A few days ago my childhood class-fellow from Bhopal, Dr Anwar Kamal Pasha, who is now a Saudi national, visited me. He went to Saudi Arabia in the mid-fifties and later opened a hospital in Jeddah. As happened with many Pakistanis, he was helped in getting Saudi nationality by another Pakistani, Dr Fazlur Rahman, who was royal physician to the late King Khaled bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud. Dr Pasha is a tall, handsome gentleman, a true copy of his father, Col Ibrahim Pasha of the Bhopal Army. Dr Pasha presented me an excellent book – a book which is really a treasure of knowledge – containing the secrets of Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS). It proved to be so interesting and absorbing that once I started reading it I could not put it down. I would like to share some of these secrets here. The name of the book is: Unlocking the Secrets of Dhul-Qarnayn and Yajouj and Majouj, and it is written by Mr Hamdi bin Hamza al-Suraiseri al-Johani, a Saudi scholar. It was published under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud. May Allah Almighty shower His blessings on them and their families. Ameen.

The story of Zulqarnain (AS) has been mentioned by Allah in Para 15, Surah Kahf, Ayats 83-100 in the following words:

“(O Muhammad), they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say: ‘I will give you an account of him.’ We granted him power in the land and endowed him with all kinds of resources. He set out (westwards) on an expedition until, when he reached the very limits where the sun sets, he saw it setting in dark, turbid waters and nearby he met a people. We said: ‘O Dhul-Qarnayn, you have the power to punish or to treat them with kindness.’ He said: ‘We will chastise him who does wrong, whereafter he will be returned to his Lord and He will chastise him grievously. But as for him who believes and acts righteously, his will be a goodly reward and we shall enjoin upon him only mild commands.’ Then he set out on another expedition until he reached the limit where the sun rises and he found it rising on a people whom We had provided no shelter from it. Thus was the state of those people, and We encompassed in knowledge all concerning Dhul-Qarnayn. Then he set out on another expedition until when he reached a place between the two mountains, he found beside the mountains a people who scarcely understood anything. They said: ‘O Dhul-Qarnayn, Gog and Magog are spreading corruption in this land. So shall we pay you taxes on the understanding that you will set up a barrier between us and them?’ He answered: ‘Whatever my Lord has granted me is good enough. But help me with your labour and I will erect a rampart between you and them. Bring me ingots of iron.’ Then after he had filled up the space between the two mountainsides, he said: ‘(Light a fire) and ply bellows.’ When he had made it (red like) fire, he said: ‘Bring me molten lead which I may pour on it.’ So high was the rampart that Gog and Magog could not scale it, nor could they pierce it because of the strength of the structure. Dhul-Qarnayn said: ‘This is a mercy from my Lord: but when the time of my Lord’s promise shall come, He will level the rampart with the ground. My Lord’s promise always comes true.’ And on that Day We shall let some of them surge like waves against others, and the Trumpet shall be blown. Then We shall gather them all together. That will be the Day We shall place Hell before the unbelievers.”

Only in one more place (Surah Anbiyaa) has Almighty Allah mentioned Yajouj and Majouj (Gog and Magog). There he used the following words about them: “But there is a ban on any population which We have destroyed, that they shall not return until the Gog and Magog are let through and they swiftly swarm from every hill.”

The author has given rather convincing arguments that earth from a nearby site was used and that that earth contained many minerals. These melted as they were poured onto the hot iron pieces, turning the rampart into a compact, solid and impenetrable mass.

Syed Abul Aala Maudoodi, in his explanation of the Holy Quran, titled Tafhimul Quran, a book which is beautifully translated into English by Dr Zafar Ishaq Ansari, mentioned that Yajouj and Majouj were wild, ferocious marauders living in north-eastern Asia (present-day Nongolia and China). They used to raid inhabited areas, killing and looting as they went. They were also known as “the Horse People” and were probably the Mongols. Some historians thought that these people lived in the area north of the Black Sea while others thought they lived east of what is now Moscow, the capital of Russia.

Mr Mukhtar Masood mentioned in his very interesting book titled Lauh-e-Ayyam that the Iranians thought that Zulqarnain (AS) was Cyrus the Great, which is not a possibility in view of historical facts. Mr Masood was a very able civil servant whom I used to meet on PIA flights to London which, in those days, made a stopover in Tehran on the way. However, Pakistani passengers were not allowed to disembark in the Iranian capital, which annoyed and frustrated us. The Shah of Iran, who met his downfall in 1979, traced his ancestors back to Cyrus the Great and celebrated 2,500 years of the Pehlavi Dynasty in 1971, spending almost $800 million on the grandiose event. Yahya Khan attended the celebrations and caused embarrassment by drinking too much liquor and then wetting his pants. Brig Amir Gulistan Janjua, his military secretary, was prompt in dealing with the embarrassment. He “accidentally” spilled a glass of cold drink on Yahya Khan and took him away, all the while apologising profusely for the “mishap.” Brig Janjua, later lieutenant general, went on to become Pakistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia and, at the end of 1988, governor of the North-West Frontier Province, which is now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The extensive and thorough research carried out over many years by Mr Hamdi bin Hamza has negated all claims that Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) was either Alexander the Great, as many people assume, or Cyrus the Great. As Almighty Allah explained in the Quran, Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) was a prophet sent by Allah and it was he who had travelled to the places where the sun rose and where the sun set. It was he who erected a rampart or barrier in China to protect the inhabitants from the marauding Mongols. Those mentioned as Yajouj and Majouj were Mongols.

I have mentioned the information available in Surah Kahf about Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS). I would now like to go into greater detail about the invaluable book written by the Saudi scholar, Mr Hamdi bin Hamza al-Suraiseri Al-Johani. The book contains more than 500 pages with useful drawings and photos, and the information given would require many columns to discuss fully. I am therefore limiting myself to the essentials.

History tells us that about 3,400 years ago (1392 BC) a child was born in the grand palace of the Pharaoh on the banks of the Nile. The father was the most powerful Pharaoh, Amunhotep III – the same Pharaoh who wanted to murder Hazrat Musa (AS) and was drowned by the Almighty when he was chasing Musa (AS) and his followers. The prince was named Amunhotep IV, but he changed his name to Akhenaten after becoming king (Pharaoh) in 1360 BC. Allah had given him the status of Prophet in 1362 BC and he was quietly following Wehdaniat (monotheism). Once he felt powerful enough he publicly announced his belief. His mother, Tiye, also believed in one God. After some time Akhenaten built a new city, Akhetaton, in the centre of Egypt and forbade the worship of idols.

According to the Holy Quran, Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS), the name Akhenaten is known by in the Quran, was a nice, religious person and Allah had sent him as a messenger to his people, the Egyptians.

Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) lived in Akhetaton for about 12 years and then suddenly he, his mother and all the inhabitants disappeared. This remains one of the greatest secrets of Egyptian history. From 1342 BC on, Egyptian history opens a new chapter.

In about 615 AD, Allah sent revelationsto our Holy Prophet (PBUH) with Surah Kahf. Following Allah’s command, Zulqarnain and his family and followers left Egypt to visit the places of sunset and sunrise and to build the rampart between two cliffs in China to protect the inhabitants from the attacks of the cruel Mongols -the “Horse People” (discussed in Part I). The Holy Quran has not given any further information about Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS), his mother and his followers after the building of this rampart and the rest remains secrets of Egyptian and Chinese history.

Mr Hamdi bin Hamza carried out extensive research and found that Yajouj and Majouj consist of a sentence of six words in Chinese meaning “inhabitants of the Asia continent and inhabitants of the horse continent.” In Chinese, Yajouj is known as Yajouren and Majouj as Majouren. The author travelled extensively throughout China, meeting many Chinese historians. He convincingly postulates that when Musa (AS) and the Pharaoh were arguing about Allah Almighty, Pharaoh’s son AkhenatenAkhenaton (Zulqarnain) interceded and tried to convince his father and other people to believe what Musa (AS) was saying. None other than a very important and influential person could intercede in such a discussion.

Hence, it must have been the son of the Pharaoh. History or the Quran do not mention the departure or migration of Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS). It was most probably on the command of Allah that he migrated to preach that there was only one God, the All-Mighty, All-Powerful and All-Knowing.

The Quran says that Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) first went to the place where the sun sets. The author has given convincing arguments that this place is the Maldives Islands where there are hot sea currents. Anthropologists have also confirmed that it was around 3,400 years ago that the first humans came to the Maldives. This would coincide with the time when Zulqarnain (AS) reached there.

According to the Quran, Zulqarnain and his party then left for the place where the sun rises. The author’s research convinced him that this was the Kiribati Islands in the Pacific, thousands of kilometres east of Australia. There he found the “Sun Rise Hotel” where, on Jan 1, 2000, representatives from international agencies and many tourists had gathered to see the first rays of the sun rising on the new millennium. These islands are now known as the Republic of Kiribati, with a population of 100,000. Unfortunately, the inhabitants are very poor. I wish one of the rich Arab countries would fix a yearly donation to these poor people. We know that both the Maldives and the Kiribati Islands lie on the Equator where sunrise and sunset times are more or less constant.

Mr Hamdi bin Hamza also visited the city of Zhenzhou in Henan County, China, where he found a rampart forming a barrier between two steep mountains. It was seven km long, 36 meters wide at the base, nine meters wide at the top and nine meters high. Chinese historians mention it as being the First Great Wall.

When Zulqarnain (AS) reached Zhenzhou city (now a very important industrial centre), the people there asked him to build a barrier between the mountains to keep out the marauding “Horse People” (Mongols). For this they were willing to make payment in goods. Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) politely refused to accept any compensation, saying that the Almighty had provided him with enough resources and manpower and that they should supply only the materials required. This consisted of steel pieces (probably slag and pig iron). This he used to fill up the space between the two mountains. He then asked them to heat the whole until it is red hot (probably using coal which is found abundantly in the area). When it was red hot, Zulqarnain (AS) asked them to bring earth (probably rich in metallic ore), which was then poured onto the red hot iron, turning the whole into a compact, solid mass.

Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) and his people were called “Chu People” by the Chinese, meaning alien or outsider. Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) was accepted as their leader and established a kingdom there. After about 200 years this became known as the Chu Dynasty and it lasted for almost 800 years.

Mr Hamdi bin Hamza believes that Hazrat Zulqarnain (AS) and his mother and companions are buried in or near Zhenzhou city and he hopes that some day archaeologists will find their graves in the same way as those being found in Egypt 5,000 years after their burial.