Signs of the Hour: Ya'juj And Ma'juj - Sheikh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ وَسَلَّمَ وَبَارَكَ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

The Companions and Their Remembrance of Yawm al-Qiyamah

It was the common practice of the companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — and may Allah be pleased with them all — that they would often sit together and they would revise and they would remind one another and they would speak about the affairs of the hereafter, of the Day of Judgment, and of death, of paradise and hellfire, so as to raise their iman and so as to remind one another and to refocus and reprioritize their lives. This was the common practice amongst the companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ during his lifetime and after his death.

In one such hadith, collected in Sahih Muslim, on the authority of Hudhaifa ibn Usaid al-Ghifari رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, he narrates that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ came out one day whilst his companions were seated together, gathered together, revising and reminding one another, profiting from that reminder. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said to them: "What do you speak about?" So they said: "O Messenger of Allah, we are reminding one another of Yawm al-Qiyamah, of the establishment of the Hour."

This shows that the companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ didn't just suffice with the khutbat al-jumu'ah. They didn't just suffice with a lecture or two, or the sermons that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would give, or sometimes after the obligatory prayers when he would turn around and address the congregation. Rather, amongst themselves they would take that initiative — they would sit with one another and they would remind one another.

The Ten Major Signs of the Hour

They said: "O Messenger of Allah, we are speaking and discussing the Hour, Yawm al-Qiyamah." The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ replied: "Indeed the Hour will not be established until you see before it ten signs." Then he mentioned those ten signs:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 54, Hadith 40 — narrated by Hudhaifa ibn Usaid al-Ghifari)

He mentioned: the smoke, and the Dajjal, and the beast that will come out, and when the sun will rise from the west, and the descent of Isa ibn Maryam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام, and the coming of Ya'juj and Ma'juj, and then three great earthquakes or landslides — one in the west, one in the east, and one in the Arabian Peninsula — and the final one of those signs will be a fire which will emanate from Yemen; it will gather the people and take them to their land of resurrection, to the place where Allah will establish the Hour upon them.

These ten signs, according to many of the scholars of Islam, are the major signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah. The signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah are split into two — minor and major. The minor ones began with the coming of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — that was the first minor sign for this Ummah. The time that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would come out, and then his death, signified the beginning of Yawm al-Qiyamah. That is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6504; Sahih Muslim, Book 54, Hadith 43)

"I and the Hour have been sent like this" — and he joined his forefinger with his middle finger — meaning the distance between the two, the height of the middle finger over the index finger, that is how close he had been sent to Yawm al-Qiyamah, to the Hour.

So the first sign was his coming. From that time until today, and for as long as Allah wills, the signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah have appeared. But these ten signs — because of the way that they were mentioned together in this single hadith by the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — the scholars say they are the ten major signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah.

From amongst those signs is the Dajjal. Previously we have spoken about this sign. And after the Dajjal, Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام will descend back to the earth and he will fight the Dajjal and kill him, and the Muslims will be victorious over the armies and followers of the Dajjal. After this time, another sign will appear. And these signs — once they begin, as the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said — the major signs will follow one another in quick succession. It is like when you have a necklace and you cut the string of the necklace: how quickly do the beads of the necklace follow one another as they fall off? Meaning, as soon as one major sign is about to finish, the other one begins.

Ya'juj and Ma'juj in the Quran: The Story of Dhul Qarnayn

The sign that I want to focus on in this khutbah is the third of those signs in terms of order — after the Dajjal, and after Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام descends and defeats the Dajjal. After this, Allah will decree that the nation and the tribe of Ya'juj and Ma'juj will come out and they will be allowed to roam the earth again.

Allah mentions Ya'juj and Ma'juj a couple of times in the Quran. In the surah that we recite on this day — on Friday — Allah in Surah al-Kahf, in the final story, mentions Dhul Qarnayn. And from amongst the people that Dhul Qarnayn came across on his journeys and his travels were a group of people that lived in a mountain pass between two great mountains.

Allah says that when Dhul Qarnayn came across this area and this group of people, it was as if he could barely understand their speech — meaning it was a foreign land; their tongue, their speech, their language was difficult for him to understand. But those people said to Dhul Qarnayn — and Dhul Qarnayn was a man who was a righteous leader, a righteous king that Allah gave him the ability to conquer most of the earth, and he established the justice of Allah in his dominion and his kingdom by the permission of Allah — they said to him: "O Dhul Qarnayn, indeed this tribe, this group of people that lives close to us — Ya'juj and Ma'juj — have caused much evil upon the earth. They have transgressed and caused mischief upon the earth, and we are willing to pay you — we will pay you — if you erect a barrier between us and them."

They wanted safety from this tribe of people that caused so much evil and fasaad upon the earth. So Dhul Qarnayn replied, as Allah mentions, and he said: "That which my Lord has already given me is far better than that which you offer me. But rather, what you can do is help me with your strength and your manpower. I will place between you and them a dam — not just a barrier, not just a wall — I will build between you and them a dam in which they are contained."

So he said to them: "Bring for me sheets of iron." And then he took these sheets of iron and he placed them one above the other until the whole of that width and height of that mountain pass was covered with these sheets of iron. And once he had done this he said to them: "Now blow with your bellows" — meaning make fire upon them — "so that those sheets of iron will melt into one another." And then he said: "Now that it has joined together, pour molten brass and copper over it to strengthen it and fortify it even more."

So Allah says: they were unable to climb over the dam, nor were they able to go through the dam. Allah mentioned the story of Ya'juj and Ma'juj to show the virtues of Dhul Qarnayn, yes — but also to show the evil of these people and the mischief and the evil that they caused upon the earth.

The Vast Number of Ya'juj and Ma'juj

From amongst the ahadith that we have concerning Ya'juj and Ma'juj — and what the verses of Dhul Qarnayn also mention, imply, and refer to — is that Ya'juj and Ma'juj will be vast in number; they will be a vast multitude of people. In the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, our Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told us that Allah will say on the Day of Judgment to our father Adam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام — He will call him and He will say: "O Adam!" And Adam will reply: "Here I am to serve You, I submit, O Allah, and all good comes from You." He will say to Adam: "Take out from your creation — your progeny, your lineage, your children — take out from them the portion of the Fire." So he will say: "O my Lord, and what is the portion of the Fire?" So Allah will say: "From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine."

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: it is at this time that even the child's hair will grow white, and it is at this time that the pregnant woman will have a miscarriage, and it is at this time that you will see the people as if they are drunk — but they are not drunk — rather the punishment of Allah is most severe.

The companions, when they heard this, said: "O Messenger of Allah, who from amongst us will be that one? Out of a thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine will go to the Fire — only one will be saved, only one will go to Jannah. O Messenger of Allah, who from amongst us will be that one?"

So the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "Have glad tidings" — from you, meaning from this Ummah, from those who follow the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, from those who accept Islam and follow the Quran, from those who uphold the tawheed of Allah — "from you will be the one, and the thousand will be from Ya'juj and Ma'juj," showing how vast they are in number — that for every one of us there is a thousand of them.

And then the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "I hope that you will make up a quarter of the people of Jannah." So the companions glorified and praised Allah. And then he said: "I hope that you will be a third of the people of Jannah." So again the companions praised Allah and glorified Him. And then he said: "I hope that you will be half of the inhabitants of Jannah." And again they praised Allah and glorified Him.

This shows that the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj they are human and they are from the children of Adam — because Allah says to him: "O Adam, take out from your children the portion of the Fire." And it also shows that these people will be vast in number.

The Dam of Ya'juj and Ma'juj

Allah decreed that they would live within this dam. And how they are contained within that dam, how they survive, how they eat, how they drink, how they seek sustenance — that is all within the knowledge of Allah. But they will stay in that time and they will stay in that place until Allah decrees that they will come out.

Allah mentions in Surah al-Kahf that Dhul Qarnayn said:

"Indeed, when the promise of Allah comes" — meaning when the time comes, when Allah decrees that these people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj will emerge — "then that promise of Allah is true. That barrier, that dam that I have erected will not stand in their way. They will breach it and they will come out, and the promise of Allah is true."

Allah says: "On that day when they will come out, they will come out wave upon wave." So many will they be in number, it will be like waves upon waves coming out of that dam.

The Hadith of Zainab bint Jahash

In the hadith of Zainab bint Jahash رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا — our mother, the wife of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — as collected in Sahih al-Bukhari, she said:

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ came upon her one day and he was extremely perturbed and scared. So he came in and he said: "La ilaha illa Allah" — none has the right to be worshipped except Allah — and again he repeated it: none has the right to be worshipped except Allah. "Today from the dam of Ya'juj and Ma'juj there was opened this size" — and he joined his thumb with his forefinger — saying to the people, saying to those Quraish that disbelieved in Islam and rejected his message, that Yawm al-Qiyamah is fast approaching, they have opened a part of their barrier, they are about to come out, and the people are negligent, heedless, too busy in the dunya, don't care about the Akhirah, don't know or don't realize that their death is fast approaching, that Yawm al-Qiyamah is fast coming, that they will soon stand before Allah for the accounting.

And so the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was scared. And unlike the Dajjal — who won't be able to enter into certain places like Mecca and Medina — the scholars say that Ya'juj and Ma'juj will go everywhere, because the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was in Mecca when he said this hadith and he is scared for the people of Mecca.

So Zainab bint Jahash رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3346)

"O Messenger of Allah, will we all be destroyed when amongst us there are those who are righteous? Do Ya'juj and Ma'juj come and just kill everyone indiscriminately, even though amongst us are the pious and the righteous and those who believe in Allah?" The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ replied:

"Yes — when evil becomes rampant, when there is more evil than good, when there is more mischief and evil than there is good and piety, then everyone will be destroyed; everyone is taken in within that wave."

How Ya'juj and Ma'juj Will Break Through the Dam

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told us, as is mentioned in authentic hadith in Sahih Muslim and other collections, that every day the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj come to their dam and they begin to dig and they dig and they dig and they dig until, just when they have made a small hole and they can see the rays of the sun coming in, the night sets upon them. So the one in charge from amongst them says to them: "Let us go back and rest — we will come back tomorrow and continue."

So every day they go back, every night they return. And when they come back the next day, that barrier is sealed once again — the dam is sealed. And in the hadith it says that it is sealed even more so than it was before they began to dig. So again they come and they dig, and as soon as they make some leeway they go back — because they are tired — saying: "We will come back tomorrow and finish." They come back and again it is sealed.

So when Allah decrees that it will be the time for them to come out — when He decrees that it will be the time for this major sign to come — they will come that day, and they will dig and they will dig and they will dig. And then when they make some leeway, they will say: "Let us go back and rest — we will come back and finish tomorrow, inshallah" — and they will invoke the name of Allah: "By the will of Allah, we will come back tomorrow and finish." And because they invoke the name of Allah, when they return in the morning they will find that the hole is still there — the one that they dug. So they will dig some more, and then they will be able to come out.

They will come out as Allah says in Surah al-Anbiya:

When the dam of Ya'juj and Ma'juj is breached, they will descend from every elevation — meaning they will come out wave upon wave.

The Believers Take Refuge on the Mountain of At-Tur

In the hadith of al-Nawwas ibn Sam'an, the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told us that Allah at that time — when the believers will be few in number and they will be in the company of Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام after the death of the Dajjal — Allah will reveal and inspire to the Prophet Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام: "I have let one of My nations, one of My creation, come out upon the earth, and it is not possible for any of you to kill them. It is not possible for you to fight them the way you fought the Dajjal. It is not possible for you to kill them the way you killed the Dajjal. So rather, Isa, take the believers and go to the mountain of At-Tur."

So the Prophet Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and the believers will go and they will seek refuge in the mountain tops.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said that when the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj come out, they will be so vast in number that as they come out they will come to a vast lake. The people who come to that lake first will drink from it — and not from the last of them, but because there will be so many in number, they will drink the whole of that lake dry. So by the time the last remnants come out of the dam, they will see a dry lake in front of them and they will say: "There used to be water here once upon a time" — not realizing that it was their own kin, their own people, their own tribespeople that came and drank it dry. That is how vast they will be in number.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told us that when they come out they will cause mischief and evil upon the earth, and those people who are able to fortify themselves in their castles and their fortresses will do so. But for other than them, they will go and cause evil everywhere upon the earth.

And this is one of the major signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah — a sign that it is from our aqeedah to believe in, and to believe what the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told us concerning it.

The Destruction of Ya'juj and Ma'juj

Once they have overcome the people of the earth, such will be their arrogance, their pride, their haughtiness, their disbelief in Allah, that they think they will be unconquerable — that no one will be able to overcome them, no one can match their power and their strength. Such will be their disbelief in Allah that — in the narration of Sunan Ibn Majah — the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said that once they conquer the earth, one of them will say: "Now that we have conquered the earth, let us conquer the heavens as well." So they will take an arrow and they will place it in their bow and they will shoot it into the sky, and it will come back dripping with blood. So then they will say: "Now we have conquered not only the heavens, but we have conquered the earth as well."

It is at this time — when their kufr and their disbelief and their pride and their arrogance reach such heights that they think they have conquered Allah in the heavens — that Allah will decree that all of them will be destroyed. And they will be destroyed by a small worm-like insect that Allah will place within their necks. That insect will come and it will attack them. No army will come and face them; Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and the believers will not come. But rather Allah will respond to the du'a of the believers.

As the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, on the mountain of At-Tur, the believers will have so few provisions that just the head of a bull or a sheep will be more precious to them than a hundred dinars — meaning they have very little food and provisions. But Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام will encourage the believers to turn to Allah and make du'a to Him. Just as in every fitna, in every trial, in every difficulty and hardship — the way out for us, before we seek any of the means of the dunya that are halal, the way out for us is to turn back to Allah, to invoke Allah, to show our humbleness and humility before Allah.

So Allah will respond to their du'a, and Allah will show them that — despite the strength of Ya'juj and Ma'juj, despite their power, despite their number, their vast multitude — Allah is the one who has all power, and Allah is the one who is all-able. He will send a small worm-like insect — something which if you were to step on you would not notice, something so small and feeble that it is something easily warded off — and He will send those insects into the necks of Ya'juj and Ma'juj, and they will eat into their necks, and all of them will die.

Those people on the mountain — once their provisions run out — will nominate from amongst them one who will have to go down and bring more provisions. That man, as he comes down from that mountain, thinks he will die, because the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj, as soon as they see him, will kill him. But when he comes down he will find that all of them are dead. So he will go back and he will give glad tidings to the Prophet Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and to the believers that Allah has killed the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj. And that is when Allah will send a rain that will purify the earth. And after that time, it will be a time of peace and prosperity.

بَارَكَ اللَّهُ لِي وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَالسُّنَّةِ وَنَفَعَنِي وَإِيَّاكُمْ مِمَّا فِيهِ مِنَ الْآيَاتِ وَالْحِكْمَةِ، أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِجَمِيعِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.

Second Part of the Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا، أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

One of the benefits of studying the signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah is so that we know that it is drawing close — that our time is near — that Allah has decreed upon all of us a day when we will stand before Him and He will hold us to account for our actions and our deeds. The companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would often remind themselves of Yawm al-Qiyamah and death for this reason — so they could have perspective in their lives.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — as is in the hadith of Abu Darda' رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ — spent a whole night on one occasion, a whole night in prayer, just reciting a single verse. Just a single verse he kept repeating it over and over again, and the whole night went past with him repeating that one verse:

"O Allah, if You punish us then we are Your slaves, we are Your creation. But if You forgive us, then You are indeed the Almighty, the Most Wise." So the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ himself would also remind himself of Yawm al-Qiyamah and that standing.

Fortifying Ourselves Through the Quran and Sunnah

One of the ways to overcome these difficulties and these trials — and one of the methodologies that we benefit from observing the way the companions رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ would listen to these ahadith and the way they would react to them and the questions that they would ask of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — is that the way to overcome these trials is by strengthening and fortifying your relationship with Allah. When you hold on to Allah, when you hold on to the Book of Allah, when you hold on to the Sunnah of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, you fortify yourself from any and every type of trial — no matter how big or small, no matter how it may affect you personally in your health or your wealth, with your family and your children, irrespective of its nature, irrespective of how long it lasts.

When you fortify yourself with that fortification of the Quran and the Sunnah, then nothing can overcome you. And likewise, the believers in that time of difficulty will turn back to Allah and they will humble themselves before Allah and they will make du'a to Allah and Allah alone — knowing that nothing else can help them besides the power of Allah. And after that time, Allah will reward them and He will destroy those people — their enemies — and Allah will make it a time of peace and prosperity.

As the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said in Sahih al-Bukhari, in the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ:

"That even after the coming of Ya'juj and Ma'juj, after they die, the people will still make Hajj and Umrah" — meaning that it will be a time of peace and prosperity.

Again — before Ya'juj and Ma'juj come, and once they come, and after they come — the believers are those people who worship Allah and hold on to the religion of Allah.

Closing Du'a

I ask Allah that He makes us from amongst those people who hold on to Him, and that we turn back to Him at times of ease and difficulty, and that Allah makes us true in word and in intention and in action, and that Allah purifies our intentions and makes them sincere for Him. I ask Allah that He protects us from all evil — and our families and our children and our communities — and that Allah protects us from Shaytan and his armies, and that Allah makes us firm in iman and He makes us from amongst those people who will be resurrected in the companionship of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

Salah: Surah al-A'la and Surah al-Ghashiya