Recognition of Imam Part III - Key 15 Gog and Magog

Key 15 Gog and Magog

Diverse versions of narrations are found in the exoteric books about Gog and Magog. It is not an easy task to remove the veil which conceals their reality due to the multitude of differences. However, here this subject is discussed with reliance upon the help and support of the Imām of the age (who is the True Guide on behalf of God and the holy Prophet).

In the wise Qur'ān, Gog and Magog are briefly mentioned twice: in the Suratu'l-Kahf, in connection with the story of Hazrat-i Dhu'l-Qarnayn(`a) (18:92-99) and in Suratu'l-Anbiya' (21:95-97).

Since, as the Imām of the time, all the doors of the spiritual world were open to Hazrat-i Dhu'l-Qarnayn(`a), he observed all the souls of the creatures of the world in his luminosity. These souls were of three kinds: the souls of the people of the world, which were also called Gog and Magog, the souls of the people of religions and the souls of the people of God. Wisdom demanded that first the souls of the people of religion must be observed. Thus, Hazrat-i Dhu'l-Qarnayn(`a) saw such a people in the west of the light of guidance. They had the capability of doing both good and evil. Thereafter, he reached the east of spirituality, where he saw such souls upon whom the sun of the light of guidance was always rising directly. These were the souls of the people of God, who had nothing but goodness. In the end, Hazrat-i Dhu'l-Qarnayn(`a) reached such a place of spirituality where it becomes possible for the Vicegerent of God, i.e., the Messenger or the Imām to protect the mu'mins against the evil and corruption of the souls of the people of the world, in which case it also becomes obligatory for the mu'mins to obey his farman absolutely.

Thus, in order to be protected from the evil and corruption of the souls of the people of the world, i.e., Gog and Magog, the mu'mins appealed to Hazrat-i Dhu'l-Qarnayn(`a), who was the Imām of the time. As a result, through his spiritual knowledge and the physical action of the followers, a strong wall of protection and safety was erected in front of Gog and Magog, which they could not scale nor pierce. Hazrat-i Dhu'l-Qarnayn(`a) said: “This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the promise (of Resurrection) of my Lord comes to pass, He will smash it to pieces. And the promise of my Lord is true” (18:98).

There is a clear indication in the wise Qur'ān that, in the beginning of the cycle of Resurrection, i.e., cycle of spirituality, Gog and Magog (i.e., the souls of the people of the world) would be given an opportunity for some time, during which some of them will be involved in evil and corruption physically and some of them spiritually. Then, after a period the trumpet (sur) will be blown, due to which all the souls of the creatures of the world will be strung in one single thread of communal unity.

In another place of the glorious Qur'ān, Gog and Magog are mentioned as follows: “And there is a ban upon any community which We have destroyed, that they shall not return (i.e., it is impossible for the souls of the people who have been destroyed by Divine punishment to return to this world), until Gog and Magog are let loose, and they hasten out of every height” (2l:95-96 ?). It should be noted that here, by “every height” is meant the spirituality of real mu'mins, which is higher than that of the people of the world. Since Hazrat-i Isrāfīl(`a) will blow the trumpet from the spirituality of real mu'mins, therefore Gog and Magog and all the other souls will run towards the sound of the trumpet, whence they will scatter again in the world, as the holy Qur'ān says: “Then when the trumpet will be blown, behold! They will start running from their graves towards their Lord” (36:51). That is, all the souls that are buried in human bodies, rising from there by God's command, will gather near the trumpet of Isrāfīl, which is in the real mu'mins and where the light of their Lord is in the form of the Supreme Name.

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