Tuesday, 26 May 2026 (10 Dhuʻl-Hijjah 1447 AH)
Question: It is mentioned in reports and historical accounts that the barrier of Gog and Magog exists on earth, and that they are confined behind it and will not be released except near the establishment of the Hour. With the development of transportation and the advancement of modern science in this era, we have not heard any report from any country that it exists within its territory.
Does this indicate that it does not exist and that it has already ended? Or has Allah concealed its matter from the children of Adam?
Answer — and Allah is the Grantor of success: It is likely that the promise of the destruction of the barrier has already passed. The evidence for this is the absence of anything preventing communication between the inhabitants of the earth. We have heard the latest news of people surging over one another, and the prevalence of fighting and tribulations across the northern half of the earth, where Dhū al-Qarnayn marched with his armies. The latest we heard was the First and Second World Wars, in which the number of those killed from the Russians alone in the Second World War reached twenty million, according to what was mentioned by Russian radio, and the total casualties of the Second World War reached fifty million, as stated by al-Sayyid Sābiq al-Hindī, the Muslim scholar.
The verse does not specify that its destruction is at the establishment of the Hour or upon its occurrence; rather, it mentioned the promise in absolute terms, without specification. And His saying, the Exalted: “And the Trumpet will be blown” [Al-Kahf:99] after mentioning the barrier is not a restriction of the destruction of the barrier; rather, it is information from Allah, the Exalted, about the destinies of creation and the true appointed time that awaits them.
What is narrated in ḥadīths from the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) regarding Gog and Magog are solitary reports, and such reports should not be relied upon.
And His saying, the Exalted: “Until when Gog and Magog are opened and they surge from every elevation, and the true promise draws near; then behold, the eyes of those who disbelieved will stare…” [Al-Anbiyāʾ] does not contradict what we have stated, since the nearness of the Hour begins from the time of the mission of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace).
This being so, after the First World War, the inhabitants of the north took control over most of the lands of the Muslims, subjugated their people, killed them, and humiliated them.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3