Sunday 26 February 2023

Gog Magog use ‘power’ to oppress

 


An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World
 
 

They use ‘power’ to oppress (Qur’an)

Surah al-Kahf of the Qur’an has provided us with a description of how power was used when it was founded on faith (in Allah Most High). Dhul Qarnain possessed faith in Allah Most High to such an extent that Allah established his rule on Earth and bestowed on him the means to achieve whatever objective he chose to pursue. Allah Most High even spoke to him and addressed him by name while offering him a choice of using power to punish or to use in a manner which was kind and gracious. His choice and response (see al-Kahf, 18:87-8 above) was unambiguously based on values and integrity. 

 

Dhul Qarnain’s use of power was again described in Surah al-Kahf in a second instance where he encountered a people “for whom We (Allah) had provided no cover other than that (i.e. naturally provided).” His response was to respect their human rights and to unconditionally recognize the precedence of such rights over all other interests regardless of their primitive way of life and regardless of even such strategic interests as the acquisition of territory, mining for diamonds and gold, extracting (Caspian) oil resources, etc. He left them as they were.  

 

But the use of the name ‘Dhul Qarnain’ (i.e. he who possesses two horns, or he of two ages) in Surah al-Kahf indicated, in our opinion, the existence of ‘two’ ages, one described in the Surah, and another to which the Surah implicitly directed attention. The second age that was to come, in consequence of which the term ‘Dhul Qarnain’ (i.e. pertaining to two ages) was divinely used in the Surah, would emerge when Gog and Magog were released by divine decree. The world would then witness power founded on godlessness rather than faith in Allah Most High. Power would then be used in a manner completely opposite to that of Dhul Qarnain. 

 

Instead of power being used to punish the oppressor, it would rather be used to oppress and target those who have faith (in Allah Most High) and whose conduct is righteous. The world would then witness war on ‘Islam’ in particular, and on the ‘religious way of life’ in general. Secondly, those who possess power would not care a fig-leaf for human rights. Instead, they would exterminate and oppress even the weakest of human beings (who live a primitive way of life) like cockroaches as they unjustly seize control of territory or resources such as diamonds, gold, oil, water, etc. 

 

Gog and Magog would be people whose profile of conduct is anarchical, aggressive and oppressive.
 
to be continued . . . .
 

Sunday 19 February 2023

Gog Magog possess extraordinary military power

 


An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World
 
 

They possess extraordinary military power (Qur’an and Hadith)

 

The Qur’an has clearly depicted Gog and Magog as people who possess extraordinary military power. It did so in the passage of Surah al-Kahf in which Dhul Qarnain was informed about their Fasad (i.e. corrupt, wicked, unjust and oppressive conduct) and was requested to build a barrier, which would protect the people from that Fasad. This request came after he had previously traveled to both East and West. On his journey westwards he had come across people concerning whom Allah Most High had enquired how he would treat them. His response was to declare that he would punish those who committed acts of Dhulm (i.e. injustice and oppression). And since the Qur’an further declared that he had been divinely bestowed with the capacity (and that includes power most of all) to pursue whatever objective he chose, his normal and natural response should have been one of inflicting punishment on Gog and Magog. 

 

The fact that Dhul Qarnain did not attempt to punish Gog and Magog but, rather, agreed to build a barrier with which to contain them, indicates that they possessed a military power which he could not subdue.

 

The ominous implication is that when Gog and Magog are released into the world by divine decree, they would take control of the world while wielding a unique military power. They would project power that could not possibly be matched by any power combination or alliance in the world.

 

The Ahadith confirm this profile of Gog and Magog which has emerged from the blessed Qur’an. In a Hadith al-Qudsi recorded in the Sahih of Imam Muslim Allah Most High is reported to have said about Gog and Magog:

 “I have created servants of mine so powerful that none but I can wage war on them.” (Sahih Muslim)

 

It should therefore be clear that when Gog and Magog are released into the world by Divine decree they would eventually become the ruling power in the world since no combination of rivals could possibly match their power. Mankind would then be subjected to the Gog and Magog world-order!

 

to be continued . . . .
 

Sunday 12 February 2023

Gog Magog are a double-faced people who are capable of swift motion

 


An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World
 
 

They are a double-faced people who are capable of swift motion (Qur’an semantics)

‘Ya’juj’ and ‘Ma’juj’ are names used in the blessed Qur’an for Gog and Magog. Dr Tammam Adi, the Qur’an semanticist, has pointed out that they are two word-forms from the Arabic root “hamza jeem jeem” that grammatically denote the active tense (ya’juj) and passive tense (ma’juj). This could indicate their characterization as a double-faced people with conduct that ‘ebbs and flows’. 

  • They ‘attack’ and ‘occupy’ (Ya’juj) and then feign ‘withdrawal’ (Ma’juj). 
  • They commit ‘aggression’ (Ya’juj) and then pose as ‘peacemakers’ or as ‘victims of aggression’ (Ma’juj). 
  • They ‘violate’ (Ya’juj) and then ‘pacify’ (Ma’juj). 
  • They pose as ‘religious people’ (Ya’juj) when in fact they are devoid of faith and essentially ‘godless’ (Ma’juj).

 

The Qur’an itself has very significantly commenced with a warning of precisely such double-faced people:          

“And when they are told, ‘Do not commit Fasad on Earth,’ they answer,

‘We are but peacemakers!’ Oh, verily, it is they, they who are committing Fasad, 

but they perceive it not.” (Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:11-12)

 

“And when they meet those who have faith (in Allah Most High), they assert, ‘We believe (as you believe)’; but when they find themselves alone with their Satanic comrades, they say, ‘Verily, we are with you; we were only feigning (faith)!’  (Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:14)

 

The grammarians have also pointed out that Ya'juj (Gog) and Ma'juj (Magog) are derived in the Arabic language from ‘ajj’ or ‘ajij’ in the grammatical forms of yaf'ul and maf`ul. ‘Ajij’ means ‘harshness’, ‘the flaming of fire’, but ‘ajja’ also means ‘asra`a’ or ‘he walked fast’, hence Ya'juj (Gog) and Ma'juj are a people characterized by swiftness of motion and intense agitation. One sees evidence in the accumulation of medals at Olympic Games of people who invariably humble the rest of mankind combined. But evidence also exists of the combination of ‘flaming fire’ and ‘swiftness of motion’ when those same people wage their barbarian wars of aggression and oppression through which they succeed in unjustly occupying and colonizing the greater part of the Earth. 

 

Perhaps the most dangerous of their double-faced antics is their pretense to be people within the fold of religion when in fact they are essentially godless people. They despise true religion as well as those who would sincerely live the religious way of life while striving to attain to piety and righteousness.

 

Since Ya’juj or Gog is in the active tense (in the Arabic language), and Majuj or Magog is in the passive tense, it follows that in a contest between the two, Gog will eventually prevail over Magog. This book will attempt to identify both Ya’juj (Gog) and Majuj (Magog) in today’s world, and in so doing it will offer a glimpse of the end of history when a gigantic (Armageddon) clash between the two will take place. 

to be continued . . . .
 

Sunday 5 February 2023

Gog and Magog are human beings

 


An Islamic View of Gog Magog in the Modern World
 
 

Here now is the profile: 

Gog and Magog are human beings (Qur’an and Hadith)

Are Gog and Magog strange creatures with strange shapes, height, etc., or are they human beings? Are they Jinn or angels? Or are they like Dajjal the false Messiah, neither human, Jinn nor angels, but like Dajjal would one day appear as human beings? It is to the blessed Qur’an that we must first turn in order to answer this question. 

 

Verse 94 of Surah al-Kahf (above) informs us that a community of human beings complained to Dhul Qarnain about Gog and Magog and their acts of Fasad (i.e. conduct which corrupts to the extent of reducing to a state of destruction) in their territory. They requested him to build a barrier containing Gog and Magog and thus protecting them from Fasad. He responded by building a material barrier with blocks of iron and in doing so, successfully contained them behind that barrier.

 

The Islamic moral code distinguishes between sins which result in punishment in the hereafter and those (recognized as crimes) which are punishable in this world. The Islamic penal code recognizes Fasad (i.e. conduct that is destructive in nature such as organized murder, interest-banking (because it destroys the fair market), organized robbery, starvation, mass poisoning with drugs and vaccines, forced worship of idols (destruction of souls) as the greatest of all such crimes (crimes which can destroy society itself) and has prescribed deterrent punishment for Fasad which includes banishment, cutting off hands and legs on opposite sides, and crucifixion:

 

‘The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main to commit Fasad through the land is: execution  crucifixion cutting off hands and feet from opposite sides or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter. (Qur’an, al-Maidah, 5:33)

 

The implication of the use of the word Fasad to describe the behaviour of Gog and Magog indicates that they are beings who are responsible for their deeds which thus qualify as ‘conduct’. But such would be possible only if Gog and Magog possessed a ‘self-directed will’ with capacity for ‘choice’ and could thus be held accountable for their sinful conduct. 

 

Angels do not possess a self-directed will and cannot commit sin, thus they cannot commit acts of Fasad. Nor can invisible angels be contained behind a material barrier. Although Jinn possess a self-directed will and are hence responsible for their conduct, they are invisible to human beings who therefore cannot identify them as perpetrators of acts of Fasad. In addition invisible Jinn exist in a dimension of space and time other than our own and hence, like angels, cannot be contained behind a material barrier. 

 

The only other created beings who possess a self-directed will, can commit sin, and hence can commit acts of Fasad are human beings. In addition, unlike angels and Jinn, human beings can be contained behind a material barrier. The inescapable conclusion is that Gog and Magog are human beings. 

 

When we turn to the Ahadith we find information which supports the conclusion that Gog and Magog are human beings:

Abu Saeed al- Khudri narrates that the Prophet said: "On Judgment Day Allah will ask Adam to pick out from his entire progeny those who would enter the hellfire. Adam will ask: 'O Lord-God, who are they?'  Allah will say: 'Nine hundred and ninety nine of a thousand are for the hellfire while one is for heaven.' On hearing this, the companions were overtaken by fear and they asked, "O Messenger of Allah who will that one for heaven be?' The Prophet said: 'Do not grieve, the nine hundred and ninety nine will be Ya’juj and Ma’juj while you will be the one for heaven."' (i.e. your numbers in relation to them will be one in a thousand). (Bukhari, Muslim) 

 

“Verily Gog and Magog are of the progeny of Adam”. (Kanz al-Ummal, Hadith No 2158)

 

The above Ahadith confirm Gog and Magog to be human beings, who belong to the progeny of Adam (‘alaihi al-Salam).  

 

There is also a Hadith al-Qudsi recorded in Sahih Muslim in which Allah Himself describes Gog and Magog as His ‘Ibad (i.e. servants or slaves):

“I have created servants of mine (i.e. Gog and Magog) so powerful that none but I can wage war on them.” (Sahih Muslim)

 

Servants of Allah who have the capacity to wage war and to defeat armies, are usually human beings. 

 

Our conclusion, based on substantial evidence derived from both the Qur’an and Hadith, is that Gog and Magog are human beings. 

 

to be continued . . . .