Iqbal Ansari and Said Nursi

 

An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World

 

 

Iqbal Ansari and Said Nursi

It was the Muslim philosopher/poet, Dr Muhammad Iqbal who, in recognizing this aspect of the Qur’anic revelation, applied the methodology (Usul al-Tafsir) of critically examining unfolding events in the historical process in order to penetrate the meaning and significance of certain verses of the Qur’an. He responded to the successful conclusion in 1917 of Western civilization’s thousand years of Crusades to liberate Jerusalem with a verse of Urdu poetry in which he declared that all the forces of Gog and Magog had been released. The verse went on to direct Muslim attention to the supreme importance of studying and penetrating the two verses of Surah al-Anbiyah’ of the Qur’an that are linked to Gog and Magog:

 

Khul ga’ae Ya’juj aur Ma’juj kay lashkar tamam,

Chashmay Muslim dekh lay tafsiray harfay yansilun!

[Set loose are all the hordes of Gog and Magog

To the Muslim eye manifest is the meaning of the word yansilun]

 [Bang-e-Dara - Zarifana:23]

[Bang-e-Dara means ‘Signal for start of Caravan’ 

Zarifana means ‘Witty Observations’]

 

It is amazing, really, that Iqbal could have penetrated these two critically important verses of the Qur’an and identified the ‘town’ as Jerusalem as soon as the European Crusades had finally succeeded in its quest for liberating Jerusalem. After all, it was not until 1948 that a State of Israel was restored in the Holy Land. 

 

Iqbal’s verse which directed attention to the two verses of Surah al-Anbiyah’, and thus to the ‘town’, did not escape the attention of the outstanding Islamic scholar, Maulana Dr Muhammad Fadlur Rahman Ansari – himself a student of Iqbal. Dr Ansari also recognized the ‘town’ to be Jerusalem. Evidence of this is recorded in Ebrahim Ahmad Bawany’s truly remarkable booklet entitled: ‘Gog Magog and the State of Israel’, which was published in Pakistan about fifty years ago by the Aisha Bawany Wakf (i.e. in the late 1950’s, no date of publication was given for this booklet).

 

Commenting on the same two verses of Surah al-Anbiyah’ and to the ‘town’, Bawany declared in that booklet: “we firmly believe, and for which we have advanced solid arguments in the following pages, that this Ayah refers in particular to the city of Jerusalem . . .” (page 2). He went on to declare: “Thus the Ayah of the Holy Qur’an (i.e. alAnbiyah’: 95-6), beyond doubt, relates to the establishment of the State of Israel by the connivance and support of the powers of Gog and Magog.” (page 3). He also acknowledged his debt to Maulana Fazlur Rahman Ansari “whose interpretation and explanation of the Ayat relating to the return of the people to the ‘town’ which was destroyed . . . inspired me to make research and to write on the subject” (page iii).  We can only lament the fact that Dr Ansari, for reasons of which are unaware, chose not to write himself on the subject, nor to speak on it publicly. However it is certain that he was able to identify the ‘town’ as Jerusalem because of his methodology (i.e. Usul al Tafsir) of seeking to discover the system of meaning pertaining to the subject (see chapter two).

 

Since we also recognized the ‘town’ mentioned in Surah alAnbiyah’ to be Jerusalem, we understand the verses of the Qur’an referred to above to have declared such a return to have been impossible unless and until Gog and Magog had been released and had spread out in every direction. In other words, since the Israelite people have now returned to Jerusalem to reclaim it as their own, it follows that the one thousand years of European Crusades to liberate Jerusalem was a Gog and Magog phenomenon, and thus Gog and Magog must have been released into the world a long time ago. In coming to this conclusion this humble book has done nothing more than to take to its logical conclusion the trail that was previously blazed by the outstanding Islamic scholars of the modern age, Dr Muhammad Iqbal, his student, Dr Muhammad Fadlur Rahman Ansari (rahimahumullah) and the Turkish Islamic scholar, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi.

 

There is considerable additional evidence, such as the unique phenomenon of globalization in the modern world, the increasingly ominous corruption of the moral fabric of society around the world today, the amazing replication of the essentially godless and decadent Western way of life amongst all of mankind (including the world of Islam), which can be used to further argue the case that the release of Gog and Magog into the world took place a long time ago.  We leave that task to others who are convinced by the central thesis of this book, and who may consequently be inspired to further extend the arguments here raised.  

 

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to be continued . . . .

 

Hadith linking Gog and Magog to Jerusalem

 

An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World

 

 

Hadith linking Gog and Magog to Jerusalem

Finally the Qur’an makes mention of Gog and Magog for a second and last time in two verses of Surah al-Anbiyah’ which refer to a certain ‘town’. Allah Most High had destroyed that town and expelled the people of the town banning them from ever returning to reclaim that town as their own. However the verse went on to declare that the ban would remain in force only until Gog and Magog were released and they spread out in all directions to occupy every position of advantage:

 

“And there is a ban on (the people of) a town which We destroyed: that they (the people of the town) shall not return (to reclaim their town) until Gog and Magog are released and (eventually) they spread out in every direction (or descend from every height to occupy every position of advantage).”  (Qur’an, al-Anbiyah’, 21:95-96)

 

If we can identify the town and if there is evidence the people of the town have already returned to reclaim it as their own (after having been expelled from it by divine decree), it would constitute further evidence of both the release of Gog and Magog as well as their identity.   

 

In addition to analysis based on the system of meaning of the subject, our method by which we identify the town is to also search our Qur’an and Hadith database to locate any such town which is connected to Gog and Magog. And sure enough ‘Jerusalem’ emerges as the only such town. Firstly, we quoted above a Hadith which informed us that Gog and Magog would pass by the Sea of Galilee. That Sea is located only 50 miles north of Jerusalem. In addition, the only town mentioned by name that is linked to Gog and Magog is Bait al-Maqdis (i.e. Jerusalem):

 

“Gog and Magog would walk until they reach the mountain of al-Khamr, and it is a mountain of Bait al-Maqdis (i.e. Jerusalem)...” (Sahih Muslim)

 

Secondly, we recognize a similarity between the above two verses of Surah al-Anbiyah’ and the verse in Surah Ale ‘Imran referring to Makkah by its old name, ‘Bakkah’. In neither instance can we penetrate the verses of the Qur’an without referring to events and other such data located outside of the Holy Book.

 

The Qur’an has informed us that Allah Most High gave the Holy Land to the Israelite people (Qur’an, al-Maidah, 5:24). Jerusalem is the capital city of that Holy Land. The historical record is that they were expelled from that town some 2000 years ago. However they have now returned to the ‘town’ to reclaim it as their own. Jerusalem lies at the very heart of events connected to the true Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. It is from Jerusalem that he will rule the world. It is also from Jerusalem that Dajjal the false Messiah must attempt to rule the world. As history progresses to its end, Jerusalem must replace Washington, London and other such cities as the center of the world.

 

It was certainly not by accident that neither the Qur’an, nor the blessed Prophet to whom the Qur’an was revealed and who was declared to be the teacher of the Qur’an, ever identified the ‘town’ linked to Gog and Magog. It is certain that the reason for this was to provoke scholars of the Qur’an to critically observe unfolding events in the historical process in order to recognize the Signs of Allah Most High and to thus eventually identify the ‘town’. The Qur’an had directed specific attention to precisely this aspect of its miraculous text when it declared:

 

“In time We shall make them fully understand Our messages (through what they perceive) in the utmost horizons (of the universe) and within themselves (which includes the unfolding historical process), so that it will become clear unto them that this [revelation] is indeed the truth. (Still) is it not enough (for them to know) that thy Lord-God is witness unto everything?”  (Qur’an, Fussilat, 41:53)

 

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to be continued . . . .

 

Water in the world and in the Sea of Galilee

 

An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World

 

 

Water in the world and in the Sea of Galilee

There is additional evidence supporting our conclusion derived from the above Ahadith, for example, Gog and Magog have a profile already described, of such great consumption of water that rivers and lakes would run dry. The world is already experiencing precisely such a phenomenon of diminishing sweet water resources and evidence of such continues to increase as nations and tribes threaten to wage wars over increasingly scarce water resources. 

 

Dramatic evidence related to water confirming the release of Gog and Magog is also located in the Hadith describing them passing by the Sea of Galilee on their way to Jerusalem and drinking the water in that sea to such an extent that it would eventually dry up:

 

“.  .  .  It will be under such conditions that Allah will reveal to Jesus these words: I have brought forth from among My servants such people against whom none will be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur, and then Allah will send Gog and Magog and they will swarm down from every slope. The first of them will pass by Lake Tiberias (i.e. the Sea of Galilee) and drink out of it, and when the last of them passes, he will say: ‘There was once water here .  .  .  .’” (Sahih Muslim)

 

The water level in the Sea of Galilee is now so low that it is considered essentially dead, i.e. it is only a matter of time before it dries up. As we write this book, the water-level in the Sea is fast approaching the “black line” level of -214.4 meters below sea level. When it reaches that level, removing water from the lake, which is one of Israel's major water resource, will no longer be possible because the pumps will be above the water level. This is almost certain to occur before this book is published and reaches our readers. Readers are advised to keep abrest of the situation through Google search using ‘Lake Kinneret Black Line’.   

            

Additional dramatic proof of the release of Gog and Magog can be found in the growing evidence of the world’s great lakes now drying up. Canada’s Lake Superior for example, the greatest Great Lake and the world's largest freshwater reservoir, is now at its lowest water level ever.

 

Source

to be continued . . . .