَيَلْحَسُونَهُ حَتَّى لَا يَبْقَى مِنْهُ إِلَّا الْقَلِيلُ، فَيَقُولُونَ كَذَلِكَ، وَيُصْبِحُونَ وَهُوَ كَمَا كَانَ، فَيَلْحَسُونَهُ وَيَقُولُونَ: غَدًا نَفْتَحُهُ. وَيُلْهَمُونَ أَنْ يَقُولُوا: "إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ"، فَيُصْبِحُونَ وَهُوَ كَمَا فَارَقُوهُ، فَيَفْتَحُونَهُ. وَهَذَا مُتَّجه، وَلَعَلَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ تَلَقَّاهُ مِنْ كَعْبٍ. فَإِنَّهُ كَثِيرًا مَا كَانَ يُجَالِسُهُ وَيُحَدِّثُهُ، فَحَدَّثَ بِهِ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ، فَتَوَهَّمَ(١٧) بَعْضُ الرُّوَاةِ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ مَرْفُوعٌ، فَرَفَعَهُ، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ۔

Ibn Kathīr. Tafsīr Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm 18:98 — (re: Aḥmad 10632) ... and it also narrated by Aḥmad from Ḥasan – who is the son of Mūsa al-Ashyab – from Sufyān, from Qatādah. Similarly, it is narrated by Ibn Mājah from Azhar b. Marwān, from ʿAbdalaʿlá, from Saʿīd b. Abū ʿArubah, from Qatādah who said it was narrated by Rafiʿ. It was also collected by Tirmidhī from the Hadith of Abū ʿAwānah from Qatādah, and then ⌜Tirmidhī⌝ said regarding it, 'It is Gharīb (strange solitary), we do not know of it except from this path.' This chain is strong, however, it being marfūʿ (attributed to Rasūlullāh ﷺ) may not have legitimacy. This is because the apparent ⌜meaning⌝ of the āyah demands that they will not be able to go over it or dig through it due to the fact of its construction and its firmness and strength. However, it has also been narrated from Kaʿb al-Aḥbār: 'They, before their release, they came to it and dug it until none remain but a few of them۔۔۔ so they said the, tomorrow we shall open it, and they were inspired to say in shāʾ Allāh, and when they woke up, ⌜the barrier⌝ was the way they had left it and we opened it.' And this is muttajih (indicative) that Abū Hurayrah may have gotten it from Kaʿb because he used to sit with him a lot and narrate from him, and this Hadith was also narrated from Abū Hurayrah. Some narrated may have assumed that it was marfūʿ (attributed to Rasūlullāh ﷺ) and they made it marfūʿ, and Allah knows best.

So the first interpretation which is posited by a group of people — let's just leave it like that, where a very wise person once said let's just leave it like that — is that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are a group of people that will come towards the end of times and they will wreak havoc and do this and that. So we get ourselves out of the problem of them being alive right now. As for the wall of Dhū al-Qarnayn, there were maybe their biological ancestors or maybe some other tribe that had those characteristics, and they were trapped by Dhū al-Qarnayn. That did happen, but we don't have to affirm that they are still trapped five thousand years later. Rather, maybe they're their descendants or maybe people similar to them so they are called Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. This is the first interpretation and I am very sympathetic to it and it seems and it solves many of our problems.

Second Opinion: A Hypothesis

(1.08.44) There is another interpretation that I hesitate to even verbalize. I will tell you, honestly, this is not mine. I will honestly tell you this is something that... I am involved in many discussions of this nature with many people and whatnot, and one of my scholarly friends in a private conversation -- so he will not allow me to mention his name -- but I am telling you something that you should not believe is coming from me. Okay? Are you guys ready? Don't ascribe this to me, please. So we were talking with a group of ʿulamāʾ -- a group of students of knowledge and whatnot, call them whatever you will -- and we were talking about this problematization. It is a problem, wallāhi, it's a problem for any rational man. What are you going to do with Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj? It's not an easy thing to come around. And even he was hesitant but he brought it up.

He said, let's look at these traditions again. We see that: first and foremost, Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj seemed to be human, but not human. You see where this is heading:

They seem to be a race of people that cannot be fought and they seem to be doing things that are bizarre, like drinking up all of this water. Humans can't do that.
Mentally they don't seem to be a hundred percent there when they think they can kill the people of the heavens. This isn't normal and this isn't rational.
The regular human beings alive, the followers of ʿĪsá, are so terrified of this group that they don't even want to see them. They're fleeing away from them.
They will not fight them, the hadith mentions. They will not be able to be fought: lā yaday li āhad bi qitālihim (Muslim 2937a).
⌜They shall die the death of one man.⌝

And, he mentions that if you look at the popular imagination of our times you find a genre of literature and horror movies. You see where this is heading. He mentions 'the word', and my jaw just dropped. I laughed and I said are you serious? He said, hear me out, hear me out! Don't call them that word -- for those who don't know the word, maybe the young can tell them, later on -- don't call them that word, but the concept! What if? We're talking about chemical warfare. We're talking about Dajjāl. We're talking about the bird falling down? And things are happening, weapons being unleashed, and weapons beyond our understanding. What if the concept is there that these groups of people are human but not quite human and they're doing all of these things? Then everything just started clicking in my head, check, check, check, check. I'm like this is so ridiculous you will never find me saying this at a lecture, and here I am in a lecture saying it.

(1.11.52) But in any case, Allāhu aʿlam, frankly it makes more sense than believing that a billion people are somewhere in Timbuktu or Zimbabwe or some faraway land. It makes more sense to me because Allāhu aʿlam at the end of the day. Also, the key point is that they shall die the death of one man. How will they be gotten rid of? Allah will send a disease, some type of antivirus, some type of vaccine, I'm just saying what my friend said because the hadith mentions this explicitly, does it not? Allah will send something that will get them in the neck and they will die the death of one person.

So when my friend kept on going over all of these points, my laughter turned to serious contemplation. And I said, but how do we tell the public this? Then I said, I'll just project it onto my friend -- which is true it is coming from him -- and I'll take myself out of the picture so that as you laugh, you laugh at my friend, but the laughter will slowly turn to contemplation and deep down inside you'll realize this makes a lot more sense than anything else out there.

Conclusion

(1.13.11) So we conclude by stating that Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are a reality. We believe in them because the Quran mentions it. And that these enigmatic descriptions should not cause us to doubt because strange things will happen towards the end of times. Don't base the validity of Islam on trying to understand Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. That's ridiculous! We base the validity of Islam on the Quran, on the beauty of Islam, on Tawḥīd, on lā ilāha illa Allāh, and on the fact that it answers all the big questions of life. Islam comes with some things that may be beyond our comprehensions such as a Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj. We just have to do samiʿnā wa aṭaʿnā. And when it (the Day of Judgement) happens all of these are hadith will fit into place and we will see and say that, oh! I get it! that's what was being referenced here.

(While answering questions)

(1.15.08) ... We brought this up and this brother's response was -- everything projected on to him I'm scot-free, this brothers response and he did respond in this manner was -- that perhaps there is some type of strain of virus or whatever you want to call it that has been trapped up -- it has been put away -- but it will be released or unleashed at that point in time. And so this is the breaking of that wall that will affect a lot of people, Allāhu aʿlam. Let's leave it at that.

(1.16.36) ... Why can't our scholars say these are ayāt of mutashābihāt (āyāt with indefinite meaning)? So the ayāt of mutashābihāt have a meaning that is understood and they have a meaning that is not understood. We're dealing with the part that is understood. What do we do now? If you want to stop at this and say I don't want to go beyond this, then that's good for you, but what do you do to our 25-year-old college kid who comes and he keeps on saying what do we do about this? Do we believe in these fairy tales? This is mythology. Would you believe this? What do we do to that young mind if we tell him that you shut up and don't ask questions? We turn him away. What I'm trying to do is to save the īmān of that generation. al-ḥamdu lillāh, most of us elders, we have no worries, al-ḥamdu lillāh, we're not worried about these things whether we understand or don't understand we know that Islam is true. We know Islam to be true! Our younger generation doesn't have that level of īmān in the first place. So when these issues come their īmān is not strong enough to overcome, so they say we're going to reject Islam! I would rather present an alternative that is somewhat palatable and they can then accept it rather than have them reject Islam. Is that clear?

(End of video transcript)

All citations within the video transcript are added by the contributors of this blog. Minor typographical or grammar corrections have been applied.

Yusuf Ali, Abdullah. The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary. Sheikh Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, Lahore (United India), 1938. ↩︎
Svensson, Jonas. "Computing Qur'āns: A Suggestion for a Digital Humanities Approach to the Question of Interrelations between English Qur'an Translations." Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 30, no. 2, 2019, pp. 211–229. ↩︎
Yusuf Ali's Commentary on Āyah 18:83: n. 2428. Literally, "the Two-horned one", the King with the Two Horns, or the Lord of the Two Epochs. Who was he? In what age, and where did he live? The Qur-ān gives us no material on which we can base a positive answer. Nor is it necessary to find an answer, as the story is treated as a Parable. Popular opinion identifies Ẓul-qarnain with Alexander the Great. An alternative suggestion is an ancient Persian King, or a prehistoric Himyarite King. See a brief account of the controversy in Appendix VII printed at the end of this Sūra. ↩︎
Yusuf Ali's Appendix VII, "Who was Ẓul-Qarnain?": ۔۔۔ Now the generality of the world of Islam have accepted Alexander the Great as the one meant by the epithet Ẓul-qarnain. But some of our ʿUlamā have raised doubts about it and made other suggestions. One is that it was not the Macedonian Alexander the Great, but an earlier prehistoric king contemporary with Abraham; because, they say, Ẓul-qarnain was a man of Faith (xviii. 88, 98), while Alexander the Great was a Pagan and believed in Grecian gods۔۔۔ Personally, I have not the least doubt that Ẓul-arnain is meant to be Alexander the Great, the historic Alexander, and not the legendary Alexander, of whom more presently. My first appointment after graduation was that of Lecturer in Greek history. I have studied the details of Alexander's extraordinary personality in Greek historians as well as in modern writers, and have since visited most of the localities connected with his brief but brilliant career. Few readers of Quranic literature have had the same privilege of studying the details of his career. ↩︎
Wheeler, Brannon M. "Moses or Alexander? Early Islamic Exegesis of Qurʾān 18:60-65." Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 57, no. 3, 1998, pp. 191–215: Footnote 41: There is a discussion of this identification in Southgate, Iskandarnamah, n. 45 to appendix III, pp. 220-21. There is referenced the work of Abū al-Kalām Āzād, Dhu al-Qarnayn yā Kürush-i kabīr, trans, (into Persian) M. A. Bastani Parizi (Tehran, 1965), who argues that the Q 18:83-102 was revealed to the Prophet in response to questions asked him by some Jews. ↩︎
Ali, Muhammad. The Holy Qur'an: Containing the Arabic Text with English Translation and Commentary. Islamic Review, England, 1917: Āyah 18:83: Footnote 1517 The word zulqarnain literally means the two-horned one. The reference is to the two-horned ram of Daniel's vision (Dan. 8: 3), which he interpreted as the kingdom of Media and Persia, which were combined into a single kingdom under one ruler, Cyrus, who is erroneously called Darius in the Bible (En. Bib. and Jewish En., Art. "Darius"). The reference in Daniel's vision is, however, not to Cyrus but to Darius I Hystaspis (521-485 B.C.), "who allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple, and is referred to in Ezra 4:5, 24; 5:5; 6:1; Hag. 1:1;2:10; Zech. 1:17, and probably in Neh. 12: 22. His liberality towards the Jews is in complete accord with what we know otherwise of his general policy in religious matters towards the subject nations" (En. Bib. "Darius"). That "the two-horned ram" of Daniel's vision is the king of Media and Persia is made plain in Daniel's book, where the interpretation of the dream is given in the following words: "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia" (Dan. 8:20). That the reference in the Qur-án in the history of Zulqarnain is to Darius I is clear from the fact that "Darius was the organizer of the Persian Empire. His conquests served to round out the boundaries of his realm in Armenia, the Caucasus, and India, and along the Turanian steppes and the highlands of Central Asia" (Jewish En., "Darius I"). The following remarks in the En. Br. strengthen this view: "Darius in his inscriptions appears as a fervent believer in the true religion of Zoroaster. But he was also a great statesman and organizer. The time of conquests had come to an end; the wars which Darius undertook, like those of Augustus, only served the purpose of gaining strong natural frontiers for the empire and keeping down the barbarous tribes on its borders. Thus Darius subjugated the wild nations of the Pontic and Armenian mountains, and extended the Persian dominion to the Caucasus; for the same reason he fought against the Sacœ and other Turanian tribes." The references in this quotation to Darius being a fervent believer in the true religion of Zoroaster, to his subduing the barbarous tribes on the borders, to his gaining strong natural frontiers for the empire, and to his fighting against the Sacœ clearly point him out as the Zulgarnain of the Qur-án. ↩︎
Behistun Inscription: by the Persian King Darius I the Great, translated by L.W. King and R.C. Thompson in "The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistun in Persia", 1907: [i.1] I am Darius, the great king, king of kings, the king of Persia, the king of countries, the son of Hystaspes, the grandson of Arsames, the Achaemenid۔۔۔ [i.5] King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda am I king; Ahuramazda has granted me the kingdom. [i.6] King Darius says: These are the countries which are subject unto me, and by the grace of Ahuramazda I became king of them: Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, the countries by the Sea, Lydia, the Greeks, Media, Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Chorasmia, Bactria, Sogdia, Gandara, Scythia, Sattagydia, Arachosia and Maka; twenty-three lands in all. [i.7] King Darius says: These are the countries which are subject to me; by the grace of Ahuramazda they became subject to me; they brought tribute unto me. Whatsoever commands have been laid on them by me, by night or by day, have been performed by them. [i.8] King Darius says: Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have I surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have I utterly destroyed. By the grace of Ahuramazda these lands have conformed to my decrees; as it was commanded unto them by me, so was it done. [i.9] King Darius says: Ahuramazda has granted unto me this empire. Ahuramazda brought me help, until I gained this empire; by the grace of Ahuramazda do I hold this empire. [i.8] King Darius says: Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have I surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have I utterly destroyed. By the grace of Ahuramazda these lands have conformed to my decrees; as it was commanded unto them by me, so was it done. ↩︎
Rowe, Bruce M.; Levine, Diane P. (2015). A Concise Introduction to Linguistics. Routledge. pp. 340–341. ↩︎
Ezekiel 38:15–16: You will come up from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days. ↩︎
Revelation 20:7–9: Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. ↩︎
Midrash, Vaera, Siman 16: ۔۔۔ When Moses heard that, Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread forth his hands unto the Lord, and the thunders and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. They were suspended in mid-air. When did they descend? Some descended upon the Amorites in the days of Joshua, as it is said: The Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them, and the remainder will fall on Gog Magog in the days of the Messiah. And the thunders ceased. ↩︎
Ginzberg, Lois. "VII Elijah, Forerunner of the Messiah." Legends of the Jews, Vol 4, Sacred Texts, 1909 : Elijah's preparatory work will be begun three days before the advent of the Messiah. Then he will appear in Palestine, and will utter a lament over the devastation of the Holy Land, and his wail will be heard throughout the world. The last words of his elegy will be: "Now peace will come upon earth!" When the evil-doers hear this message, they will rejoice. On the second day, he will appear again and proclaim: "Good will come upon earth!" And on the third his promise will be heard: "Salvation will come upon earth." Then Michael will blow the trumpet, and once more Elijah will make his appearance, this time to introduce the Messiah. ↩︎
ben Maimon, Moses (Maimonides also known as Rambam). "Introduction to Mishnah Tractate Sanhedrin, Chapter 10." Perek Chelek: (1) Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists. (2) The belief in God's absolute and unparalleled unity. (3) The belief in God's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling. (4) The belief in God's eternity. (5) The imperative to worship God exclusively and no foreign false gods. (6) The belief that God communicates with man through prophecy. (7) The belief in the primacy of the prophecy of Moses our teacher. (8) The belief in the divine origin of the Torah. (9) The belief in the immutability of the Torah. (10) The belief in God's omniscience and providence. (11) The belief in divine reward and retribution. (12) The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era. (13) The belief in the resurrection of the dead. ↩︎
Genesis 7: 6 For in another seven days, I will make it rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out all beings that I have made, off the face of the earth." 5 And Noah did, according to all that the Lord had commanded him. 6 And Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood came about, water upon the earth. ↩︎
Qamar 54:9–15: The people of Noah denied before them, and they denied Our servant and said, "A madman," and he was repelled. 10 So he invoked his Lord, "Indeed, I am overpowered, so help." 11 Then We opened the gates of the heaven with rain pouring down 12 And caused the earth to burst with springs, and the waters met for a matter already predestined. 13 And We carried him on a [construction of] planks and nails, 14 Sailing under Our observation as reward for he who had been denied. 15 And We left it as a sign, so is there any who will remember? ↩︎
Chickasaw Nation, "Story of the Flood." www.chickasaw.net/Our-Nation/Culture/Beliefs/Legend-of-the-Flood.aspx. Accessed 5 Sept. 2022. : Long ago, perhaps in the days when our Chickasaw ancestors still resided in the land of the setting sun, the Great Spirit, Aba'Binni'li', sent rain. Soon, water covered all the Earth.. All drowned except one family and a pair of each of all the animals۔۔۔ Aba'Binni'li' also told them that, eventually, the Earth would be destroyed by fire, its ruin presaged by a rain of flood and oil. Chickasaws are not the only North American Indian Tribe who has a story of the flood. Almost every other ancient people, from the Chinese to the Mayans and Incas, had their own version that told of destruction of the world by water. ↩︎
Coasts, Howard. "Australian Aboriginal Flood Stories." creation.com, 23 Apr. 2021, https://creation.com/australian-aboriginal-flood-stories : Ngowungu became very angry and decided to drown the people۔۔۔ With the rain and thunder was a terrible wind which broke great limbs off trees and rooted up others۔۔۔ The flood rose higher and higher till all the land was covered except the tops of two or three mountains. From further west a man and his wives with a dog were battling their way in a canoe when a bird with a leaf in its mouth flew in front of them showing them the way to Mt. Broome. They eventually reached Mt. Broome and landed there where some other survivors were۔۔۔ The waters began to go down and eventually disappeared off the country. All other people were drowned. ↩︎
Genesis 10:1–5: 1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. ↩︎
Brown, Jonathan A. C. "Even If It's Not True It's True: Using Unreliable Ḥadīths in Sunni Islam." Islamic Law and Society, vol. 18, no. 1, 2011, pp. 33–34 : Modern Salafīs identified hadiths falsely attributed to the Prophet and stories from Jewish lore (isrāʿīliyyāt) as the media by which Muslims legitimized these foreign influences. Like Ibn al-Jawzi centuries earlier, in part it was the perceived social cost of these inauthentic practices and the forgeries legitimizing them that alarmed Modernist Salafīs. ↩︎
Hosein, Imran, "Gog and Magog: Shaykh Imran Hosein", YouTube, uploaded by UmranTV English, June 20, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVn67bCJCY ↩︎
Hosein, Imran, "The Quran, the Great War, and the West", Iron Heart Publishing, April 14, 2021 ↩︎
Hosein, Imran, "Gog and Magog in the Modern World", Iron Heart Publishing, January 1, 2021 ↩︎
Qadhi, Yasir, "China Tour (Part 6): Who Built The Great Wall of China? | Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi", YouTube, uploaded by Yasir Qadhi, January 3, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JylfSZsM0Hg ↩︎

Table of Contents

Introduction

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj in the Quran

First Mention: In the Story of Dhū al-Qarnayn

Introduction to Dhū al-Qarnayn

Building of the wall inability of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to escape until the End Times

Second Mention: Regarding the Last Day

Escape of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj during the End Times

Identity of Dhū al-Qarnayn

Is Dhū al-Qarnayn Alexandar the Great?

Is Dhū al-Qarnayn King Cyrus?

Is Dhū al-Qarnayn King Darius I the Great?

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj in the Sunnah

Hadith 1: Ten Signs of the Last Hour

Ten signs of the Last Hour

Hadith 2: Quantity of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Severity of the Last Hour and the condition of the people

Out of a thousand men Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will be nine hundred and ninety nine entering the Hellfire

Hadith 3: Fighting Continues Up Until the Arrival of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Fighting continues up until the arrival of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Hadith 4: Ḥajj Continues Well After Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Ḥajj Continues well after the coming of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Allah denied the request of the Prophet ﷺ to not have mutual violence in his Ummah

Hadith 5: A Hole Has Opened Up in the Wall

Opening in the wall of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Hadith 6: Daily Attempts of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to Dig Out

Daily attempts of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to dig out

Daily attempts of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to dig out

Hadith 7A: None Can Fight Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Events occurring after the escape of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

Hadith 7B: Muslims Seek Protection in a Cave

Hadith 7C: Birds Will Pick Up the Corpses

Hadith 8: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj Will Dry-up Lake Tiberias

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will dry up Lake Tiberias by drinking its water

Hadith 9: Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj to Kill Everyone on Earth

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj will kill everyone on earth

The Ṭabariyyah Lake

Observations from Hadith Literature

An Unusual Enemy

An Unbeatable Enemy

The Enormity of the Enemy

Muslims will use the weapons of Yuʾjūj Maʾjūj after they're eliminated

One of the Last Signs of Judgement Day

The duʿāʾ of Prophet ʿĪsá to rid-off of Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj as one of the last signs of the Last Hour

Opinions of Classical Scholars

Etymology of the Name Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj

The name Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj is of Arabic origin

Mentions in the Old and the New Testament

Parallels in Biblical and Islamic Texts

Opinions of Classical Islamic Scholars

They are Children of Yāfith

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are the progeny of Adam

Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj are the progeny of Yāfith

We do not worship based on Jewish lore