Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL ANBIYAA' [95]

95. And a ban is laid on every town which We have destroyed that they shall not return. 96. Until, when Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog people) are let loose, and they swoop down from every Hadab. 97. And the true promise shall draw near. Then, you shall see the eyes of the disbelievers fixedly staring in horror. (They will say:) ”Woe to us! We were indeed heedless of this -- nay, but we were wrongdoers.''

(And a ban is laid on every town) Ibn `Abbas said, ”it is enforced'', i.e., it has been decreed that the people of each township that has been destroyed will never return to this world before the Day of Resurrection, as is reported clearly ﴿through other narrations﴾ from Ibn `Abbas, Abu Ja`far Al-Baqir, Qatadah and others.  

(Until, when Ya`juj and Ma`juj are let loose,) We have already mentioned that they are from the progeny of Adam, upon him be peace; they are also descents of Nuh through his son Yafith (Japheth), who was the father of the Turks, Turk referring to the group of them who were left behind the barrier which was built by Dhul-Qarnayn. Allah says:

(This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the promise of my Lord is ever true. And on that Day, We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another...)ï´¿18:98-99ï´¾. And in this Ayah, Allah says:

(Until, when Ya`juj and Ma`juj are let loose, and they swoop down from every Hadab.) meaning, they will come forth quickly to spread corruption. A Hadab is a raised portion of land. This was the view of Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Abu Salih, Ath-Thawri and others. This is how their emergence is described, as if the listener can see it.

(And none can inform you like Him Who is the All-Knower.) ﴿35:14﴾. This is information given by the One Who knows what has happened and what is yet to come, the One Who knows the unseen in the heavens and on earth. There is no god except Him. Ibn Jarir narrated that `Ubaydullah bin Abi Yazid said, ”Ibn `Abbas saw some young boys playing and pouncing on one another, and said, this is how Ya'juj and Ma'juj will emerge.'' Their emergence has been described in numerous Hadiths of the Prophet . The First Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri said: ”I heard the Messenger of Allah say:

(Ya'juj and Ma'juj will be let loose and will emerge upon mankind, as Allah says: (and they swoop down from every Hadab.) They will overwhelm the people, and the Muslims will retreat to their cities and strongholds, bringing their flocks with them. They ﴿Ya'juj and Ma'juj﴾ will drink all the water of the land until some of them will pass a river and drink it dry, then those who come after them will pass by that place and will say, ”There used to be water here once.'' Then there will be no one left except those who are in their strongholds and cities. Then one of them will say, ”We have defeated the people of the earth; now the people of heaven are left.'' One of them will shake his spear and hurl it into the sky, and it will come back stained with blood, as a test and a trial for them. While this is happening, Allah will send a worm in their necks, like the worm that is found in date-stones or in the nostrils of sheep, and they will die and their clamor will cease. Then the Muslims will say, ”Who will volunteer to find out what the enemy is doing'' One of them will step forward and volunteer, knowing that he will likely be killed. He will go down and will find them dead, lying on top of one another. Then he will call out, ”O Muslims! Rejoice that Allah has sufficed you against your enemy!'' Then they will come out of their cities and strongholds, and will let their flocks out to graze, but they will have nothing to graze upon except the flesh of these people (Ya'juj and Ma'juj), but it will fill them better than any vegetation they have ever eaten before.) It was also recorded by Ibn Majah. The Second Hadith Imam Ahmad also recorded from An-Nawwas bin Sam`an Al-Kilabi that the Messenger of Allah mentioned the Dajjal one morning. ”Sometimes he described him as insignificant and sometimes he described him as so significant that we felt as if he were in the cluster of palm trees. He said:

(There are other things that I fear for you more than the Dajjal. If he emerges while I am among you, I will deal with him for you. If he emerges when I am not among you, then each man will have to deal with him for himself, and Allah will take care of each Muslim on my behalf. He (the Dajjal) will be a young man with short, curly hair and a floating eye. He will emerge in a place between Syria and Iraq and will spread mischief right and left. O servants of Allah, be steadfast!) We said, `O Messenger of Allah, how long will he remain on earth' He said,

(Forty days: one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of the days like your days.) We said, `O Messenger of Allah, on that day which will be like a year, will the prayers of one day and one night be sufficient' He said,

(No, but you will have to compute it according to its due proportion (and pray accordingly).) We said, `O Messenger of Allah, how fast will he move across the land' He said,

(Like a cloud driven by the wind.) He said,

(He will come to a people and call them ﴿to his way﴾ and they will respond to him. He will issue a command to the sky and it will rain, and to the earth and it will bring forth vegetation, then their livestock will come to them in the evening with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks wide and fat. Then he will come to another people and call them ﴿to his way﴾ and they will refuse, and their wealth will leave with him, and they will be faced with drought, with none of their wealth left. Then he will walk through the wasteland and will say to it, ”Bring forth your treasure,'' and its treasure will come forth like a swarm of bees. Then he will issue commands that a man be killed, and he will strike him with a sword and cut him into two pieces, and (put these pieces as far apart) as the distance between an archer and his target. Then he will call him, and the man will come to him with his face shining. At that point Allah will send the Messiah `Isa bin Maryam, who will come down to the white minaret in the eastern side of Damascus, wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and with his hands resting on the wings of two angels. He will search for him (the Dajjal) until he catches up with him at the eastern gate of Ludd, where he will kill him. Then Allah will reveal to `Isa ibn Maryam the words: ”I have brought forth from amongst My creatures people against whom none will be able to fight. Take My servants safely to the Mount (Tur).'' Then Allah will send Ya'juj and Ma'juj, as Allah says: (and they swoop down from every Hadab.))

(`Isa and his companions will beseech Allah, and Allah will send against them insects which will attack their necks, and in the morning they will all perish as one. Then `Isa and his companions will come down and they will not find a single spot on earth that is free from their putrefaction and stench. Then `Isa and his companions will again beseech Allah, and He will send birds with necks like those of Bactrian camels, and they will carry them and throw them wherever Allah wills.) Ibn Jabir said: ”`Ata' bin Yazid As-Saksaki told me, from Ka`b or someone else: `They will throw them into Al-Mahbal.' Ibn Jabir said: ”I said, `O Abu Yazid, and where is Al-Mahbal'' He said, ”In the east (where the sun rises).'' He said:

(Then Allah will send rain which no house of clay or (tent of) camel's hair will be able to keep out, for forty days, and the earth will be washed until it looks like a mirror. Then it will be said to the earth: bring forth your fruit and restore your blessing. On that day a group of people will be able to eat from one pomegranate and seek shade under its skin, and everything will be blessed. A milch-camel will give so much milk that it will be sufficient for a whole group of people, and a milch-cow will give so much milk that it will be sufficient for a whole clan, and a sheep will be sufficient for an entire household. At that time Allah will send a pleasant wind which will reach beneath their armpits and will take the soul of every Muslim -- or every believer -- and there will be left only the most evil of people who will commit fornication like mules, and then the Hour will come upon them.)'' This was also recorded by Muslim but not by Al-Bukhari. It was also recorded by the Sunan compilers, with different chains of narrators. At-Tirmidhi said, ”It is Hasan Sahih.'' The Third Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded from Ibn Harmalah, from his maternal aunt who said: ”The Messenger of Allah gave a Khutbah, and he had a bandage on his finger where he had been stung by a scorpion. He said:

(You say that you have no enemy, but you will keep fighting your enemies until Ya'juj and Ma'juj come, with their wide faces, small eyes and reddish hair, pouring down from every mound with their faces looking like burnished shields.)'' Ibn Abi Hatim recorded a Hadith of Muhammad bin `Amr from Khalid bin `Abdullah bin Harmalah Al-Mudlaji, from his paternal aunt, from the Prophet , and he mentioned something similar. It was confimred by Hadiths that `Isa bin Maryam will perform Hajj to the Al-Bayt Al-`Atiq (i.e., the Ka`bah). Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Sa`id said: ”The Messenger of Allah said:

(He will certainly come to this House and perform Hajj and `Umrah, after the emergence of Ya'juj and Ma'juj.) This was recorded by Al-Bukhari.

(And the true promise (Day of Resurrection) shall draw near.) the Day of Resurrection, when these terrors and earthquakes and this chaos will come to pass. The Hour has drawn nigh and when it comes to pass, the disbelievers will say: ”This is a difficult Day.'' Allah says:

(Then, you shall see the eyes of the disbelievers fixedly staring in horror.) because of the horror of the tremendous events that they are witnessing.

(Woe to us!) means, they will say, `Woe to us!'

(We were indeed heedless of this) means, in the world.

(nay, but we were wrongdoers.) they will admit their wrong- doing at the time when that will not help them at all.