IDEA 66
My ‘Iskandar’ Problem (Part 5)
Until Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj have been released and they swarm forth from every elevation / And the promise of the truth draws near, then suddenly the sight of those who disbelieved will be transfixed — “Alas for us! We were not paying heed to this; no, rather we were evildoers.” (Q21:96-97)
In view of modern technology and mobility by land and air, the wall built by Dhīl-Qarnain is no longer a credible physical barrier … unless, of course, AL-LĀH transforms it to be something miraculously massive and causes us to revert to primitive conditions of ignorance and barbarism. We need not think of the wall in purely physical terms, however, even as we do not deny its persistence in time and place until today. While it may be hidden in a forest or under a reservoir, the wall is important now for eschatological, moral, and spiritual reasons.
Just as with the blowing of the trumpet, the collapse of the wall is a divine act of incomprehensible horror and finality – a wordless revelation that all we used to believe in is irrevocably over. At this moment of writing, the wall remains intact, and human history still makes sense (but less sense by the day, given current events). But when GOD destroys it, everything that Dhūl-Qarnain had been building for us – justice, peace, security, and institutional continuity – falls with it. It is as if the wall is not just a physical structure in that unknown location, but is also a wall in our own minds. Behind that wall, we have come to rely on the comforts, conveniences, and conventions of modern civilization – a reliance that the first Muslims placed in GOD Alone. Every electronic device, every social bond, every government benefit, and every materialist assumption about how the world should work is another sheet of iron in that wall. Over it all we have poured the molten copper of self-indulgence and moral blindness.
The Qur’ān is impartial; it looks down from above on that wall and what exists on both sides of it. Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj are said to be spreaders of corruption in the land … but what if that is the opinion of the elite in that town, who could hardly understand what Dhūl-Qarnain was really saying? He built the wall they asked for, as any good ruler would, but did that cleanse them from the corruption of their own minds? Did their security enhance their fear of Divine Justice, which Dhūl-Qarnain clearly had, or did it simply put them to sleep? AL-LĀH gave him the means to travel, to interact with various peoples, and to erect massive infrastructure, but did He give any of that to them? The Qur’ān does not say, though we can surmise a great deal from its silence.
Dhūl-Qarnain is not identified as a prophet (although he could have been one). He is, however, mentioned as a symbol of what AL-LĀH expects from rulers in realms that do not divide secular concerns from religion. He does well in establishing justice, exploring his world, and ensuring the welfare of the population (perhaps not even ‘his’ people). His principles of government are probably the most clearly defined of any figure in the Qur’ān, including even those associated with Sulaimān and Dāwūd (peace be upon them). Because he is not historically identifiable, Dhūl-Qarnain can be considered an archetype of just rule for all people and, at the same time, an agent of Divine Judgement. He recognizes the dangers of Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj but does not set out to destroy them, for he foresees the part they play in the cosmic drama at the end of history.
Dhūl-Qarnain and his wall symbolize the peace and order that most of us enjoy today. This sign of Divine Restraint might last our lifetimes and for several generations to come, or it could be withdrawn tomorrow. In the meantime, with His Forbearance, we see increasing aggression and corruption by protected elites, oligarchs, and techno-feudalists. We see the imposition on prostrate populations of harsher laws and penalties that our effete, criminal upper classes do not even deign to notice. We see ever-rising levels of state violence and its normalization in Palestine, Myanmar, Ukraine, and elsewhere. We see enormous sums spent on war, while ordinary people struggle with preventable poverty, famine, and water scarcity. We see all the signs of Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj inside the same system that claims to be keeping out and hunting down the ‘bad actors’ and ‘terrorists.’ We see walls of suppression, censorship, and hate going up all over – walls that Dhūl-Qarnain would be tearing down if he were alive today. The wall he built no longer protects us from the monsters that are spreading corruption in the land, here among us.
AL-LĀH says that He does not change what a people have until they change it by themselves. (Q13:11) The change they make is almost always for the worse, and the change GOD makes after that aims to rectify their abandonment of the good He gave them – usually by way of punishment.
Considering all the good that we are forsaking and dismantling these days, maybe it is time for that last good wall – the wall of Dhīl-Qarnain – to come down as well. GOD help us when it does.
Download the PDF version for free at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’ān – Mont Redmond complete version, or purchase a hard copy at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’an: Redmond, Mont: 9781738842506: Books – Amazo
