Majuj

Majuj is the Arabic term used in Islamic eschatology for two tribes or peoples commonly equated with Gog and Magog in broader Abrahamic traditions. In Islamic sources, Ya’juj and Ma’juj are described as a great, disruptive force whose release signals upheaval before the Day of Judgment. The Qur’an does not provide a single, fixed identity for them; rather, later exegesis and hadith expand the concept into two large, unruly groups.

In the Qur’an, Surah al-Kahf (18:93–98) presents a story in which a righteous ruler called Dhul-Qarnayn builds a barrier between two mountains to contain Ya’juj and Ma’juj, who are described as causing corruption if not restrained. The text suggests that the barrier will eventually be breached when the time comes, allowing Ya’juj and Ma’juj to surge forth in vast numbers and unleash destruction, a prelude to other eschatological events. The Qur’an itself does not specify their precise origin or ethnicity, focusing instead on their role within end-times narratives.

Islamic tradition expands on the theme through hadith and later folklore, where the release of Ya’juj and Ma’juj is depicted as a major sign of the Last Day. Narratives vary on the mechanisms by which they are eradicated—sometimes a divine wind or other judgments are mentioned—and these events are typically framed within a sequence of apocalyptic occurrences leading to the final defeat of chaos and the restoration of order.

Scholarly interpretation ranges from historicist identifications with specific tribes to symbolic readings of Ya’juj and Ma’juj as manifestations of universal chaos. The motif remains a persistent element in Islamic literature, cross-cultural receptacles of the Gog and Magog motif, and in modern discussions of religious eschatology.