Gog and Magog: How they Invaded the World

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1) Myths 2) Who they really are 3) Location 4) Dhul Qarnayn's Wall 5) Their Characteristics 6) Their kingdom: Khazaria 7) Conversion to Judaism 8) The Invasion 9) Infiltrating societies 10) Global corruption 11) Paving the way for the Dajjal

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Note: This work is incomplete.

1) Myths

The question that who are Gog and Magog has irritated many a minds throughout ages. Many interesting legends have been mentioned by the historians and commentators to identify and describe these people although most of these legends are nothing but nonsense. Commenting on these legends Maulana Hifz-ur-Rehman Sevharvi in his book Qasas-ul-Quran writes: One thing is common in these legends i.e. Gog and Magog are a tribe bearing strange physical and social characteristics, as for instance they are dwarfs of the length of a span or little more, and some of them are extraordinarily tall, and both their ears are so large that one is used as coverlet and the other as bedding. Their faces are wide and disproportional to their height. For their food, the sea throws out such fish twice a year, which are so long that a man needs ten days and ten nights to reach its head from its tail. Or a serpent is their food, which first devours all the land animals and then is thrown into a sea, and it consumes the sea creature through a distance of miles together, and then a cloud appears and an angel places this grand dragon over this cloud and the cloud takes this dragon to these tribes. Or Gog and Magog are a creation who were born from Hazrat Adam but not from Hazrat Hawwa (Eve). Hafiz Imad-ud-Din Ibn Kathir writes in his book Al Bidaya wal Nihaya: It is said that Gog and Magog were begotten from the sperm of Hazrat Adam which had mingled with the dust after his wet dream, and that they were not begotten through a natural process i.e. from the womb of Hazrat Hawwa (Eve). But this is merely a conjectural view, quoted by Sheikh Abu Zikriya Navawi in Sharah Muslim, but the other scholars have held it as wrong., and without doubt, this view is liable to be rejected forthwith, because it is absolutely baseless rather it is in direct contrast with the established fact that categorical injunctions of the Holy Qur'an have proved that the present human race is the generation of Hazrat Noah. Similarly this view is also incorrect and weightless that Gog and Magog are an abnormal creation, have strange faces and antithetic stature, i.e., some are too tall like a palm tree and some are dwarfs; and their ears are so large that they use one ear as bedding and the other as covering. Thus all these views are absolutely weightless and mere conjectures, as a matter of fact, they are like common human beings possessing the same human attributes. (Vol.2.P-110) Hafiz Ibn Hajr Asqalani, another eminent scholar of Islam, comments in his book Fath ul- Bari as under: And Navawi and some others have referred to as legend quoted by some persons, who says that once Hazrat Adam had a nocturnal emission and the drops of his sperm mingled in the dust resulting in the creation of Gog and Magog; but this view is absolutely absurd and unacceptable, and is not found anywhere except in the fables of the People of the Scripture. (Fath ul Bari, Vol.6,P.295) There are many other scholars, commentators and the traditionists who like Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hajr have rejected the legends found in regard to Gog and Magog as simply Jewish tales which have nothing to do with reality or with Islamic traditions.

2) Who they really are

Gog and Magog are just like other human beings having no extra-ordinary or super human physique or features or qualities. They are two tribes from the children of Japheth son of Prophet Noah. Supporting this view Ibn Hajr in his book Fath-ul-Bari says: And Abdul Razzaq has quoted in Kitab ul Tafsir from Qatada that Gog and Magog are two tribes from the line of Japheth son of Noah. The view that Gog and Magog hail from the line of son of Prophet Noah is also supported by Ibn Kathir who writes: And Japheth is the ancestor of the Tartars. Therefore, Gog and Magog are a branch of the Tartarians and are the Mangolian tribes, and are much more strong, savage and brute than the Tartars. (Al Bidaya wal Nihaya, V.w, P-110) The viewpoint mentioned above is shared by many other scholars and historians. Allama Tantanavi writes in his Tafsir, Jawahir-ul- Quran: Gog and Magog are the progeny of Japheth son of Hazrat Noah and their names have been derived from Ajeeh ul Nar meaning flame or spark; indicative of their intensity and abundance. And some research scholars, while explaining their origin, hold that the chain of Mughals (Mangolians) and Tartars reaches a person named Turk, and he is the man called by Abul Fida Magog. So it is evident that Gog and Magog mean the Mangolian and Tartarian tribes and the chain of these tribes starts from the northern Asia and spreads through Tibet and China, and towards the west it expands up to Turkistan. Many other hold the same view. (Vol. 9,P.199) Syed Abul-Ala Maududi, a great scholar of the Modern times writes about the Gog and the Magog in his Tafsir, Tafhimul Quran, as under: Gog and Magog were the wild tribes of North Eastern Asia which, from the very early times had been making inroads on settled kingdoms and empires in Asia and Europe and ravaging them. According to Genesis (Chapter 10), they were the descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah, and the Muslim historians have also accepted this. And according to the book of Ezekiel (Chapters 38,39), they inhabited the territories of Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Tubalsek). According to the Israelite historian Josephus, they were the Scythians and their territory spread to the north and the east of the black Sea. According to Jerome, Magog inhabited the territory to the north of Caucasia near the Caspian Sea." Allama Abdullah Yusuf Ali, another eminent scholar of the modern times, writes in his English translation and commentary of the Holy Quran about Gog and Magog as follows: The question of Gog and Magog and the iron barrier built to keep them out is of some interest.

It is practically agreed that they were the wild tribes of Central Asia, which have made inroads on settled kingdoms and Empires at various stages of the worlds history. The Chinese Empire suffered from their incursions and built the Great Wall of China to keep out the Manchus and Mongols. The Persian Empire suffered from them at various times and at various points. Their incursions into Europe in large hordes caused migrations and displacements of population on an enormous scale, and eventually broke up the Roman Empire. These tribes were known vaguely to the Greeks and Romans as Scythians. The Bible also point out Gog and Magog as descendants of Japheth: "The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras." Genesis 10:2 Most experts identify Magog as being associated with the ancient peoples known as the Scythians (later known as the Khazars) of Central Asia. Ancient historian, Joseph Flavius, clearly identifies Magog: "Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians."

We can safely now conclude that Gog and Magog are ordinary human beings. They are wild and uncivilized tribes who are descendents of Japheth son of Noah, and who inhabited the lands of Central Asia behind the Caucasus Mountains.

4) Their Characteristics

Herodotus, known as the "Father of History." Herodotus writes of the bizarre and savage practices of the descendents of Magog known as the Scythians: They drank the blood of the first enemy they killed; they carried the heads of the victims to their chiefs; they scalped their enemies and used the scalps as "napkins"; they used the skins of their victims to cover their quivers; they drank from the skulls of their victims; they practiced blood brotherhood by drinking each other's blood mixed with wine. The Scythians. "bathed" in the vapor from heated hemp seeds. When their king died, they sacrificed one of his concubines and several servants. After a year, they commemorated his death by sacrificing fifty servants and fifty horses.

4) Dhul Qarnayn's Wall

Islamic Traditions consider the Caucasus Wall (Daryal Pass, Caucasus) as Dhul Qarnayn's Wall because it fits the most with the description given by the Quran about the location and history of the wall.

(Caucasus Mountains)

The wall Islamic scholars consider to be the one built by Dhul Qarnayn is an Iron wall which was located in the narrow mountainous passage known as the Daryal pass, the only passage through which Gog and Magog could invade the southern towns, because the Caucasus Mountains are a formidable natural barrier..

Sequence: The armies of Gog and Magog coming from the north would encounter the

Caucasus Mountains during their invasions towards the south, the only pass they could use in order to cross this formidable natural barrier is called the Daryal Pass, an Iron barrier used to exist at the end of this pass, blocking the invaders of the north.

The Daryal Pass is the narrow mountainous passage mentioned in the Quran that Dhul Qarnayn used in order to build his wall between two mountains:

(Daryal Pass)

Quran: "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 Dhul-Qarnain! Verily! Ya'juj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) 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 had 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) of 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 [Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it.} [18: 93-97].

According to this verse, the wall was built between two mountain-cliffs.

Maulana Hifz-ur-Rehman sevharvi, in his great work Qasas-ul-Quran, arrives at the conclusion

that Caucasus Wall built of iron and molten copper is the wall, which was built by Zul-Qarnain. His conclusion is as under: So it is now proved that the Daryal Pass is surrounded by two cliffs of the mountains and historical facts also confirm it. Moreover, the commission of Wasiq Billah has manifestly described its observation that this wall has been built with iron and molten copper. Now it should be admitted that this wall is the wall of Zul-Qarnain as mentioned in the Holy Quran because this wall fulfills the required specifications given by the Holy Quran. For the same reason, Abu Hayyan, Allama Anwar Shah and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad also believed that this wall is the wall of Zul-Qarnain. After this detailed research, let me say that this wall of the Daryal Pass was erected by Cyrus, and as we have described earlier that this wall was built to protect the people from the invasions of those savage tribes who lived across the Caucasus range; and these were the Scythian tribes who were ravaging the people during the reign of Cyrus, and these tribes were in fact Gog and Magog, and Cyrus had erected this wall to save the people living hither from the brutal invasion of these Scythian tribes.: The view of Maulana Hafiz-ur-Rehman that the wall of Caucasus is the wall of Zul-Qarnain has been approved by many other scholars. Syed Abul Ala Maududi in his Tafhimul Quran writes: Some people have entertained the misunderstanding that the wall attributed here to Zul-Qarnain refers to the famous Wall of China, whereas this wall was built between Derbent and Daryal, two cities of Daghestan in the Caucasus, the land that lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian. There are high mountains between the Black Sea and Daryal having deep gorges, which cannot allow large armies to pass through them. Between Derbent and Daryal, however, there are no such mountains and the passes also are wide and passable. In ancient times savage hordes from the north invaded and ravaged southern lands through these passes and the Persian rulers who were scared of them had to build a strong wall, 50 miles long, 29 feet high and 10 feet wide, for fortification purpose, ruins of which can still be seen. Though it has not yet been established historically who built this wall in the beginning, the Muslim historians and geographers assign it to Zul-Qarnain because its remains correspond with the description of it given in the Quran.

Baha'eddin Khoramshahi notes: "The Qur'an's Zolqarnain encountered a barbarian tribe and this is consistent with Cyrus's expedition to the north and his battles with the Sakas, who may be interpreted as the barbarian tribes of the Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj. Here, Cyrus defeated the barbarians and in the Daryal Pass, which was the only passage from which they could be attacked by their neighbors, he built a barrier made of copper and iron. The people under siege might have asked Cyrus for help and provided him with manpower. The ruins of this barrier still exist.[/b]"

Encyclopedia Britannica notes: "The Daryal Pass has long been significant as an invasion route. In ancient times Daryal was called the Gates of Alan or the Caucasian or Iberian Gates."

Now having established the most likely location of the gates we come to the conclusion that the Gog and Magog were war like people living to the North of these gates in modern day Georgia. It so happens that the Caucasus has been a major highway for Hunnish and Turkic tribes invading from Central Asia to the Middle East and Europe as far back as the first millenium BC. The region was therefore settled by various waves of tribes that have travelled through the region. The Turkic tribes were very mobile horsemen that have the 'mischeivous' warlike trait that the Gog and Magog possess and required a gate to be constructed.