Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)

Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) are a numerous corrupt people. In the time of Dhul-Qarnayn they were spreading corruption on earth so he built a barrier of iron and molten copper that stopped them. The Quran announces that this barrier will crumble at the end of times: their emergence is one of the greatest signs of the approaching Hour.

In the story of Dhul-Qarnayn (Surah al-Kahf), he reached a place between two mountains inhabited by a people who could barely understand a word. They complained: 'O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed Yajuj and Majuj are corrupters in the land. May we pay you tribute that you might make between us and them a barrier?'

Dhul-Qarnayn refused payment and accepted the work. He requested iron bars and filled the gap between the two mountains then lit fires until the iron became embers and poured copper over it. A barrier arose that Yajuj and Majuj could neither scale nor pierce.

But Dhul-Qarnayn added a fundamental word: this barrier is a mercy from God and God will make it crumble when His Lord's promise comes. The Quran confirms it in Surah al-Anbiya': at the end of times the barrier is opened and they rush 'from every high ground' — a sign of the approaching Hour.

Yajuj and Majuj are among the few explicitly named in the Quran, giving them firm establishment. Their future emergence is confirmed by authentic hadiths (Bukhari and Muslim). However, many circulating accounts about their physical characteristics (small size, large ears, exact number) and the specific location of the barrier and identifying them with a contemporary people are not established in authentic sources: they come from weak narrations or speculations. The Quran and authentic hadiths remain measured: a corrupt people contained behind a barrier that will emerge at the end of times. We stop there. A word on verse 18:86 (the west): it is among the Quran's most contemplated verses. It describes a perception — to Dhul-Qarnayn it seemed the sun set in a murky spring. Various readings have been proposed through the centuries; the site presents the verse in its precise wording and does not adjudicate on interpretation.

Yajuj and Majuj remind us that every protection in this world is a grace from God that only endures by His will: the most solid barrier will crumble when He decides. The story is a call to humility before the signs of the Hour and not to let heedlessness take hold — as verse 21:97 recalls.

حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ ٱلشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِى عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا

qui le conduisit jusqu'au Couchant où il lui sembla que le soleil se couchait dans une source boueuse et où il trouva un peuple.

18:86

Ces gens lui demandèrent : « Dhou Al-Qarnayn ! Gog et Magog répandent le mal sur terre. Es-tu disposé à dresser entre ces gens et nous un barrage contre salaire ? »

18:94

Gog et Magog ne purent donc franchir le barrage, et encore moins y pratiquer une brèche.

18:97

Mais lorsque le barrage dressé devant Gog et Magog aura cédé, les laissant déferler de toute hauteur,

21:96