Who Really Are Gog and Magog?
Tafseer of Surat Al-Anbiya: Understanding Gog and Magog (Ya'juj and Ma'juj)
Summary
In this episode of Tafseer Surat Al-Anbiya, Sheikh Ali Mashhour discusses the Quranic account of Gog and Magog (Ya'juj and Ma'juj). He clarifies that many historical descriptions of these groups as otherworldly creatures with unusual physical features are not authentic according to Islamic sources. The Prophet Muhammad clarified that they are human beings, with a narration indicating that 999 out of every 1000 people from Adam's offspring will be from Gog and Magog. The Sheikh explains the story of the wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn to contain them and discusses two scholarly opinions about their current status: one that they remain behind the wall in an unknown location, and another (held by the majority of scholars and Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Suyuti) that they have already spread throughout the earth as technology advanced, with the breaking of the wall being a sign of the Day of Judgment rather than a barrier still containing them.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Yeah George, George. Referred to an English as Gog and Magog. and there are many many things that are said about Gog and Magwag. However, a large majority of these things written in history books, especially marks extens, extensive, expansive books on history and so forth. Well, mention description descriptions of these two tribes that are otherworldly. that they have drills for tongues, that they have teeth that are such and such size and shape that their ears have this kind of ears similar to elephants and that some of them are very very small and short while others are very very tall and big. All of these descriptions are not authentic. rather The only sure thing that we know about and with regards to their description that they are human beings Prophet mentioned that on the day of resurrection, it will be said to Adam to separate Those from his offspring who are the people of hell He asked how many are they? And he is told 999 from every 1000. The prophet then and comment commented on this saying that of you, there are for everyone 999. This narration articulates that they are human beings and we have no reason to believe that they are otherwise. mentioned in Surat asked to build a dam to keep them at bay you connect to giant mountains at the opening or where these two mountains part. Would come out and they would pillage and raid and and do all types of terrible things. And so built this dam connected it, and kept their evil at bay by doing so for a time. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in that this dam will be reduced to rubble one day. and upon such event will descend on the people of the earth as Allah here describes. He says, When the dam of Gog and Magog has been opened and they from every elevation descent. They are murderous people. that will pillage, and destroy everything in their wake. Now, beyond these descriptions that I have mentioned We don't really know much about yet Georgian Georgia. We know that they're human beings. We know of the events roughly that took place with when yeah George and George and and we know that near the end of time, near the hour, near the day of judgement, they will descend upon the people of Earth and leave destruction in their wake. However, more than that, beyond that, what is beyond that is unclear to us. There are two opinions that are considerable with regards to a Georgian. One opinion is that yet George and Matt George are still kept at bay behind this wall. Where this is? We don't know. How this is? We don't know. Some people have tried to rationalize this by saying, yeah, George and Matt, George are some kind of alien species that are not on Earth actually. Others try to rationalize this by saying that there is a difference between a said as mentioned in Surat They tried to say that yet Georgia are actually underground and they're being kept at bay by a wall that is more of a cap than it is a wall. However, it's very possible that they are kept at bay somewhere on this vast earth that we are unaware of. Are we aware of everything? No. An absence of knowledge is not knowledge of absence. very arrogant of us to assume that we know everything and have seen everything on this earth. very possible improbable yet possible The other opinion and that is the opinion of the majority of the scholars. Another opinion, is an opinion which states that the dam or the wall of is not actually keeping them at bay anymore. It did. At one point. However, as technology advanced and as they reproduced and so on and so forth. Yeah, Georgia spread throughout the Earth as human beings do. And what we can gather from the verses in the Quran. They had George and Matt George are very far north. Where north? This is what has as concluded in Surat and that this wall was built there and that they remained there kept at bay during the time of the in ancient times and later, they spread throughout the Earth and migrated and this wall remained. and that these Northern Asian countries, these are actually the descendants of George. and that this wall is left as an indicator of the of the hour. So, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that the gate or the wall of or the dam of will be reduced to rubble. This is a sign of the day of resurrection and the violence of George being unleashed upon people rather than a barrier keeping George at bay. This is the opinion of a Sheikh Abdul Rahman of Insanity, Rahima Allah, one of the great scholars of Tafsir of contemporary times and others of the from Al Azhar. and this opinion is possible and plausible. and as far as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioning from every elevated from every elevation they will descend This in that context would be a reference to modern technology and how that would be used as a tool of genocide against mankind will continue inshallah tomorrow.
[Arabic recitation]