Gog Magog Yajooj Majooj Roots

Who is Gog & Magog?

The story of Gog and Magog is stated both in the Quran and hadith. Both Quran and the hadith have clearly mentioned their existence, arrival and the aftermath of their arrival. Their appearance will be one of the signs of the end times. These events will transpire after the arrival of Dajjal, Mehdi and Eesaa (Alaihis-Salam). In the Islamic tradition, Hadiths and Quran, they are sometimes individuals, sometimes peoples, and sometimes geographic regions, their reference in the Quran and hadith clearly indicates that they are people numerous in number who will appear toward end of times. Here is the origin of Yajooj and Majooj. Allah almighty has mentioned the followings verses in the Quran.

“Then we saved him and those with him in the ship” (Al-‘Ankabut, 15),

“And, his progeny (اولاد), them we made the survivors” (As-Saffat, 77).

According to these verses, the survivors of the flood were only the progeny (اولاد) of Prophet Nooh (Alaihis-Salam) and no one else. Accordingly, Yajooj and Majooj come from the same progeny. A Hadith transmitted in Imam Ahmed’s Musnad and the Sunan of Abu Dawud states that there were three sons born to Prophet Nooh (Alaihis-Salam), these are Shem, Ham and Japheth. Shem was the father of the Arabs, Ham was the father of the Sudanese and Japheth was the father of the Turks. According to the descriptions narrated by hadith, Gog and Magog belong to the Turkic Mongol race; have small eyes, small flat noses and wide faces. Their faces look like hammered-out shields (their faces are likened to shields because they are wide and round)

Imam Al-Bukhari transmitted in his Sahih the following Hadith: A man told the Prophet (S.A.W.S) that he had seen the dam of Gog and Magog.
The Prophet (S.A.W.S) asked:          “How did you find it?
” The man said: “I found it like Al-Burd Al-Muhabbar (striped garments).” The Prophet (S.A.W.S) said: “You have seen it.”

According to the Quran, they will be set loose shortly before the arrival of the Day of Judgment as Allah Almighty has mentioned in Quran,

“Until, when Yajooj and Majooj are let loose (from their barrier), and they swiftly swarm from every mound. And the true promise (Day of Resurrection) shall draw near (to fulfillment)…” [Surah al-Anbiyaa: 96-97]

Allah Almighty clearly informed His Prophet (S.A.W.S) that Yajuj and Majuj will be from among the people of Hell and that their nature denies the truth and submission to it, as they will not respond to the caller till the Day of Judgment

Where are they now a day?

 There is a barrier between the Gog and Magog and us, the barrier between the Gog and Magog is removed when the world is full of evil. Allah opens the wall between the Gog and Magog and us, when the evil in the world is increased at its last stage.
It is said that the Caliph, Al-Wathiq, sent some messengers with messages to different kings to ask them to travel from one country to another till they reached the dam and affirmed its reality. When they came back to the Caliph, they described it to him saying that it has a huge door with many locks. It was very high and the remnants of its building materials and tools were kept there in a tower. Also, there were still guards keeping an eye on it. They added that its location was on the north-east side of the earth. It was also said that their land was very spacious and that they lived on farming and hunting and that their numbers were countless.

In Ibn Jarir’s exegesis of the Qur’an, it was reported by Qatadah that when the man told the Prophet (S.A.W.S) that he had seen the dam of Yajooj and Majooj and was asked to describe it, he said: ‘It looked like striped garments, with red and black stripes.’ The Prophet (S.A.W.S) said: “You have seen it.”
It is stated in the Holy Quran that Allah has held Gog and Magog behind a barrier that was created with iron and copper by Dhul-Qarnain.
Allah Almighty tells us (interpretation of the meaning): “Then he followed (another) way, until, when he reached between two mountains, he found, before (near) them (those two mountains), a people who scarcely understood a word. They said: ‘O Dhoo’l-Qarnayn! Verily! Yajooj and Majooj are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?’ He said: ‘That (wealth, authority and power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than your tribute). So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier. Give me pieces (blocks) or iron,’ then, when he had filled up the gap between the two mountain-cliffs, he said, ‘Blow,’ till when he had made it (red as) fire, he said, ‘Bring me molten copper to pour over it.’ So they [Yajooj and Majooj] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. (Dhoo’l-Qarnayn) said: ‘This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever true.’ And on that Day [i.e., the day Yajooj and Majooj will come out], we shall leave them to surge like waves on one another, and the Trumpet will be blown, and we shall collect them all together.” [Surah al-Kahf 18:92-99]

One day, this barrier is open between the (Gog and Magog) and us, after the evil is increased in the world at its last stage.
 Give their relevancy with the sign of doomsday?
 A prophetic Hadith is transmitted by Imam Al- Bukhari and Imam Muslim on the authority of Mother of the Believers, Zainab Bint Jahsh (May Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (S.A.W.S) once came to her in a state of fear and said:

“None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe unto the Arabs from a danger that has come near. An opening has been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this,” 

making a circle with his thumb and index finger. Zainab Bint Jahsh said: “O Allah’s Messenger! Shall we be destroyed even though there are pious persons among us?” He said:

“Yes, when the evil persons will increase.”

And in another narration the Prophet (S.A.W.S) said:

“Allah has made an opening in the wall of the Yajooj and Majooj (people) like this, and he made with his hand (with the help of his fingers)” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

After Prophet Essa (P.B.U.H) will kill the Dajjal (Anti-Christ), Allah will inform him about the arrival of this disbelieving tribe that is undefeated and he will take refuge in the Mount of Toor until Allah will destroy them.
Al-Nawaas ibn Sam’aan (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), while describing the signs of the Day of judgment said:

“… and Allah will send Yajooj and Majooj, swiftly swarming from every mound. They will pass the lake of Tiberius [in Palestine] and will drink everything that is in it. Then the last of them will pass by and will say, ‘There used to be water here once.’ The Prophet of Allah, ‘Eesaa, and his companions, will be besieged until a bull’s head will be more precious to one of them than a hundred dinars are to any of you today. ‘Eesaa and his companions will pray to Allah, and Allah will send a kind of worm (like that found in the noses of camels and sheep) on their (Yajooj and Majooj) necks, and they will fall down dead, all at once. Then Eesaa and his companions will come down out of the place where they were besieged, and they will find hardly a hand span of land that is not filled with the stench (of Yajooj and Majooj), so ‘Eesaa and his companions will pray to Allah, and He will send birds like the necks of camels to carry them away and throw them wherever Allah wills.” (Reported by Muslim, 18/68).