An Excerpt from The Next World Order by Ahmad Thomson, Copyright © 1994
... The great Muslim scholar, Ibn Kathir, when discussing the origins of ‘Yajuj wa Ma’juj’ (Gog and Magog) - the people who traditionally inhabited the area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, which is where the Khazar kingdom was originally situated - in his historical work, Al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah (The Beginning and the End), specifically states that "Gog and Magog are two groups of Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth), the father of the Turks, one of the sons of Noah."It is interesting to note in passing that one of the questions which Hasdai ibn Shaprut [the treasurer, court physician and minister of (Caliph) Abdar-Rahman III (912-961 A.D.) in Spain] asked in his letter to [Khazar] King Joseph was whether the tribe of the Khazar Jews had any connection with the ‘lost’ ten tribes - that is, the ten tribes of the Tribe of Israel who, as we have already seen, became known as the Israelites (as opposed to the other two, who became known as the Judahites), and who were disowned by the Judahites, and who 'disappeared' after becoming conquered by the Assyrians [in 721 B.C.].
King Joseph categorically stated in his reply that there was no such connection whatsoever. In providing a genealogy of his people, King Joseph, writes Arthur Koestler in his book, The Thirteenth Tribe, "cannot, and does not, claim for them Semitic descent; he traces their ancestry not to Shem but to Noah's third son, Japheth; or more precisely to Japheth's grandson, Togarma, the ancestor of all Turkish tribes."
The Jewish Encyclopaedia says that the Judaist scholars had no doubt as to the genuineness of this correspondence, in which the word Ashkenazi first occurs as denoting this sharply-outlined, hitherto unknown group of "Eastern Jews" and as indicating Slav associations.
This answer of King Joseph is very significant, not only because it demonstrates conclusively that the Khazar Jews are not semitic, but also because, as we shall see in greater detail later on in this book, insh'Allah, the uncle of Togarma, according to Genesis 10.2-3, was Magog.
This means that it is highly likely that the prophecies in The Bible and in the Qur'an, together with the prophecies made by the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning Gog and Magog, are directly relevant to the activities and destiny of the Khazar Jews.
... It is therefore clear that the Khazar Jews are not descended from any of the original twelve tribes that formed the original Tribe of Israel, but rather are directly related to the people of Gog and Magog.
Furthermore, it is important to note - since some authors, including Michael Rice, appear to be under the impression that term 'Ashkenazim' originated amongst those Jews of Spain who moved on to Eastern Europe when they were expelled in 1493 - that Ashkenaz was the name of a son of Gomer, who was a son Japheth, a son of Noah. 'Ashkenazi' derives directly from the Khazar Jews, not from the Sephardhic Jews.
Although it can certainly be argued that the Sephardhim and the Ashkenazim are related insofar as they ultimately trace their ancestry back to two brothers, Shem and Japheth, two of the of the sons of Noah, peace be on him, it is clear that certainly by the time of Moses, peace be on him, the descendants of these two brothers had become entirely different peoples, inhabiting entirely different areas of the world, and speaking entirely different languages. No rational being could possibly argue that the original Tribe of Israel and the contemporary Turkic ancestors of the Khazars were one and the same people.
There are other recorded references to contact being made between these two main groups of Jews: Professor Graetz, for example, when describing the eventual collapse [in the second half of Tenth century A.D.] of the Jewish Khazar kingdom, states, "As though Andalusia were a Jewish state, the sons of the last chagan or king of the Khazars, like those of the exilarch, also sought refuge in Spain."
Similarly, Abraham ben Daud in his book, Sefer ha-Kabbalah, written in 1161 [about one-half century before the fall of Toledo to Christians], states that he had "seen in Toledo some of their descendants, pupils of the wise, and they told us that the remnant of them followed the Rabbanite faith."
It would appear, however, from the overall lack of recorded references to contact between these two very different groups of Jews, that any contact between the Khazar Jews in Russia and the Sephardhic Jews in Spain, during the period of Muslim rule in Spain, was of a limited nature - perhaps partly because the Khazars in the East were viewed with a certain degree of suspicion by the Sephardhim in the West.
It is interesting to note that some commentators on the Qur'an do equate these European Khazar Jews who are not Jews with 'Jewj wa ma Jewj - a people who are described in the Qur'an as spreading over the face of the earth and creating mischief. Classical European scholars identify Jewj wa ma Jewj with Gog and Magog, who, as we have already seen earlier, originally lived in the area of land that lies between the Black sea and the Caspian sea - and from whom King Joseph of the Khazars claimed his ancestry.
Indeed it is also interesting to note in passing that the Muslim historian, At-Tabari, relates accounts of at least two expeditions made by the early Muslims to find and examine the wall that had been erected - as described in the Qur'an - by Dhu'l-Qarnayn (who, some say, was in fact Alexander the Great), in order to prevent Gog and Magog spreading south through the Caucasus. D. M. Dunlop refers to these accounts in his book, The History of the Jewish Khazars, stating that the wall in question was "the Caucasus fortification (dating from pre-Islamic times) known as the Wall of Darband", and observing that "successive courses of bright and dark material (copper and iron) are the most prominent feature of both accounts, which of course may be influenced by the Qur'an passage in which iron and molten brass are mentioned.
Ibn Kathir, in his book Al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah - The Beginning and the End, provides this general summary - part of which has already been quoted - of the history and future of Gog and Magog (who are usually referred to as 'the Huns' by modern historians), and of the building of the wall by Dhu'l-Qarnayn:
Gog and Magog are two groups of Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth), the father of the Turks, one of the sons of Noah. At the time of Abraham, peace be on him, there was a king called Dhu'l-Qarnayn. He performed Tawaf around the Ka'bah with Abraham, peace be on him, when he first built it; he believed and followed him. Dhu'l-Qarnayn was a good man and a great king; Allah gave him great power and he ruled the east and west. He held sway over all kings and countries, and travelled far and wide in both east and west. He travelled eastwards until he reached a pass between two mountains, through which people were coming out. They did not understand anything, because they were so isolated; they were Gog and Magog. They were spreading corruption through the earth, and harming the people, so the people sought help from Dhu'l Qarnayn. They asked him to build a barrier between them and Gog and Magog. He asked them to help him to build it, so together they built a barrier by mixing iron, copper and tar. Thus Dhu'l-Qarnayn restrained Gog and Magog behind the barrier. They tried to penetrate the barrier, or to climb over it, but to no avail. They could not succeed because the barrier is so huge and smooth. They began to dig and they have been digging for centuries; they will continue to do so until the time when Allah decrees that they come out. At that time the barrier will collapse, and Gog and Magog will rush out in all directions, spreading corruption, uprooting plants, killing people. When Jesus, peace be on him, prays against them, Allah will send a kind of worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it.Clearly this barrier has now long been breached, and Gog and Magog have now spread everywhere, doing what it has been decreed they must do, until it is time for them to meet their final end after Jesus, peace be on him, has returned to this earth.
It is thus even more interesting to note in passing that one of the prophecies in Ezekiel, contained in chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine, and addressed to Gog the "prince of Rosh" (Russia), states that the people of Gog, from "the land of Magog", will come from their place "in the far north, you and many nations with you" and invade "the mountains of Israel", spreading out "like a cloud that covers the land". Eventually there will be a mighty battle in which the hordes of Gog will be destroyed, and their remains either devoured by carrion or buried in "the Valley of Hamon Gog", near Hamonah.
As D. M. Dunlop points out in his book, The History of the Jewish Khazars
... When Khazar kingdom began to fragment [in the second half of Tenth century A.D.], and they began to disperse, suffering the same kind of trials and tribulations as had their Sephardhic counterparts as they went. The Ashkenazim spread northwards into Russia, and then westwards into the rest of Europe. Wherever they went, they met with considerable opposition from the mediaeval European 'Christians' who, because they mistakenly believed that Jesus had been crucified - an event which, ironically, had never taken place - and that the Jews had been partly responsible for that alleged crucifiction, persecuted them as 'murderers of Christ'. The Khazar Jews had not only inherited the obsolete religion of the Sephardhic Jews, but also the stigma attached to them by the European Christians.
It was partly because of this persecution by the mediaeval European Christians that the European Jews were constantly kept on the move, right across Europe and even into Spain, where they were treated with far greater toleration by its Muslim rulers, in accordance with the Dhimma Contract, until the Spanish Inquisition took over. At the turn of the present century, large numbers of the Ashkenazim migrated to America, their land of hope and promise.
This gradual dispersion of the Khazar Jews up into central Russia and across into the rest of Europe and eventually beyond is described by Michael Rice in his book, False Inheritance. They came to represent an important stratum in the lineage of the Ashkenazi Jews, having migrated into Poland, Lithuania and Hungary... Although some of today's Ashkenazi Jews attempt to deny their origins - for obvious reasons - there is no dispute about the truth of the Khazar Jews' origins and history, which, as Michael Rice points out, were well-established by reputable and distinguished scholars long before they became the subject of any controversy...
When the Muslims in Spain began to grow decadent, and abandon the original teachings of Islam, they became divided amongst themselves and began to fight each other. Under these circumstances, ... the Christians continued to push southwards in what they described as their 'Reconquest'. By 1236 A.D., the Christians had reconquered all of Spain except Granada and the territory that immediately surrounded it. During this process of ‘reconquest’, the Jews ... migrated from Muslim territory to Christian territory whenever it seemed expedient to do so. The Sephardhic Jews had no real allegiance to either the Muslims or the Christians, but simply chose to recognise the rulers who were most likely to treat them the most favourably under whatever circumstances prevailed at the time. ... the Christians were content with this state of affairs, for not only were the Muslims further weakened as a result of the Jews' transfer of alliance, but also the Jews were an important source of much needed income, both as a result of the taxes that were imposed on them by the Christians, and by virtue of the more wealthy Jews being in a position to finance the Reconquest by means of financial loans... Furthermore, since many of the Jews were by Christian standards extremely well-educated and very able administrators, it was inevitable that the Christians Soon began to rely on the Jews to teach them what they did not know and to administer their society on their behalf...
The Moors remained in Spain for nearly eight hundred years. When the Spanish reconquest was completed in 1492 the [Sephardhim] Jews, as well as the Moors, were expelled, and the "centre" of Talmudic government was then transferred to Poland..... The Sephardhim, then neither went to Poland nor mingled with other Jews, when they left the Spanish Peninsula and spread over Western Europe. They remained aloof and apart, "looked down" on others professing to be Jews, and lost their authority. (The Judaist reference works also give curious estimates of the decline in their proportion of Jewry, from a large minority to a small minority; these seem beyond biological explanation and probably are not trustworthy).
At that point, less than four centuries before our own generation, a significant mystery enters the story of Zion: why was the government set up in Poland? Up to that stage the annals reveal no trace of any large migration of Jews to Poland. The Jews who entered Spain with the Moors came from North Africa and when they left most of them returned thither or went to Egypt, Palestine, Italy, the Greek islands and Turkey. Other colonies had appeared in France, Germany, Holland and England and these were enlarged by the arrival among them of Jews from the Spanish Peninsula. There is no record that any substantial number of Spanish Jews went to Poland, or that any Jewish mass-migration to Poland had occurred at any earlier time.
... From the moment when "the centre" was transferred to Poland these Asiatics [the Khazars] began to move towards, and later to enter the West in the guise of "Jews" and they brought Europe to its greatest crisis. Though their conversion had occurred so long before they were so remote that the world might never have known of them, had not the Talmudic centre been set up among them, so that they came to group themselves around it. ...When they became known, as "Eastem Jews", they profited by the confusing effect of the contraction of the word Judahite, or Judean, to "Jew"; none would ever have believed that they were Judahites or Judeans. From the time when they took over the leadership of Jewry the dogma of "the return" to Palestine was preached in the name of people who had no Semitic blood or ancestral link with Palestine whatever!
Thus it is clear that the Ashkenazim were not descended from any of the Hebrews, or from any of the twelve tribes of the Tribe of Israel, and especially not from the tribes of Judah or Levi.
... Once again, a virtually independent state was formed within the Polish state, which like so many states before and after showed the greatest benevolence to the nation-within-nations that took shape within its gates... The Talmudists were allowed to draw up "a constitution", and through the 1500's and 1600's the Jews in Poland lived under "an autonomous government", ‘the Kahal’. In its own territory the Kahal was a fully-empowered government, under Polish suzerainty. It had independent authority of taxation in the ghettoes and communities, being responsible for payment of a global sum to the Polish government. It passed laws regulating every action and transaction between man and man and had power to try, judge, convict or acquit.
... the claim of the Sephardhim to a right to live in the Holy Land was clearly far more convincing than that of the Ashkenazim. Some of them were already settled in the Holy Land, and many others were living relatively near it. Most of them spoke Arabic. They were already an integral part of Middle Eastern culture. A sudden influx of Sephardhim into the Holy Land would not be nearly so dramatic or noticeable as a sudden influx of Ashkenazim from Europe, strangers from a different culture, speaking different languages - especially Yiddish - and from a completely different social background. This is why the Ashkenazim concentrated on creating a need amongst the Sephardhim for a Jewish Homeland by arousing Arab feelings against them.
Once the need for the Homeland was established [1917 Balfour Declaration], and then the Homeland itself was established, it was much easier for the Ashkenazim to enter the Holy Land hiding under the 'Jewish' umbrella: They call themselves Jews, they behave like Jews, so they must be Jews - even though in fact they were, and are, not real Tribe of Israel Jews.
End of the Excerpt.
Source: http://www.islamawareness.net/Yajuj/gog.html
interesting thanks
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