Resisting Yajuj With Hope, Shucker, Love And Extra Salah – OpEd

Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power worldwide, driving a massive shift toward renewables. Falling battery prices and innovations in solar materials are making clean energy more reliable than ever. Yet, grid congestion and integration remain key challenges so sustained policy support is crucial to accelerate the transition. 

Solar power has become so affordable that in the world's sunniest regions, producing one unit of electricity now costs as little as £0.02, cheaper than power from coal, gas, or even wind, according to new research from the University of Surrey. "O mankind, we have created you ... into [different] nations and tribes that you may come to know one another [respectfully]" (49:13).

In 2011 the "Arab Spring" filled most of the world with great hopes. Now, almost 15 years later, the near east is filled with conflicts, anxieties, fears, and despair. Anti-Muslim politics in India, like the Hindu radical organizations Bajrang Dal, Ram Sena, and other hate mongers, are getting steadily worse. According to a worldwide poll for Reuters back in May of 2012 "nearly 15 percent of people worldwide believe the world will end during their lifetime". That number has doubled now.

"Whether they think it [the world] will come to an end through the hands of God, or a natural disaster or political events, whatever the reason, one in seven thinks the end of the world is coming," said Keren Gottfried, research manager at Ipsos Global Public Affairs which conducted the poll for Reuters. So ˹Watch for˺ the Day when every soul will be presented with whatever good it has done. And it will wish that its misdeeds were far off.  Allah warns you about Himself as Allah is Ever Gracious to ˹His˺ servants." (Quran 3:30)

From Biblical prophets, to rabbinic, and mystical thought, the Hebrew words commonly rendered as "end of days" never implied a cataclysmic conclusion, but rather the culmination and transfiguration of human history. The phrase Aḥarīt ha-Yamim (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים) literally means "the afterward of the days," ie. what follows—not what ceases. Yaʿqov's blessing in Genesis 49:1, be-Aḥarīt ha-Yamim (בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים), is interpreted by the Sages as bayamim ha-baʾim (בַּיָּמִים הַבָּאִים), "in the coming days," emphasizing future rather than final.¹ Likewise, the rabbinic term Yemot ha-Mashiaḥ (יִמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ), "the days of the Messiah," denotes not a cosmic annihilation but a transformation within the created order.

Gog and Magog ("Gog u-Magog" in Hebrew and "Yajuj and Majuj" in Arabic) are names that appear in the Hebrew Bible, and in the Quran. Sometimes personified as individuals, and sometimes identified as nations or as geographic regions: all references in Bible, Quran and hadith clearly indicate that they are terrible troublemakers, and will appear toward the end of times, before the Day of Judgement. (Qur'an 18:94-99) Is fear of  "Yajuj and Majuj" why so many people are so negative and pessimistic about the future of humanity?

While it is true that human society has changed more rapidly, violently and fundamentally in the last 150 years than ever before in history, humanity has already survived several major revolutions and world wars.

Doctors today save the lives of millions; while dictators sacrifice the lives of millions. Populations are exploding in Africa and populations are declining in Europe. Technology produces both worldwide prosperity and worldwide pollution at the same time.  

Should we look upon the 21st century with optimistic hope or with fatalistic trepidation?  Is the world and our society heading towards a wonder-filled new age, or toward a doomsday? Or are both occurring almost concurrently because breakdown is always a prelude to breakthrough? As the Qur'an states: "Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them any patron besides Him" (13:11).

The long tradition of trying to foresee the distant, eventual goal of human history started with the Prophets of Israel over 2.700 years ago. The Biblical vision of a Messianic Age may provide us with guidance in understanding the social, economic, scientific and cultural upheavals that will sweep society as it approaches the next stage.

Often, it is the dramatic dangers of the pre-Messianic tribulation that are emphasized in Christian, Islamic and Jewish post scriptural traditions. I focus on the positive signs developing throughout the world that accord with the Messianic vision of the Biblical Prophets because anxious atheists and unbelievers die a hundred deaths; while faith-filled believers die only once.  
The Prophets of Israel conceived of redemption as a transformation of human society that would begin through the catalyst of a transformation of the Jewish people. This transformation, which will take place in this world at some future time, is called the Messianic Age.

The transition to the Messianic Age is called the birth pangs of the Messiah. The birth of a redeemed Messianic world may be the result of an easy or difficult labor. If everyone would simply live according to the moral teachings of his or her own religion, that would itself bring about the Messianic Age. But, if we will not do it voluntarily, it will come through social and political upheavals, worldwide conflicts and generation gaps.

As the Qur'an tells us, prophets are sent to every nation to issue a warning that their behavior has consequences, and these consequences must be faced on Judgement Day. As the Qur'an states, "Accountability for mankind is getting closer and closer, yet they are heedless and turn away."     (21:1 and 54:1-8)

God, of course, is always ready to help us defeat evil, if we are ready to work for the establishment of a just and peaceful local and world society; that is why several Messiah agents of God will come.  

A Messiah is a human agent of God who helps bring about this transformation. This agent of God (with several forerunners and many disciples) will be a person with great leadership qualities; similar to Moses or Muhammed. The arrival of the Messianic Age is what's really important, not the personality of the agents who bring it about, since they are simply the instruments of God, who ultimately is the real Redeemer.  

The Messianic Age is usually seen as the solution to all of humanity's basic problems. This may be true in the long run, but the vast changes the transition to the Messianic Age entails, will provide challenges to society for generations to come. Those who emphasize the cataclysmic aspects of the transition generally are influenced by fundamentalist Christian circles, and see the coming of the Messianic Age from the perspective of the Book of Revelation with its emphasis on a deadly Judgement Day.

Since humans have free will, the exact time and manner of redemption cannot be determined in advance. Much depends on what we humans do. Repentance produces changes in the future of both individuals and nations. Repentance enables some individuals and communities to escape the consequences of prior evil.

On the other hand, God's promise is that evil powers will never succeed in destroying Israel or in overcoming justice in the long run. Thus even without full repentance, God will act if the Divine promise of a Messianic Age is threatened. As Isaiah states, "The Lord says: you were sold but no price was paid, and without payment you shall be redeemed." (Isaiah 52:3) i.e. all your suffering in exile was not really fully deserved, and your redemption from exile will not really be fully earned. Both are part of God's outline for human destiny and will occur sooner (through repentance) or later (in God's own time).

As the Qur'an states: "Do not corrupt the earth after it has been set right. Call on Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near for good-doers" (7:56) And ˹Watch for˺ the Day when every soul will be presented with whatever good it has done and will wish that its misdeeds were far off.  Allah warns you about Himself as Allah is Ever Gracious to ˹His˺ servants." (Quran 3:30)

Finally, if one believes that God inspired prophets are able to describe scenarios of various developments in the distant future then one has to accept that the understanding of these passages should change and improve as we come closer and closer to the times they describe.
But the real lesson from all this is that we should not look forward to a Judgement Day when all our enemies, and all evil, will suddenly disappear in a cataclysmic purge. Instead, we should have faith and trust in the ability of religiously inspired humans to transform our world into a Messianic Age of justice and peace.

Indeed, there is a view, espoused by the well known Jewish writer Franz Kafka, that the Messiah will come not at the beginning, but at the end of the Messianic Age; to congratulate us for achieving the vision of the Biblical prophets. Prophet Jacob says: "O my sons! go you and enquire about Joseph and his brother, and never give up hope of Allah's Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah's Mercy, except those who have no faith." (Qur'an 12:87)

Actually, if you had told Soviet Jews a generation ago that the Communist regime would collapse, the Soviet Empire disintegrate, and hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews would emigrate to Israel, they would have conceived it only as a Messianic dream.

In our own generation therefore we have seen the dramatic fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy:  "I will bring your offspring from the (Middle) East and gather you from the (European) West. To the North (Russia) I will say 'give them up' and to the South (Ethiopia) 'do not hold them'. Bring my sons from far away, my daughters from the end of the earth." (43:5-6)  

It is amazing how people adjust to living in a radically new world and forget the past. Indeed, the Prophet Isaiah himself said, "Behold, I create a new Heaven and a new Earth, and former things shall not be remembered." (65:17)

 Always remember that God tells us that only on Judgement Day will God tell each person whose religious and theological views are really true. (Qur'an 39: 46)  "Say, "O Allah, Creator of heavens and earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, You will judge between your (religious) servants concerning that over which they used to differ." And (Qur'an 6.164) states: "Then to your Lord shall you return, and He will inform you of that over which you differed." (Qur'an 6. 164)

Yet there will be no peace until both Palestinians and Israelis declare the chant 'From the river to the sea' becomes an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, and not death, destruction, or hate. We can make it truly aspirational by making it focus on both peoples first, and the land second. "From the river to the sea Palestinians and Israelis should be freed of hatred and suffering by 'a two state for two peoples sharing of the land peacefully solution.'" 

And on the Temple Mount a small Jewish structure equipped to broadcast religious services worldwide could be built adjacent to the Dome of the Rock, over 600 feet north of the Al-Aqsa mosque, (provided Muslims cooperate) which would fulfill the words of Prophet Joel (3:16) stating: "The Lord broadcasts from Zion, uttering His voice from Jerusalem"

Then as Prophet Isaiah predicts (19:23-25): "On that (Messianic) day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." Thus peace throughout the Near East and the whole world must precede the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple.

Let us hope and pray that peace will come to the Near East, and we will see the beginnings of the Messianic Age of world wide justice and peace. Then Prophet Malachi 3:24 will become an universal statement: "He [Elijah] shall return the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers."