By Suhaib Farooq Butt | Part 4 of a personal reflection series. This is a hypothetical interpretation, not a claim of scientific proof or a definitive explanation of Quranic verses.
Start here: Part 1: The Dimensional Passage Theory. This article develops one part of the theory further.
A question that connected two narrations in my mind
When I was discussing my theory about the barrier of Yajuj and Majuj, another story came to my mind: the report of Tamim al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him) and the strange island. I remember that Dajjal asked about the water of Lake Tiberias. The same lake is mentioned in the narration describing Yajuj and Majuj drinking until the later groups find it empty. I wondered whether this repeated location had a significance I had not noticed before.
I am not claiming that these reports teach a dimensional gateway. I want to explain why they made me think about the possibility of extraordinary places that are not ordinarily found by people, and to be precise about what the reports actually say.
What Tamim al-Dari described
In Sahih Muslim 2942a, Tamim al-Dari recounts that a group traveling by ship was driven by the sea for a month before reaching an island. They encountered a very hairy creature called Al-Jassasah, which directed them to a chained man. The man asked about places including the date palms of Baysan, the spring of Zughar and Lake Tiberias. He asked whether the lake still contained water and was told that it did. He indicated that its water would become dry. He then identified himself as Dajjal. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ related the account to his companions.
This is a story involving a physical journey by sea to an island, as the narration describes it. It does not tell us that Tamim passed through a wormhole, crossed a dimension or reached another planet. I am not trying to replace its wording. My thought is simply that a person might travel to a place that others cannot easily locate or reach, and encounter something beyond ordinary experience.
Why I keep thinking about Lake Tiberias
In Sahih Muslim 2937a, the account of the end-time events includes the release of Yajuj and Majuj. It describes the first people of their vast groups passing Lake Tiberias and drinking from it, while the last say there was once water there. The first hadith asks about the lake's future condition; the second describes its later depletion. That repetition is a real connection between the texts, even if we do not know every detail of its significance.
At one point I wondered whether Yajuj and Majuj might come before Dajjal because he asks about the lake. But we must not confuse the time of his question in Tamim's account with the time of his eventual emergence. Importantly, Sahih Muslim 2937a describes Dajjal's trial first, Isa (peace be upon him) defeating Dajjal, and then Allah revealing to Isa the emergence of Yajuj and Majuj. That is the sequence in this detailed narration. My question about the shared lake does not override that chronology.
Could Allah leave physical signs without explaining the mechanism?
I also thought about why Allah had Dhul-Qarnayn build the barrier using iron and molten copper. Allah could have prevented passage without a person constructing a wall. Perhaps there is wisdom in the physical means and in what might remain as evidence, although I cannot know Allah's reason. The Quran says Dhul-Qarnayn was established on Earth and given means, and describes the wall as a mercy from his Lord. It does not explicitly identify a dimensional opening or give its location.
In the same surah, Musa (peace be upon him) meets a servant traditionally identified as Al-Khidr, who is given special knowledge by Allah. His actions involving a boat, a boy and a wall are explained later in the account. That shows the Quran speaks of Allah granting knowledge beyond what another person has. It does not establish that Dhul-Qarnayn had knowledge of dimensions; it simply reminds me not to pretend that every part of the world has been explained to us.
An ordinary-looking entrance and an unfamiliar environment
In my main hypothesis, the hidden gateway might appear like an ordinary place in mountains. We may be able to reach the location in principle but not know where it is. Crossing the opening, rather than simply seeing it, might be what allows someone to reach another environment. I sometimes compare that uncertainty to black holes, whose interiors are not directly observable from the outside. But scientific black holes are not known to function as portals, and the fact that physics contains unanswered questions is not evidence of a gateway to Yajuj and Majuj's world.
The island narration and the barrier account might involve two entirely different kinds of location. I do not claim Dajjal is in the same place as Yajuj and Majuj. My broader question is whether Allah created extraordinary places whose physical nature we do not understand and whose precise locations are not revealed to us. That is a possibility I can wonder about, not a conclusion I can establish from the hadith.
What I believe and what I cannot know
I accept that the Quran describes Dhul-Qarnayn's barrier and Allah's promise about it. I accept the importance of the narrations about Dajjal, Isa (peace be upon him), and Yajuj and Majuj. Beyond that, I have tried to connect questions about geography, hidden openings, water, population, and human knowledge. The connection between the two narrations about Lake Tiberias is worth noticing. But it would be wrong to present my gateway hypothesis as the meaning of the Quran or as a scientific discovery.
For me, this entire discussion began with one sincere question: where could such an enormous population be living if no one has detected it? I explored one answer—a pre-existing passage sealed by a physical wall—but the question remains open. I would rather leave room for what I do not know than claim certainty about the unseen.
References and further reading
- Sahih Muslim 2942a — Al-Jassasah and the island
- Sahih Muslim 2937a — Dajjal, Isa and Yajuj and Majuj
- Surah Al-Kahf 18:65–82
- Surah Al-Kahf 18:93–98
- NASA: Black holes are not portals
Read the series: Part 2 · Part 3
Allah knows best.
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