The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Materialism and Falsehood – Gog, Magog and Dajjal, the Antichrist

Materialism and Falsehood – Gog, Magog and Dajjal^[1], the Antichrist

Gog and Magog are not inventions of Islam. They are prophecies about certain peoples and their conduct that we find in Old Testament.^[2]

Ezekiel 38:1-9. Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog [Yajuj of Quran], of the land of Magog [Majuj of Quran], the prince of Rosh [Roos, Russia], Meshech [Moscow], and Tubal [–river North of Moscow], and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen [–the characteristic of Scythian and Magogian who domesticated horses – equestrian nomads of the northern Russian steppes], all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer [genealogy: Noah->Japheth->Gomer->Askenaz->Scythians;  Noah->Japheth->Magog->Gog-hasan;  Noah->Japheth->Magog->Hiongnu->Huns; Scythians<–>Huns^[3]] and all its troops; the house of Togarmah [Georgians, the Armenians and some Turkic peoples^[4]] from the far north [i.e. Europe] and all its troops—many people are with you.^[5]

Despite their vivid description, demystifying Gog and Magog in the Old Testament has been an ever elusive topic. There is a general consensus that they represent prophecies about certain peoples symbolized by territory of their origin i.e. Europe – land of Magog…Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal…from the far north.  Their military power and splendor are symbolized by – army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Their global reach is reflected in mention of lands and nations far and wide, away from Europe – Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya. Their far reaching deep-seated sway on the peoples of the earth is thus stated – many people are with you. Their ideology is anti-God, both in letter and spirit to which – Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you. Since the exegetes of these prophecies are Gog and Magog themselves, the Christians – mostly of Europe, the anti-God to begin with, it was quite natural that the interpretation of this symbolism was never understood by their coreligionists and its realization has been kicked down the road of history by them like an empty can. Besides, a prophecy comes to full light only after it has been fulfilled. A thief will never call himself a criminal until the time when his conscience is awakened to repent and redeem by undoing the exploit.

The mysteries of Gog and Magog are best understood if spelled by the horse’s mouth. That we find in a speech given by Winston Churchill, the wartime Prime Minister of British Empire, which is captured in the book – ‘Churchill: The Power of Words’ by Martin Gilbert, p. 401-402.

'THE MAIN FOUNDATION OF PEACE'

On 25 October 1951 the Conservative Party was returned to power at the General Election, and Churchill became Prime Minister for the second time. On 9 November 1951, three weeks before his seventy-seventh birthday, he gave his first speech as peacetime Prime Minister, at the Lord Mayor's Banquet at London's Guildhall, ball, which had been massively damaged during the wartime Blitz, and whose historic statues of Gog and Magog – the mythical warring giants who are guardians of the City of London – had been destroyed. Churchill told the gathering:

Though I have very often in the last forty years or so been present at your famous Guildhall banquets to salute the new Lord Mayor, this is the first occasion when I have addressed this assembly here as Prime Minister. The explanation is convincing. When I should have come here as Prime Minister the Guildhall was blown up and before it was repaired I was blown out!

I thought at the time they were both disasters. But now we are all here together in a union which I hope will bring good luck. I am sure we all wish the Lord Mayor a successful year of his arduous office. […]

It is only by studying the past that we can foresee, however dimly, the future. I cannot help feeling the impact of these thoughts in this war-scarred Hall. Its battered monuments remind us of other struggles against the Continental tyrants of the past, in generations before the supreme ordeal of 1940 which we all endured and won together.

I am so glad, my lord Mayor, that you have decided to replace the effigies of Gog and Magog. It was to me a painful blow when they were burnt to ashes by Hitler's bombs. They will look fine in the gallery up there. Indeed I think they are not only ancient but up-to- date. It seems to me that they represent none too badly the present state of world politics.

World politics, like the history of Gog and Magog, are very confused and much disputed. Still I think there is room for both of them. On the one side is Gog and on the other Magog. But be careful, my Lord Mayor, when you put them back, to keep them from colliding with each other, for if that happens both Gog and Magog would he smashed to pieces and we should all have to begin all over again, and begin from the bottom of the pit.

Whatever are the differences between Gog and Magog, at any rate they are made out of the same materials. Let me tell you what the materials are: vast masses of warm-hearted, hard-working human beings wanting to do their best for their country and their neighbours, and longing to build their homes and bring up their children in peace, freedom and the hope of better times for the young when they grow up. That is all they ask of their rulers and governors and guides. That is the dear wish in the hearts of all the peoples of mankind.

How easy it ought to be with modern science standing tiptoe ready to open the doors of a Golden Age, to grant them this humble modest desire. But then there come along all these tribes of nationalists, ideologues, revolutionaries, class warfare experts. and imperialists with their nasty regimentation of academic doctrinaires, striving night and day to work them all tip against one another so that the homes instead of being built are bombed and the breadwinner is killed and the broken housewife left to pick the surviving children out of the ashes. There is the structure: that is the composition which Gog and Magog have in common and there is the fate which both will suffer if you, my Lord Mayor, and others concerned in our City affairs or those who deal with world affairs do not act with ordinary common sense and keep Gog and Magog from falling upon one another.

The historical perspective of the statues of Gog and Magog that Churchill referred to is laid out by Nicholas M. Railton in his article – Gog and Magog: the History of a Symbol, p. 24-25^[6].

The two giants, carved by William Goos, welcomed Henry V in 1415 on his return to London after Agincourt and during the following centuries have offered protection to official ceremonies, midsummer pageants, Lord Mayor Shows, banquets and proceedings within the Guildhall. To Queen Elizabeth I they were known as Gogmagog and Corineus as they guided her to her coronation on 12 January 1558. The former, a descendant of Albion, was armed with arrows and a globe of spikes attached by a chain to a pole (known in the Middle Ages as a 'morning star'), the latter, in traditional Roman costume, as a Trojan invader with spear and shield. The figures no doubt contributed to the myth that London was founded by Greek invaders from Troy under the leadership of Brutus (Corineus' commander-in-chief) as Troja Nova. Both figures were warriors, bearing the scars of war on their faces and hands, and found a home in the London Guildhall by 1593 at the latest. Gogmagog mutated into two giants – most probably under the influence of Scripture – and Corineus was thrown on to the rubbish heap of history. Gog and Magog continued to 'watch and ward' events in the heart of the English capital and were even used to win votes. A handbill produced during a mayoralty election, dated 4 October 1816 and addressed to the London Tavern Livery and their Spouses, promised the giants would 'dance a minuet by steam' once the candidate had been elected. The honour and liberty of England was closely bound up with the presence and protection afforded by the two warrior heroes. New giants carved by Richard Saunoers in 1708 were destoyed by German bombs which hit the building on 29 December 1940, but in 1953 new statues carved by David Evans were unveiled in the west gallery of the Guildhall, Gog to the north and Magog to the south. A phoenix was added to the shield to underline the resurrection of the ancient mythical Britons.

A struggle between the two, recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth century Histories of the Kings of Britain, is said to have ended in a wrestling match near Plymouth, Corineus being Trojan general in Cornwall. Gogmagog loses the match and is thrown into the sea at a place Geoffrey said was still called Goemagot's Leap in the twelfth century. In 1494 figures of the two giants were re-cut into the turf on Plymouth Hoe. Huge rocks known as Gog and Magog can still be seen off Land's End. They also gave their names to the Gog Magog Hills near Cambridge. It is said that semblances of the legendary giants were once cut into the turf of this chalk outcrop which dominates the whole of the plain to the Wash.

Churchill in a nutshell, described Gog and Magog for who they are, the Slavonic and Teutonic races, the Eastern and Western Europeans, their military and economic power, and their wars and their materialistic doctrines of our times that hold sway over every aspect of the globalized culture that only came into existence over past several centuries. He was able to state what he spoke only because he fully identified himself with Gog and Magog. He lived and led their global tribulations both during and outside the World Wars of last century. Besides Churchill, “in the 1st century C.E. the Jewish historian Josephus claimed that Gog and Magog were the Scythians^[7].”^[8] Eerily, his sketch of Gog and Magog reflects what the Old Testament, Quran and Hadiths describe about them and is the topic of current chapter.

Under the shadow of Gog and Magog also evolved a spiritual disfigurement, the Dajjal that is extensively mentioned in visions and prophecies of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as reported in the Hadith collections of Bukhari, Muslim, and Hanbal. It could be equally stated on the reverse that it was because of the doctrine of Dajjal that Gog and Magog fulfilled the prophecies attributed to them both in the Old Testament and the Hadiths.

The source of the turmoil that Churchill faced as head of Magog is identified in Quran to be the Christianity, pertinently of Europe:

19:88-91. And they say: The Beneficent has taken to Himself a son. Certainly you make a detestable assertion! The heavens may almost be torn apart at it, and the earth split, and the mountains crumble down in pieces, that they ascribe a son to the Beneficent! ^[9]

Quran clearly prophesizes the commotion of Gog and Magog that the whole world later endured at their hands in recent centuries, especially during the World Wars – The heavens may almost be torn apart at it, and the earth split, and the mountains crumble down in pieces, and then ties it to that which emanated from their doctrine driven by Christianity in which they – ascribe a son to the Beneficent!

It is to this tearing of heavens, splitting of earth and crumbling of mountains, if taken literally, was what Churchill expressed his concerns about in his speech, after he had seen it all in its full galore as the Prime Minister of British Empire during World War II and also witnessing before that in World War I.

Besides Gog and Magog, the Old Testament identifies their companionship of a ‘Satan’ in a global triad:

Revelation 20:7-8. … Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog…^[10]

Because of Gog and Magog and their accompanying Satan, which is essentially the Dajjal of Hadith, the world continues to suffer exploitation at their hands and remains at risk of the omnipresent wars of future as well in which they will continue to have a direct or indirect role.

It is important for the reader to understand that Dajjal is a doctrine whereas Gog and Magog are races that unleashed the Dajjalic doctrine, which in turn is the basis of the term ‘Antichrist.’ What does the very title ‘Antichrist’ mean? Answer is simply, one who is ‘anti’ of what Jesus Christ was – son of Mary i.e. a human who was born and died in a natural way, what he stood for and what his message was about – monotheism, peace, love, equity, charity, self-effacement and struggle against materialism and usury; one who attributes to Jesus what Jesus was not i.e. the godhead, and that which Jesus rebuts himself in a parable in Quran where he distances himself from the ‘Antichrist’ doctrine:

5:116. And when Allâh said, `O Jesus, son of Mary! did you say to the people, "Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allâh?"' He (-Jesus) replied, `Glory to You! it was not possible and proper for me to say thing to which I had no right. If I had said, You would indeed have known it, (for) You know all that is in my mind but I do not know what is in Yours. It is You alone Who truly know all things unseen.

5:117. `I said nothing to them except that what You had commanded me, "Worship Allâh, my Lord as well as your Lord". I was a witness over them (only) so long as I remained among them but ever since You caused me to die [Arabic: ‘tawaffa’], You Yourself have been the Watcher over them and You are the Witness to everything.^[11]

A keen observer will notice the words of Jesus – "Worship Allâh, my Lord as well as your Lord", which question the fundamental Christian doctrine that “if Jesus was God then how could he himself have worshipped another God?”^[12] Quite logically then according to Quran god-ship was attributed to Jesus after his death. It is this doctrine that is the Antichrist, the Christian doctrine of Trinity and all the cohort forces that have and continue to propagate it by any means, be it from the pulpit, the government, the financial intuitions or the media. Atonement too in itself is Antichrist to begin with. Due to evil of Atonement, the human conscience of Gog and Magog was un-suppressed which in turn then unleashed the beast in them on the world stage. It was because of their doctrine of Atonement which absolves one from all the sins perpetrated and those yet to be committed, irrespective of ruthless barbarism, daily life driven by greed in all its affairs, never ending exploitation of world’s resources both by individuals and nations, subjugation of other humans, colonization and enslavement with impunity of the body and soul of humanity. It was the belief in wicked Atonement which thus gave the European nations a free-hand for their global plunder to an extent and magnitude never before imagined nor witnessed in the world history:

Ezekiel 38:7-13. “… In the latter years … You [–Gog and Magog] will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.” ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’^[13]

Please note the global evil plan outlined in Old Testament of the European colonists against the defenseless world in which they – will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations – the colonies^[14]. The literal plundering of colonies by Gog and Magog was also prophesized when the subjugated in a cry of helplessness – will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ How true!

Gold and silver – COLUMBUS hungered for gold but found little. However his followers did: Cortes plundered the Aztec temples and Pizarro stole shiploads of Inca wealth. But while Indians worked the Spanish mines of Bolivia and Mexico, most of the wealth eventually wound up in the pockets of Dutch, British and French businessmen. The old European mercantile economy was shaken by the massive injection of American wealth. In 1500, Europe had $200 million worth of gold and silver: a century later the amount was eight times greater. Inflation sent the value of precious metals plummeting worldwide. (The Ottoman Empire saw the value of its silver hoard fall 50 per cent by 1584, knocking the Islamic power from contention as a major trading bloc.) And as the American booty spread around Europe, a new merchant and capitalist class was launched. Soon the British and Dutch expanded into North America, India, China and southeast Asia. By 1750 a truly global trading network had been established with Europe in firm control. The catalyst: American gold and silver.

Profit and slaves – THE unimaginable wealth of the Americas soon rendered redundant the old trade routes through Africa – once the main source of new supplies of gold and silver. Africa now had only one thing the Europeans wanted: slaves to work the mines and plantations of the new world. Slavery had existed in Africa for centuries but the demand for cheap labour in the Americas turned the sale of black flesh into a booming and immensely profitable business. By 1619 a million slaves had been brought to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in South America. The British and French easily dominated the slave trade as Spanish ships were too busy hauling all the new American wealth back home. Like American Indians, black people throughout the Americas were abused, degraded and murdered in the pursuit of profit. This legacy of racism and intolerance still cripples social relations throughout the Americas – from Argentina to the Arctic.

Banks and business – OPPORTUNITIES for profit in the Americas also produced the ancestors of today's giant multinational corporations. Pirates like Francis Drake got private financing and royal approval for his plunder of Spanish treasure. Later these pirates also branched out into slavery (forming businesses like the Royal African Company) and eventually plantation agriculture. In the Caribbean and along the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas, plantations growing sugar, tobacco, rice and cotton were hacked out of the forest and black slaves imported to work them. Later, British traders launched business ventures like The Hudson Bay Company (which was 'granted' by Charles II a chunk of Canada larger than Western Europe) and The Virginia Company. The imperial goals of Britain were closely tied to these private business interests. As the corporations prospered (backed by the unrivalled strength of the British Navy) a sophisticated banking system sprang up to handle all the new wealth, followed soon by stock markets to attract new investors.^[15]

Dajjal in Arabic means that someone who covers the truth with falsehood – a liar, [who] covers with its numbers and covers the earth with unbelief.^[16] Paulian Christianity by its very definition is a lie covering the prophethood, mission and mercy of Jesus Christ with doctrines attributing godhood and Atonement to him. The Church has used any and every means to overcome the truth brought forth by human conscience, i.e. Islam, about him, both by the crusades before and in the wars of recent past and even in the present, which Quran rebuts:

4:171. O people of the Scripture! do not go beyond the limits (of propriety) in the matter of your religion, nor say anything regarding Allâh except that which is perfectly true. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary was only a Messenger of Allâh, and (a fulfillment of) His word which He communicated to Mary, and a mercy from Him. Believe, therefore, in Allâh and in all His Messengers, and do not say, `(There are) three (Gods).' Refrain (from following this doctrine) it will be better for you. Verily, Allâh is the One and only God. He is Holy. Far above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And Allâh suffices as a Disposer of affairs.^[17]

5:72-73. Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, `Allâh – He is the Messiah, son of Mary,' whereas the Messiah (himself) said, `O Children of Israel, worship Allâh Who is my Lord and your Lord.' Surely whoso associates partners with Allâh, him has Allâh forbidden Paradise, and his resort will be the Fire and these transgressors shall have no helpers. Most certainly, they have disbelieved who say, `Allâh is the third of the three.' But infact there is no other, cannot be and will never be One worthy of worship except One God. And if they refrain not from what they say, there shall certainly befall those who disbelieve from among them, a grievous punishment.^[18]

There is a waxing question about the true identify of Dajjal amongst the Muslims because its identity is shrouded in numerous prophecies in Hadiths which give its description in awesome details^[19]. Since the term Dajjal is found in Hadith and not in Quran, by using the Hadiths one finds clues to its identity through its manifestations. To understand its turpitudes it becomes obligatory to recognize the national, religious, temporal and political aspects of Dajjal. The Hadiths point to first and last ten verses of Chapter Al-Kahf (– ‘Cave’ or ‘The Place of Refuge’), and by implication the whole chapter itself, as the starting point to identify and understand Dajjal before one is able to protect oneself against its tribulations and influence^[20]. Of note is that the relevant Hadiths are prophecies based upon the visions of Prophet Muhammad, hence they were hidden in a futuristic mystery for centuries, deciphered for their metaphorical meanings only a little over a century ago by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India that fit the then prevalent geo-political upheaval in the world. The same tumult that has prevailed in the world for the last three hundred years is still ongoing into a foreseeable future. Of note is that in Hadiths the agitations of Dajjal are in no way related to end of the times as misconstrued generally.

The religious identity of the Dajjal is found in the initial verses of said chapter that clearly identify it as Christianity, the doctrine of son-ship:

18:4. And that it [– the Quran] may warn those who say, `Allâh has begotten a son.'

18:5. (This is absolutely wrong.) They have no real knowledge of Him, nor (had) their fathers. Grievous is the word that comes out of their mouths. They speak naught but a lie.^[21]

The next verses identify the Dajjal historically, when Christianity in its infancy gave up the material world for religion and adopted monasticism that we see in its early Unitarian Christians^[22] and Ebionites^[23], the ‘People of the Place of Refuge’:

18:9. Do you think that the People of the Place of Refuge and of the Inscriptions were a wonder among Our signs.

18:10. (Recall the time) when the young men betook themselves to the Place of Refuge and said (in prayer), `Our Lord! grant us mercy from Yourself and provide for us right course in our affair (setting all things right for us).'

18:11. So We sealed up their ears (to cut them off from the outside world) in their Place of Refuge for (only) a number of years.

18:12. Then We raised them up (for making certain efforts) that We might distinguish as to which of the two groups had made better use of the time they had stayed there according to its rightful requirement.^[24]

This state of monasticism in Christianity where it rejected worldly pursuits lasted for the initial three hundred years, and some more, till the time when Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and First Council of Nicaea was held in 325 C.E.^[25] where Trinity thus established^[26] and remains of any monotheism in its faith thus expunged:

18:25. And they (- the early Christians) stayed in this Place of Refuge three hundred years ^{[by a solar calendar]} and extended (their stay) another nine (years) ^{[if counting by lunar calendar]}.^[27]

After about a thousand year when Trinity was adopted as the basis of Christianity, started the European Renaissance (French: rebirth), which set into motion the global turmoil of Gog and Magog:

Revelation 20:7-8. Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. ^[28]

The national identity of Dajjal is found in the following verses of the same chapter of Quran which is that of Slavonic and Teutonic races, who subsequently converted to Christianity:

18:92. Then he [`Dhul-Qarnain^[29] – i.e. Cyrus II, 600 or 576 – 530 BC^[30]] launched out on (yet another) course (to the northern part of his empire, – to the territory between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasian Mountains).

18:93. So that when he reached a place (- Derbent) between two barriers (on one side the Caspian Sea and on the other the Caucasian mountains) he found in their vicinity a people who could hardly understand speech (in his Persian language).

18:94. They said, `Dhul-Qarnain! Gog and Magog (-respectively the ancestors of the present Teutonic and Slavonic races) are playing havoc in this country. Shall we pay you tribute on condition that you set up a barrier between us and them?'

18:95. He said, `The power which my Lord has endowed me with about this is better (than this your tribute), you (only) help me with (your resources and human endeavour of physical) strength. I will raise a rampart between you and them.'

18:96. (Then he said,) `Bring me ingots of iron [– a clear reference to iron age which had started several centuries before].' (So that when all was provided for and) he had filled the space between the two barriers, he said, `Now blow (with your bellows).' (They blew) till when he had made it (- the ignots red hot as) fire, he said, `Bring me molten copper that I may pour (it) thereon [– the gates of the walled barrier].'

Note: The time period of fortification by Dhul-Qarnain overlaps with construction of the Great Wall of China which too was erected overtime as a barrier against the same Scythian and Magogian warring hordes.

18:97. So (there was built the rampart which) they (- Gog and Magog) could neither scale nor they had the strength to cause a breach through it.^[31]

The above verses also metaphorically place a temporal check on these races until a certain time when they were unleashed in the recent history only after the Dajjalic doctrine had taken hold of them – Now when the thousand years have expired [after the First Council of Nicaea 325 C.E.], Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea (Revelation 20:7-8). In a different chapter, Quran also makes reference to the unstoppable nature of the Gog and Magog, when they were let loose on the earth to dominate it from every high point of superiority vis-à-vis their science and technology, maritime and military might, economic strength and cultural lures, by which they colonized, exploited and dominated the globe over its air, land and sea, and all aspects of global socio-economic and political affairs that the recent history and current times testify to:

21:96. … when (the great powers like) Gog and Magog [nations which existed but were restricted at the time of advent of Quran] are let loose [globally in the future] and come crashing down from every height and from the crest of every wave, and when they occupy every point of vantage (dominating the whole world and when they excel all other nations).^[32]

The characteristic upheaval that the same European Christian races created in the world, firstly by their surging over the globe and secondly, when the same people surged against each other right from within Europe in centuries of warfare^[33], the Colonial wars, American war of independence, through the Napoleonic wars and the World Wars I & II in which they faced hell in this earth of their own making. By extension the same military forces continue to surge ever since, years on end that recent events testify to including the decades of wars in Palestine, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan:

18:98. He [`Dhul-Qarnain – i.e. Cyrus II] said (thereupon), `This (rampart signifies) a great mercy of my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord (about the spread of the tentacles of Gog and Magog all over the world) shall come to pass, He will raze it [–the temporary physical and allegorical barrier erected by `Dhul-Qarnain in verses 18:95-98] to the ground (crumbling it to pieces), and the promise of my Lord is certainly true.'

18:99. And We shall leave them (- Gog and Magog) alone at that time surging as waves (in furious attacks) one over another. And the trumpet shall be blown [–i.e. global announcement of their domination, upheaval, wars, their pacts and treaties including United Nations, 4 of the 5 members of Security Council belong to Gog and Magog]. Then shall We gather them all together [–League of Nations, United Nations, Eastern European Communist Block, NATO, European Union. Here also is a prophecy of the world gathering under the banner of Islam].

18:100. And We shall (in a way) present hell on that day [e.g. World War I & II etc.], face to face to the disbelievers.^[34]

Similar to Quran, the Old Testament also prophesizes the upheavals of Gog and Magog that the world saw after their slicing up of Middle East – the Land of Israel, dismemberment of Ottoman Empire and then going into World War II against each other:

Ezekiel 38:14-23. “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.”’^[35]

Sadly, the above passage is a summary of World Wars I & II so far, when – says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,”. The global extent of the war was thus prophesized – “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. About 73 million died in WWII^[36] alone, whereas 39 million casualties occurred in WWI.^[37] The reference to Israel in the prophecies about Gog and Magog essentially alludes to the victimization of Jewish people wherever they maybe, at the hands of European Christians, firstly during Crusades in the Middle East and then in Europe in recent centuries  – Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land.

The intensity of their might and the warfare technologies can be discerned by their creating equivalent of hell on earth, the examples of which are found in Quran:

55:33. O body of jinn (- fiery natured) and (ordinary) the people! If you have the power and capacity to go beyond the confines of the heavens and the earth, then do go. But you will not be able to go unless you have the necessary and unusual power.

55:35. Flames of fire, smoke and molten copper will be let loose upon you and you will not be able to defend yourselves.

55:37. And when the heaven splits up and turns crimson like red hide (how will you fare then)?^[38]

The economic and industrial face of Dajjal is identified in the last verses of the Chapter Al-Kahf which pinpoints them by their unique manufacturing base and their daily lives overtaken by materialism at the cost of any spiritual gains for the mere fact that despite following a so called religion, Christianity, they are not following truth but a falsehood, which is just another name for Dajjal, the Antichrist. Essentially, the world under their sway and unbeknownst to themselves, they too are consumed by their own ‘Dajjalic’ doctrine which as noted in Quran has transformed from its initial monasticism of about three hundred years after Jesus Christ to its current state of materialism over last several centuries:

18:101. Those (of them) whose eyes were under a cover (not heeding) My Reminder, and they could not even afford to hear (to the voice of truth).

18:102. Do those disbelievers [of Dajjalic doctrine, the Christians, the only doctrine centered on a ‘son’ of God in prevailing religions of the world] think, even then, that they can take My servants as patrons to My exclusion? (Let them know) surely We have prepared Gehenna for the disbelievers as an entertainment.

18:103. Say, `Shall We inform you of those whose [materialistic] deeds shall spell their utter loss?'

18:104. (They are) those whose [materialistic] efforts are (all) lost in (pursuit of things relating to) the life of this world, yet they think they are doing works of good manufacturing [while they are blind to spiritual aspects of human growth].^[39]

Contrary to verses 18:9-12 when the early Christianity had abandoned the worldly life for religion and adopted monasticism, the above verse points to a reversal point in its doctrine, when it will renounce religion for materialism. The next verse then provides the reason for such a doctrinal shift which is now their national remorselessness and a belief in unaccountability of their exploitations, diplomatically called as economic and national interest, and their unbelief in life after death which inherently would act as a check on their selfish behaviors:

18:105. It is these who disbelieve in and deny the Messages of Allâh and the meeting with Him. So their deeds have gone vain, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall assign them no weight.^[40]

The doctrine of Dajjal removed any vestige of regret from the psyche of its followers which consequentially makes them remorseless in their global exploitation that resulted primarily from their core belief in Trinity and its accompanying Atonement, a falsehood, pure and simple. The Quran gives a disclaimer and distances its message from the followers of doctrine of Dajjal:

18:110. Say, `I [-Muhammad] am but a human being like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is only One God ^{[i.e. not Trinity]}. So let him who hopes to meet his Lord do deeds of righteousness and let him associate no one in the worship of his Lord.^[41]

After giving the prophecies about arrival and global domination by the doctrine of Dajjal, Quran also speaks of its destruction, not in terms of killings, but crumbling of the Cross which is its controlling ideology:

2:97. And when the time (of the fulfillment) of the true promise (about the destruction of the forces of falsehood and materialism as represented by Gog and Magog) draws near, behold! the eyes of those who do not believe (in the triumph of truth), will be transfixed (and they will exclaim), `Ah, woe to us! we were really forgetful of this (day), nay, we were of course unjust.'

2:98. (It will be said to them,) `Surely, you and the things [including the Trinity,, Atonement and materialism] which you worship apart from Allâh are, of course, fuel of Gehenna, where you shall enter.'

2:99. Had these things been true gods [–Trinity, Atonement and materialism] (as you claim to be) they would not have come to it. But (as it is) they shall all enter it and abide in it for long.^[42]

The destruction of forces of materialism in above three verses are alluded to in another Hadith, in which it was prophesied that sun will rise from the west, again interpreted by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the rise of Islam from the west. It too was prophesized by Ezekiel once the tribulations of Gog had come to pass:

Ezekiel 38:14-23. “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog…Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.”’^[43]

Interpretation of the said hadith is the first step towards that sunrise when Islam will be adopted instead of Christianity by the Gog and Magog and Dajjal will be vanquished. While other religions may be non-Christians, Islam is singularly Antichristian. Islam in its ideology is the only antidote against the Antichrist as Islam is an anti-Dajjal by nature. It is not the only bulwark against the Dajjalic doctrine, but has the inherent intellectual capacity to overcome it. Islam uniquely stands against son-ship and sun-ship. While standing against son-ship attributed to Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), it flushes away the ‘mysteries’ of crucifixion and resurrection. It does not hesitate to expunge the bad math of ‘three equals one’. It also does away with the make-belief moral value of sun-ship originated by Constantine and his Sun’day worship and the symbols of tonsure ‘sun-disks’ of the monks, eastward facing entrances of sun-altars – the Churches, the pagan celestial festivals of winter solstice and vernal equinox – the Christmas and Easter representing the yearly decline and rise of Sun God, the cross’ing of Sun through Pisces – the symbol fish, the virgin births of sun-gods, the resurrections and healing powers of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Babylonian and Persian sun-gods – including Jesus of the New Testament. It even bodily buries Jesus, the prophet, in a heaven on earth, in the vale of Kashmir and the mother, Mary in Murree, not too far from the son:

23:50. And We made the son of Mary [–Jesus] and his mother a sign, (and a model of virtue), and We gave them both refuge [Note the key word “refuge” i.e. the final destination of an escape] upon a worth-living lofty plateau abounding in (green and fruitful) valleys and springs of running water [– a historical and geographical reference to Kashmir].^[44]

Ali Akbar in his book ‘Prophecies of the Holy Quran’^[45] on page 71 summarizes the subject matter as referenced in Quran in its Chapter Al-Kahf – The Cave as follows:

Regarding chapter 18, all but two sections of this particular chapter (sections 9 and 10) are related to the history of Christianity and the European nations from their early past to their coming future,

Verses 94 to 98 identify Gog and Magog as the European nations.

Verses 4, 5 and 102 identify their religion as Christianity.

Verse 104 speaks of them as great industrial nations of the future.

Verse 7 states that they will beautify the earth.

Verse 9 speaks of them as great trading nations.

Verses 99 and 100 state that they will bring great destruction to the world.

Verse 8 says that whatever embellishments they have made will be reduced to dust without harvest.

It thus becomes important for Muslims to understand their own condition under the subjugation of Gog and Magog and the sway of Dajjal that will pollute their own spiritual state for which reader is referred to the book – ‘The Antichrist, and Gog and Magog’ by Maulana Muhammad Ali. The remedy for the doctrine of Antichrist, the Dajjal, is first to recognize it, which we find in Chapter 18^th Chapter Al-Kahf (The Place of Refuge or The Cave) of the Quran and secondly to intellectually strive against its influence in personal lives and confronting it with arguments in Quran, because it is Quran alone that can make the Dajjal dissolve away like salt in water:

25:52. So do not follow the disbelievers, and strive hard against them with the help of this (Qur'ân), a mighty striving.^[46]

If and when Gog and Magog are stripped of their Dajjalic doctrine of Trinity, Atonement and materialism which are a stark reality of its existence,^[47] and the Cross is broken as an imaginative figment; only then its monocular blindness^[48] of the Right spiritual eye^[49] could be restored to its full spiritual brightness at par with its contralateral bright eye of materialism, and the consequent result will be spiritually enriched nations that with their unparalleled modernity of science and knowledge will be blessings for the humanity.

^[1] “The Antichrist and Gog and Magog” by Maulana Muhammad Ali – A must read on the topic. Link: http://www.aaiil.org/text/books/mali/gog/gog.shtml
^[2] Gog is mentioned by name in 1 Chronicles 5:4; Ezekiel 38:1-3,14,16,18,2; Ezekiel 39:1,11,15; Revelation 20:8. Similarly, Magog is mentioned in Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5; Ezekiel 38:2; Ezekiel 38:2; Ezekiel 39:6; Revelation 20:8.
^[3] GOG AND MAGOG – THEIR NAMES IN HISTORY, THEIR PLACES IN PROPHECY. Link: http://www.soundchristian.com/magog/

^[4] Wikipedia. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togarmah; see also footnote 3.
^[5] New King James Version: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+38%3A1-9&version=NKJV

^[6] PDF Link: http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/2003-1_023.pdf

^[7] Scythian, also called Scyth, Saka, and Sacae, member of a nomadic people, originally of Iranian stock, known from as early as the 9th century bce who migrated westward from Central Asia to southern Russia and Ukraine in the 8th and 7th centuries bce. The Scythians founded a rich, powerful empire centered on what is now Crimea. The empire survived for several centuries before succumbing to the Sarmatians during the period from the 4th century bce to the 2nd century C.E. Encyclopedia Britannica. Link: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Scythian

^[8] Encyclopedia Britannica. Link: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Gog

^[9] Maryam – Mary: Muhammad Ali – Zahid Aziz
^[10] New King James Version. Link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A7-8&version=NKJV

^[11] Al-Maidah – The Table Spread with Food: Nooruddin
^[12] A quote from documentary “National Geographic: Inside Mecca”.
^[13] New King James Version. Link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+38%3A8-13&version=NKJV

^[14] History of Colonialism. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_colonialism

^[15] ‘Simply… The Stolen Continent.’ Link: http://newint.org/features/1991/12/05/simply/

^[16] Paraphrased from “The Antichrist and Gog and Magog” by Maulana Muhammad Ali
^[17] Al-Nisa – The Women: Nooruddin
^[18] Al-Maidah – The Table Spread with Food: Nooruddin
^[19] “The Antichrist and Gog and Magog” by Maulana Muhammad Ali.
^[20]  Whoever commits to memory the first ten verses of the chapter entitled the Cave will be immune from (the trials of) Dajjal (Al-Muslim 6:42; Abu Dawud; Tirmidhi; Musnad Ahmad.). Whoever recites the last ten verses of the chapter entitled the Cave will be safe from the trials of Dajjal (Al-Muslim; Tirmidhi; Abu Dawud 36:12.).
^[21] Al-Kahf – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[22] Wikipedia: Unitarians. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Unitarianism#Early_origins

^[23] Wikipedia: Ebionites. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebionites

^[24] Al-Kahf – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[25] Wikipedia: First Council of Nicaea. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea

^[26] Wikipedia: Link: Comparison between Creed of 325 and Creed of 381. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed#Comparison_between_Creed_of_325_and_Creed_of_381

^[27] Al-Kahf – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[28] New King James Version. Link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A7-8&version=NKJV

^[29] Daniel 8:1-4. In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me the first time. I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in Shushan, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.
Daniel 8:15-20. Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.” Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright. And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be. The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia.
^[30] Wikipedia: Cyrus the Great. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great

^[31] Al-Kahf – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[32] Al-Baqarah – The Cow: Nooruddin
^[33] Wikipedia: List of conflicts in Europe. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_Europe

^[34] Al-Kahf – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[35] New King James Version: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+38%3A14-23&version=NKJV

^[36] Wikipedia: World War II Casualties. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties

^[37] Wikipedia: World War I Casualties. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties

^[38] Al-Rahman – The Most Gracious: Nooruddin
^[39] Al-Kahf – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[40] ibid – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[41] ibid – The Place of Refuge: Nooruddin
^[42] Al-Baqarah – The Cow: Nooruddin
^[43] New King James Version: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+38%3A14-23&version=NKJV

^[44] Al-Muminun – The Believers: Nooruddin ^[45] Published by The Woking Muslim Mission & Literary Trust, The Shah Jehan Mosque, Woking, Surrery, U.K. 1968. Link: http://www.aaiil.org/text/books/others/misc/propheciesholyquran/propheciesholyquran.shtml
^[46] Al-Furqan – The Standard of True and False: Nooruddin
^[47] Hadiths refer to Dajjal having Kufr, i.e. unbelief; prominently written on its forehead that even the unlettered believer will be able to read it, implying the unbelief and actions of Dajjal will be obvious to all and sundry of the believers.
^[48] In Hadiths, Dajjal is described to have blindness in Right eye, implying its spiritual void whereas its Left eye is bright as a shining star, indicating its highly developed worldly and materialistic vision.
^[49] In amblyopia (blindness in one eye), the brain prefers the healthier eye over the other which could be impaired due to various reasons. The impaired eye is thus ignored to the point that due to inadequate stimulation the visual cortex does not mature normally. The blindness may go unnoticed by the patient and may persist into older age and missed because of the overriding of perception of normal vision by the other eye. The treatment in children usually involves patching the normal eye for a few hours every day for a few months so that the affected eye and its brain circuits may get a chance to mature.