The Gog and Magog in the Bible and the Noble Quran:
The following article was sent to me by Shades of Light; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him. The brother mentioned toward the end of this article that he got his points from http://members.aol.com/RamiKen/jochen.htm.
Bismillah, ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
As salaam alaykum, Brother Abu Ziyad :)...Inshallah you and your family are in great health and happiness. I have read your thought provoking article The people of Gog and Magog and the Iron Gates in the Noble Quran, and I felt that there were certain issues concerning their identity and that of Dhul Qarnain(as) that needed to be addressed.
First I'd like to direct your attention to the fact that the Bible sheds significant light upon the identity of Gog and Magog: “Son of Adam, set your face toward YHVH of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and Prophesy against him: And say, thus says The YHVH Elohenu, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws...” Ezekiel 38:1-4
Hesiod, "the father of Greek didactic poetry" identified Magog with the Scythians and southern Russia in the 7th century B.C. As well, Hesiod was a contemporary of Ezekiel (as). The term "Rosh" employed by Ezekial (as) is the etymological root of "Russia."
Herodotus of Harlicarnassus, known as "Father of History" wrote much about the descendants of Magog by their Greek name, the Scythians, in the 5th century B.C. Archaeological discoveries have confirmed Herodotus' reports. Flavius Josephus records that the Magogians were called "Scythians" by the Greeks. Philo, in the 1st century, identifies Magog with southern Russia.
In Arabic, Ya'juj (Gog) and Ma'juj (Magog) are derived from "ajj" or "ajij" in the forms of yaf'ul and maf`ul and ajij means "the flaming of fire." But "ajja" also means "asra`a" or "he walked fast." Imam Raghib says that Ya'juj and Ma'juj have been compared to the flaming fire and surging water because of their intense agitation. As well we see the subtle correlation here with the nature the rapid expansion and spread of "the flaming fire."
Gog and Magog (Ya'juj and Ma'juj) are mentioned twice in the Qur'an. Once they are mentioned in the eighteenth chapter in association with the description of Dajjal. Towards the end of this chapter Dhu-l-Qarnain is spoken of as undertaking journeys in different directions to fortify the frontiers of his empire. Dhu-l-Qarnain literally means the two horned one but it may also mean one whose rule extends over two generations or over two kingdoms. This last significance is given by the commentator, Ibn Jarir.
In the Tanukh, Book of Daniel, we find a mention of a vision of Daniel (as), in which he saw a ram with two horns. The vision is interpreted in the book itself in these words: "The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia" - Daniel, 8:20. Dhu’l Qarnian was the founder of the Medo Persian Empire which represented that two horns of the ram of Daniel’s famousdream. Daniel says: "I saw the ram pushing westward and Northward and Southward; So that no beast might stand before him, neither was there anythat could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great" (Dan. 8:4)
Quite in Harmony with this part of Daniel’s dream, the Quran mentions three journeys of Dhu’l Qarnian (vv. 87, 91, 94). This factlends powerful support to the inference that Dhu’l Qarnain is the descriptive name of a king of Media and Persia. And of all thekings of Media and Persia, the description given in the Quran most fitly applies to Cyrus. He ascended to the throne of Persiaafter the death of his father and subsequently conquered Media which was a greater kingdom than Persia, and thus was fulfilledthe second part of Daniel’s dream:
"and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than theother and the higher came up last" (Dan. 8:3)
The Quran has mentioned four distinctive marks of Dhu’l Qarnian:
(1) He was a righteous servant of God, and was blessed with divine revelation (vv. 87, 92 & 99).
(2) He was a great conqueror and a kind and just ruler; and he treated the nations he conquered most benevolently (vv. 86, 89).
(3) He marched to the West and made great conquests till he came to a place where he found the sun setting in a pool of murkywater and then he turned to the East and subdued vast territories (vv. 85, 87, 88, 89).
(4) Lastly of all he went to a midway region where lived a savage people and where Gog and Magog made inroads, and he built awall there to stop these inroads (vv. 94---98).
Now of the great monarchs and great military captains of ancient times Cyrus possesses in greatest measure the four abovementioned qualifications. He therefore more than anybody else deserves to be considered as the Dhu’l Qarnian of the Quran.
The first distinguished mark of Dhul Qarnian mentioned above is that he was a righteous man of God ad was blessed with divinerevelation. The Bible agrees with the Quran in this respect. The Bible says:
"That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; and tothe temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to cyrus, to Cyrus whose right hand I have holden, tosubdue nations before him, ...........that thou mayest know that I, the Lord which call thee by thy name, am the God if Isreal . . . . .Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jermiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirredup the sprit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing saying: Thussaith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He hath charged me to build tobuild him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah" (Isaiah, 44:28; 45: 1--3; Ezra. 1:1-2 & 2 Chron. 36: 22--23)
Thus according to the Bible Cyrus was Jehova’s "friend", His "anointed" and "shepherd" and "performed all His pleasure" (Jew.Enc., vol. 4, p. 404 &Enc. Bib., vol. 1, col.980).
Dhu’l Qarnain’s second characteristic according to the Quran is that he was a great conqueror and ruler of vast territories. Aboutthis the Bible says:
"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He hath charged me tobuild Him a house at Jerusalem . . . whose hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will lose the loins of kings, toopen before him the two-leaved gates. . . . . I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight; I will break the in piecesthe gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron.; and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secretplaces.." (Ezra 1:2 ; Isaiah 45: 1--3).
In this respect history also supports the Quran and the Bible: It represents Cyrus as a great conqueror and a very humane rulerwho treated the nations he conquered most generously and in return received their most willing allegiance:
"I knew that there were some who willingly obeyed Cyrus, that were may days’ journey, and others that were even some months’journey distant from him, some, too, who had never seen him and some who knew very well that they never should see him; andyet they readily submitted to his government; for he so far excelled all other kings, as well as those that had received theirdominion from their forefathers, as those that had acquired it by their own efforts. . . . . . . More than this he as most humane. Hisshield is stained by no horrible deeds of blood, of frightful revenge and cruelty. . . . He spared and made gifts to conqueredenemies. . . . Because no wide stream of blood separated him from the vanquished, he found the only possible basis for his giantstructure in the raising of conquerors and the conquered to equal privileges. . . . . . Who is there that approaches him? He is notonly beloved by his own people as a father incomparable in every way. . . . . He was not the produc! t of any child of his age but itscreator and father." (Historians’ History of the World, under Cyrus).
Dhu’l Qarnian’s third outstanding mark mentioned in the Quran is that he conquered and established a vast empire in the Eats aswell as in the West. Now it is a well known fact of history that Cyrus ruled over vast territories which extended to the waters ofthe Black Sea I the West and to the confines of Afghanistan, Samaarcand and Bukhara in the East. About his conquests in theWest it may be briefly stated that he had hardly become the ruler of Media and Persia when Croesus, the King of Lydia (AsiaMinor), from his capitol Sardis, instigated the rulers of Babylon, Ninevah and Greek colonies which had extended to the north ofAsia Minor to the sea of Mamora. Thus he reached that pool of murky water which was situated to the west of that country. About Cyrus’ conquests in the East the Historians History of the World (vol. 2, under Cyrus) says:
"How far to the east Cyrus extended his dominion we do not know, but it is probable that all the countries to the East which arementioned in the older inscriptions of Darius as a subjection or rebellion were already subject in the time of Cyrus. In this caseChorasmia (Kharezm, the modern Khiva) and Sodgiana (Sa,arcand and Bukhura) belonged to him. He doubtlessly ruled over alarge portion of Afghanastan." (Historians History of the World)
The following extract also from Historian’ History of the World (under Cyrus) throws further light on the vast range of theconquests of Cyrus in both the West and the East. "But Cyrus finding, in like manner, the nations of Asia independent and setting out with a little army of Persians, obtained thedominion over the Medes by their own choice, and over the Hyrcanians in a similar manner; he subdued the Syrians, Assyrians,Arabians, Cappadocians, both the Phyrgians, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians and Babylonians; he had under his rule theBactarians, Indians and Cilicians as well the Sacians, Paphlagonians and Magadidians and many other nations of whom we cannotenumurate even the names. He had dominions over the Greeks that were settled in Asia and going down to the sea over theCyprians and Egyptians.
These nations he ruled thoug they spoke neither the same language with himself nor with one another; yethe was able to extend the fear of himself over so great a part of the World, that he astonished all and no one attempted anythingagainst him. . . ....without a struggle the greatest empires, the two conquerors of Ninevah, both themselves and their! own kings inchains, as had been done to none other; even Tyre, that proud and mighty city, unconquered and unconquerable, with whose lioncourage his predecessor and his successor, Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander alike, wrestled so fiercely so long, did homage to himof her own free will. Above all the little people of the Jews hailed him at the waters of Babylon as they had done no mortal beforeor since, as the victor and rescuer, the liberator and savior" (Histornian’s History of the World)
The first journey of Cyrus - the emperor of Persia - is spoken of as terminating on the Black Sea:
"Until when he reached the setting place of the sun (or the westernmost point), he found it going down into a black sea." Al-Qur’an 18:86
Then there is a reference to his eastern journey:
"Until when he reached the (land of) the rising sun, he found it rising on a people to whom We had given no shelter from it." Al-Qur’an 18:90
Still further there is a reference to his northern journey:
"Until when he reached (a place) between the two mountains." Al-Qur’an 18:93
The reference here is to the mountains of Armenia and Azarbaijan. In this last northern journey, Dhu-l-Qarnain comes across a people who speak a different language; in other words they do not understand the Persian language. These people appeal to Dhu-l-Qarnain in these words:
"O Dhu-l-Qarnain! Gog and Magog do mischief in the land. May we then pay you tribute on condition that you raise a barrier between us and them?" Al-Qur’an 18:94
Further we are told that Dhu-l-Qarnain actually constructed this wall, and there is mention of iron and copper in this connection, which were used for the gates:
"Bring me blocks of iron. At length when he had filled up the space between the two mountain sides, he said, Blow. Till when he had made it (as) fire, he said, Bring me molten brass to pour over it." Al-Quran 18:96
The barrier or wall referred to here is the famous wall of Derbent (or Darband), which is to be found on the shore of the Caspian Sea. There is a mention of it in Marasid al-Ittila', a famous book of Geography. Ibn al-Faqih also mentions it in his book. The Encyclopedia Biblica gives the following account of the wall:
"Derbent or Darband, a town of Persia, Caucasia, in the province of Daghistan, on the Western shore of the Caspian ... to the south lies the seaward extremity of the Caucasian wall, 50 miles long otherwise known as Alexander's Wall ... This, when entire, had a height of 29 ft. and a thickness of about 10 feet, and with its iron gates and numerous watch-towers formed a valuable defense of the Persian frontier."
In Al-Quran 18:97, we are told that when the wall was completed “they (Gog and Magog) were not able to scale it, nor could they make a hole in it.” In Al-Quran 18:98, Dhu-l-Qarnain is reported as saying that even this wall will be of use only up to a certain time and it will at last collapse. And then we are presented with another scene:
"And on that day We shall let some of them (Gog and Magog) surge against others." Al-Qur’an 18:99.
Immediately after speaking of Gog and Magog fighting each other in verse Al-Quran 18:102, the account reverts to the subject of Al-Masih ad-Dajjal:
“Do those who believe think that they can take My servants to be friends besides Me?” Al-Quran 18:102
This shows that the Qur'an identifies Dajjal with Gog and Magog. They are given two different names because of their two functions. The second reference to Gog and Magog occurs in 21:96:
"Even when Gog and Magog are let loose and they rushing forth from every elevated place." Al-Quran 21:96
Rushing forth from every elevated place means that they will establish their supremacy all over the world. The way the Qur'an speaks of them in both the places shows that a time will come when these people will overpower all the nations of the world. It also appears that they already existed at the time of the revelation of the Book, but that their movements were to remain checked until a certain time, after which they would wield uncontrolled authority in the whole world. Those who have eyes to see should see, and those with ears to hear should hear.
"These are the chronicles of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Yefeth. Children were born to them after the flood. The sons of Yefeth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yavan, Tuval, Meshekh, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Yavan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the isolated nations branched out into their lands. Each had its own language for its families in its nations." Genesis 10:1-5
In the Bible, Gog and Magog are mentioned in very clear terms, and no doubt is left as to their identity. Gog is mentioned clearly and this Gog is the same as Ya'juj of the Qur'an. He is spoken of as being the chief of Russia, Moscow and Tubal. And as for Magog (Ma'juj), only the land of Magog is spoken of. The three names mentioned in the Bible are Rosh or Russia (Rosh), Meshech or Moscow, and Tubal or Tobalsk. While Russia is the name of the country, "Omask" and "Tubal" are the names of two rivers to the north of mount Caucasus. On the former is situated Moscow, and on the latter Tobalsk, both these being the most famous cities of Russia.
So clearly, these descendents of Yefeth (as) were probably a Teutonic people, living to the north of the Palestine (Ezekiel 38:2). Some sources identify Magog with Germania (Targum Yonathan; Targum on 1 Chronicles 1:5; Pesikta Zutratha). Others identify them with the Goths (Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:9). These were a Teutonic people who migrated to Scythia, in what is now southern Russia.
It is therefore not contradictory when some sources identify Magog with Scythia (Josephus; Yoma 10a, according to Rabbenu Chananel; Arukh s.v. Germamia). Ancient histories state that the Scythians came from Asia, driven by the Massagetae (Meshech), and settling near the Cimerians (Herodotus 4:11; see note on Genesis 10:2, 'Gomer'). Linguistically, the Scythians were related to the Iranians, and hence, to the Persians and the Medes. It is therefore significant that there was a Persian tribe known as the Germanians (Herodotus 1:125); which, it is said, migrated to what is now known as Germany.
The population of the land in which Russia is situated (Europe), consists of two main races, Slavs and Teutons. The latter includes the British and the Germans. This clearly shows not only that Gog is the name of the Eastern nations of Europe, but also that Magog is the name of the Western nations of that continent, i.e., the nations known as Teutons. It is also clear that in the beginning both these races lived in the same land. Gog and Magog were the titles of the ancestors of both Europe and Russia. Further evidence of this is found in the fact that from very ancient times the statues of Gog and Magog are found installed in front of the famous Guildhall of London. If these names had nothing to do with the ancestors of these people, why should their statues be installed in this manner before the chief assembly house of the nation?
The reference to these as given in the Scriptures, together with the historical evidence as furnished by these statues in London, establishes it with utmost certainty that Gog and Magog are no fictitious names but are the names of two ancient peoples which inhabit the Continent of Europe and whose influence together covers the whole of the Earth.
In view of these clear indications as to the identity of these people, only one meaning can be attached to the Qur’anic description of them, that they would “rush forth from every place of advantage;” and this means that Europe will wield supreme authority over the whole surface of the globe. The expression "kulli hadab-in," (Al-Qur'an 21:96.) means "every place of advantage," demonstrating that their dominance will not only be in the physical but also in the intellectual sphere, and the other people of the world will be their slaves not only in body but also mentally.
The Qur'an thus gives us a true picture of the political and cultural dominance of Europe over the nations of the world, and the very fact which has brought about a decline of true Islam in these "end of days," (a phrase the Torah refers to the transition period in which we are now living as), is strangely enough also a clear proof of the truth of Islam. For further reference, check the excellent article Jochen Katz, not Dhu'l Qurnain in Murky Waters.
Thank you in advance for your patience in reading this humble feedback.
May Allah{swt} Love you forever more - Wassalam.
Your Brother - A.
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