Gog and Magog (Yajooj Majooj) in Islam

Gog and Magog — Yajooj and Majooj (يَأْجُوج وَمَأْجُوج) — are a people mentioned twice in the Qur’an and repeatedly in authentic hadith. They were sealed behind a barrier built by Dhul-Qarnayn, and their release is one of the major signs of the Last Hour.

Almost everything else you will read about them online is speculation.

This article separates what the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah actually establish from what is guesswork — the identifications with Mongols or Chinese, the theories about the Great Wall, the strange descriptions of their appearance. All of it gets treated honestly, with sources you can check.

Quick Answer

Yajooj and Majooj are human beings, descendants of Adam (peace be upon him), not monsters or a separate creation. This is established in Sahih al-Bukhari 3348.
They appear in the Qur’an in Surah al-Kahf 18:93–98 and Surah al-Anbiya 21:96–97.
Dhul-Qarnayn built a barrier of iron and molten copper that they could neither scale nor tunnel through (18:96–97).
Their release is a major sign of the Hour, occurring after the appearance of the Dajjal and the descent of Isa (peace be upon him) — the sequence is given in Sahih Muslim 2937a.
Their exact identity and the location of the barrier are not established in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah. Classical scholars declined to specify, and so should we.

Who Are Yajooj and Majooj?

The Qur’an introduces them through the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, a righteous traveller granted power in the earth. Reaching a place between two mountain barriers, he found a people who could barely understand speech, and who made a request:

قَالُوا يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَهَلْ نَجْعَلُ لَكَ خَرْجًا عَلَى أَن تَجْعَلَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ سَدًّا

“O Dhul-Qarnayn! Surely Gog and Magog are spreading corruption throughout the land. Should we pay you tribute, provided that you build a wall between us and them?” — Surah al-Kahf 18:94

Two things stand out. They are described as mufsidūn — spreaders of corruption in the land — moral language, the same word used elsewhere for human wrongdoers. And they were a people the neighbouring tribe knew by name and feared. This is not a myth about creatures; it is an account of a human nation.

That reading is confirmed decisively by a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari. On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will command Adam (peace be upon him) to send forth the portion destined for the Fire — nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand. The Companions asked which of them would be the one spared, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) reassured them:

“Rejoice with glad tidings; one person will be from you and one thousand will be from Gog and Magog.” — Sahih al-Bukhari 3348

Adam is being asked to bring out his own descendants. Yajooj and Majooj are among the children of Adam — human, vastly numerous, and overwhelmingly disbelieving.

The Barrier of Dhul-Qarnayn

Dhul-Qarnayn refused the payment offered to him — “What my Lord has provided for me is far better” (18:95) — and asked instead for manpower and materials:

“Bring me blocks of iron!” Then, when he had filled up ˹the gap˺ between the two mountains, he ordered, “Blow!” When the iron became red hot, he said, “Bring me molten copper to pour over it.” — Surah al-Kahf 18:96

The result:

“And so the enemies could neither scale nor tunnel through it.” — Surah al-Kahf 18:97

Note the engineering described: iron blocks levelled between two mountain faces, heated with bellows until glowing, then sealed with molten copper poured over. This is a specific description, and it does not match a wall of rammed earth, brick and stone.

Dhul-Qarnayn then said something that frames everything that follows:

قَالَ هَذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّي فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا

“This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will level it to the ground. And my Lord’s promise is ever true.” — Surah al-Kahf 18:98

The barrier is temporary by design. It holds until Allah decrees otherwise.

Gog and Magog in the Hadith

The opening has already begun

Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to her one day visibly alarmed:

“None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe unto the Arabs from an evil that has drawn near. An opening has been made today in the barrier of Gog and Magog like this” — and he made a circle with his thumb and index finger.

She asked: “O Messenger of Allah, shall we be destroyed while there are righteous people among us?” He said: “Yes, when corruption becomes widespread.”

— Sahih al-Bukhari 3346, also Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2187

Two points from this hadith are often missed. First, the opening was described as already made in the Prophet’s own lifetime — over fourteen centuries ago. Second, the answer to Zaynab’s question is a warning about us, not about them: destruction comes when corruption becomes widespread, even among people who have righteous ones in their midst.

The sequence of events

The fullest authentic account is the long hadith of an-Nawwas ibn Sam’an in Sahih Muslim 2937a. It places Yajooj and Majooj precisely within the end-times sequence:

The Dajjal appears and spreads tribulation for forty days.
Isa (peace be upon him) descends at the white minaret east of Damascus and kills the Dajjal at the gate of Ludd.
Allah reveals to Isa: “I have brought forth servants of Mine whom no one is able to fight; take My servants safely to Tur.”
Allah releases Yajooj and Majooj, and they swarm down from every slope.
Their vanguard passes Lake Tiberias and drinks it dry — the last of them arrives and says, “There was once water here.”
Isa and his companions are besieged at Tur, until the head of an ox is worth more to them than a hundred dinars.
They supplicate, and Allah sends insects into the necks of Yajooj and Majooj; they perish in a single morning, as though one soul.
The earth fills with their stench; Allah sends birds with necks like Bactrian camels to carry them away.
Rain washes the earth clean, and its blessing returns — a pomegranate feeding a group, a single milch camel sufficing a whole clan.
Finally a pleasant wind takes the soul of every believer, and the Hour comes upon the worst of people.

Notice how the story ends. Yajooj and Majooj are not defeated by armies. A prophet of Allah and his companions can do nothing but raise their hands — and the matter is settled by insects.

The Qur’an gives the same event in one verse:

حَتَّى إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُم مِّن كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنسِلُونَ

“Until ˹after˺ Gog and Magog have broken loose, swarming down from every hill.” — Surah al-Anbiya 21:96

Where Is the Barrier? What We Actually Know

Here the honest answer is short: we do not know.

The Qur’an gives no coordinates. It says Dhul-Qarnayn reached a place between two mountain barriers and built there. No authentic hadith locates it. No Companion is reported giving a location that scholars accepted as binding.

Various sites have been proposed over the centuries — the Caucasus and the fortifications at Derbent, the Dzungarian Gate, passes in Central Asia. These are the guesses of geographers and historians, not statements of revelation.

Is it the Great Wall of China? Almost certainly not, and this is the most common claim online. The Great Wall’s construction, materials and purpose are historically documented in detail: rammed earth, brick and stone, built and rebuilt by successive Chinese dynasties against northern nomadic raids. The Qur’anic description — iron blocks fused with molten copper, filling a gap between two mountain faces — describes something different in kind. The identification appears to have arisen from medieval geographers who conflated distant reports.

Why can’t we find it? Scholars have offered several answers: that it lies in a region not yet identified, that Allah has concealed it, or that our assumptions about where to look are wrong. What no scholar of standing does is claim certainty. When revelation is silent, “I do not know” is the scholarly position, not a failure.

Are They the Mongols, the Chinese, or a Modern Nation?

You will find confident claims that Yajooj and Majooj are the Mongols, the Turks, the Chinese, the Russians, or some contemporary group. Some are centuries old — the Mongol invasions struck many Muslims as apocalyptic, and it is easy to see why.

But there is a decisive objection. According to the hadith of an-Nawwas ibn Sam’an, Yajooj and Majooj are released after the Dajjal has appeared and Isa (peace be upon him) has descended. Neither has happened. Whatever devastation past nations have caused, that sequence has not occurred, so the release described in the Qur’an and Sunnah has not occurred.

Identifying them with any living people also carries a real moral hazard. Yajooj and Majooj are described in revelation as a people destined overwhelmingly for the Fire. Attaching that description to an existing nation is a serious claim to make about human beings whom Allah has not named. It is the kind of speculation that has fed hostility rather than knowledge.

What Is Not Established

A number of widely repeated claims about Yajooj and Majooj have no basis in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah:

Descriptions of their appearance — that they are tiny, or giants, or have ears large enough to sleep in. These come from weak narrations and Israiliyyat (material absorbed from earlier scriptural traditions). Ibn Kathir criticised such reports in his tafsir.
That they are already loose in the world today. The Qur’an and the hadith of an-Nawwas describe a specific, unmistakable sequence which has not taken place.
Precise dates or timelines. Knowledge of the Hour belongs to Allah alone.
That Dhul-Qarnayn was Alexander the Great. This identification is popular but was rejected by many scholars, not least because the Qur’an presents Dhul-Qarnayn as a servant of Allah acting on faith, which does not fit what is known of Alexander.

One further narration, found in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, describes Yajooj and Majooj digging at the barrier each day until they nearly break through, only for Allah to restore it — until the day He permits them to finish. It is widely quoted, and its meaning is consistent with the Qur’an, but its chain has been graded differently by different scholars. Check its grading with a qualified scholar before relying on it, rather than repeating it as established.

What This Means for a Muslim Today

The point of these accounts is not to fuel speculation. It is to produce a particular effect on the heart:

The world has an end, and it is scheduled. The barrier is temporary by explicit statement (18:98).
The response to a sign is self-examination. The Prophet (peace be upon him) answered a question about destruction by pointing to widespread corruption — our conduct, not their identity.
No power protects except Allah. Iron and copper held for centuries and will still give way. Armies will not stop them; insects will.
Certainty is owed only to what Allah has told us. Believing in Yajooj and Majooj is part of believing in the unseen. Locating them on a map is required of no one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are Gog and Magog (Yajooj Majooj) in Islam?

They are a human people, descendants of Adam (peace be upon him), described in the Qur’an as spreading corruption in the land. Dhul-Qarnayn built a barrier of iron and molten copper to contain them, and their release is one of the major signs of the Last Hour.

Where are Gog and Magog mentioned in the Quran?

In two places: Surah al-Kahf 18:94–98, within the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, and Surah al-Anbiya 21:96–97, which describes them breaking loose and swarming from every hill.

Are Yajooj and Majooj human?

Yes. Sahih al-Bukhari 3348 places them among the descendants of Adam. Descriptions of them as giants, dwarves or creatures with enormous ears come from weak narrations and earlier scriptural traditions, not from authentic hadith.

Where is the wall of Yajooj and Majooj?

Its location is not stated in the Qur’an or any authentic hadith. Various sites have been proposed over the centuries, but none is established. The Great Wall of China does not match the Qur’anic description of iron blocks sealed with molten copper.

When will Gog and Magog be released?

Only Allah knows the timing. The sequence, however, is given in Sahih Muslim 2937a: the Dajjal appears, Isa (peace be upon him) descends and kills him, and then Yajooj and Majooj are released. None of this has yet occurred.

Are Gog and Magog the Mongols?

No established evidence supports this. The Mongol invasions were devastating and struck contemporaries as apocalyptic, but the release of Yajooj and Majooj follows the Dajjal and the descent of Isa (peace be upon him), which has not happened.

How will Gog and Magog be destroyed?

According to Sahih Muslim 2937a, Isa (peace be upon him) and his companions will be besieged at Tur and will supplicate to Allah, who will send insects into the necks of Yajooj and Majooj. They will perish in a single morning, and birds will carry away their remains before rain washes the earth clean.

Is Dhul-Qarnayn the same as Alexander the Great?

Many scholars rejected this identification. The Qur’an describes Dhul-Qarnayn as a servant of Allah acting on faith and justice, which does not fit what is historically known of Alexander. His identity, like the location of the barrier, is not definitively established.

Study the Qur’an With Understanding

The story of Dhul-Qarnayn sits in Surah al-Kahf — the surah the Prophet (peace be upon him) told us to recite every Friday, and whose opening verses are protection from the Dajjal. Reading it properly, with correct recitation and an understanding of its meaning, is worth far more than any theory about walls.

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