By: Moulana Aneesur Rahman Nadvi

When and how the smoke will be released into the atmosphere
It is evident from the above discussion that hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous, corrosive, stinky and flammable gas. This dangerous gas has all the characteristics that have been mentioned in the hadiths with regards to the smoke ‘dukhan’. Now the question arises here is that what will be the source of this gas? When and how will this gas be released into the earth’s atmosphere? Most importantly, is there any possibility of this dangerous gas being released into the atmosphere and inflicting harm to the people of Planet Earth on global scale as mentioned in the hadiths.

According to modern scientific discoveries, the answer is yes. According to scientists, the source of this poisonous gas will be death of oceanic creatures and decomposition of their bodies on global scale. When this happens, this gas will be discharged from their decomposed bodies and subsequently get released into the Earth’s atmosphere. Now yet another question posed before us is when and how will the oceanic animals be killed on this scale? Scientists have this to say about it:

The logic goes this way: During periods of great heat, the oceans can absorb less oxygen. In areas on the ocean floor which were anoxic, the breakdown of organics created hydrogen sulfide. Normally the oxygen-rich waters above would “cap” the water and oxidize any undissolved H2S gas before it rose to the surface, but the warmer waters lacked enough oxygen in many places and the H2S-rich water reached the surface in many areas. This killed off oxygen-generating plants causing a runaway H2S effect.13

It is evident from the above discussion that the emission of hydrogen sulfide gas will cause dangers not only to the people of any particular region, but to the people of the whole world. The second point which is of utmost importance here is that as it is evident from the above discussion, the emission of hydrogen sulfide gas is not going to happen in the atmosphere for the first time in its history. There are geological evidences of its release several times during the previous climate changes that occurred on Planet Earth when the Earth witnessed global warming in its past. Earth has preserved its evidence in sedimentary rock cores.14 Through its in-depth study, the man has been able to predict the possibility of its release once again.

Now let us study the hadith of Ibn Abbas once again in this context which says that “at the time of release of the smoke ‘dukhan’, the condition of Planet Earth would be like a home which has been set on fire.” This hadith, in addition to the depiction of the actual situation of Planet Earth at the time of release of smoke ‘dukhan’, also describes the first cause of the release of this poisonous gas that the temperature of the Planet Earth will be souring at that time and the Earth would be spitting fire; the temperature of the oceans too will tend to rise as a result of increase in global warming. This will lead to annihilation of oceanic systems leading to the killing and decomposition of oceanic animals on global scale. At that specific point, this dangerous gas will get released from their decomposed bodies.

There is another important clue in this Hadith that the phenomenon of smoke and the global warming will be restricted to the Planet Earth alone. In order to express this fact, the earth has been compared with a house. This corroborates completely with the scientific findings. The Earth along with its atmosphere is like a house with a firm roof which is termed as ‘greenhouse’ in modern terms. The increased global warming of Planet Earth will not have any effect even on its nearest neighbors – neither Venus nor Earth’s moon. Hence, the above hadith of Ibn Abbas is significant not only with regard to the smoke ‘dukhan’ but also with regards to a number of other connotations. It may be summarized in the following:

• This hadith is very clear in its connotation with regard to the increase in global warming.
• The earth has been compared with a house, which corroborates with the scientific findings. The Earth along with its atmosphere is like a sealed house which is termed as ‘greenhouse’ in modern science.
• The impact of the global warming will be restricted to the Planet Earth alone. It won’t have any effect even on Earth’s moon.
• The release of smoke ‘dukhan’ will be the result of global warming.
  Devastations of Smoke
  
  Now let us discuss the diseases afflicted by humans due to the emission of this toxic gas, which has been mentioned in the hadiths in detail. The Holy Qur’an has described the smoke as a painful and harrowing torment. However, the Hadith has dealt this topic in detail and it has given a list of some important diseases in this regard.
  
  As it has been explained, hydrogen sulfide is a highly toxic and flammable gas. It quickly deadens the sense of smell, so victims may be unaware of its presence until it is too late. Hydrogen sulfide is a broad-spectrum poison, meaning that it can poison several different systems in the body, although the nervous system is most affected. It prevents cellular respiration. Exposure to lower concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere can result in eye irritation, sore throat, cough, nausea, shortness of breath, and fluid in the lungs – pulmonary edema.
  
  Long-term, low-level exposure may result in fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, poor memory, and dizziness. Short-term, high-level exposure can induce immediate collapse, with loss of breathing and a high probability of death. If death does not occur, high exposure to hydrogen sulfide can lead to cortical pseudolaminar necrosis, degeneration of the basal ganglia and cerebral edema. According to scientists, humans will be prone to the following diseases (see table 1) as a result of gradual increase of this dangerous and fatal gas in the atmosphere.
  
  Thus, the release of this gas does not cause immediate death to the human beings. Rather, gradual increase in its concentration in the atmosphere will gradually affect the human organs destroying their body parts and systems gradually finally leading to their death.
  
  The various illnesses related to the emission of this destructive gas has been mentioned in the hadiths metaphorically and implicitly in the words that this gas will enter into each and every part of human body as an indication that all the human body parts will suffer enormously upon the release of this gas. While the Holy Qur’an has described the smoke as a painful and harrowing torment and also added that it will engulf all the people and the human beings will not find any place to run away from it.
  
  After this discussion on general diseases afflicted by humans through the emission of this gas, now we will examine briefly the specific diseases mentioned in the hadiths.
  
  The disease of flatulence
  In almost all the hadiths of smoke ‘dukhan’, it has been mentioned that humans will be afflicted by the disease of flatulence due to this gas. The word ‘nafakh’ has been used in the hadiths to denote this meaning. As discussed earlier this gas will cause flatulence in humans:
  
  It is responsible for the foul odor of rotten eggs and flatulence.16
  
  Hydrogen sulfide is the rotten-egg-smelling odor that’s produced as organic materials decay. The human body creates hydrogen sulfide as it digests food. This same gas is discharged from the human body in the form of flatulence. In the same way, when oceanic temperature will exceed a specific limit due to the increase in the global warming, the oceanic creatures (animals and plants) start dying and their bodies start decomposing, this gas will release from their decomposed bodies into the atmosphere and afflicts lot of diseases including flatulence. According to hadiths, the disease of flatulence will be so severe in humans that they will release this foul-smelling gas not only from their backs but also from their ears and nostrils.
  
  Loss of Hearing & Vision by Humans
  The other characteristic of the smoke ‘dukhan’ mentioned in hadiths is that the non-believers will lose their hearing and vision upon the release of this gas and they will become deaf and dumb.17 The proper functioning of man’s sense organs (hearing, vision, taste, smell and touch) depends completely on the proper functioning of human nervous system. But as it has been noted earlier, the human nervous system will be most prone to release of hydrogen sulfide gas and it will also be prone to its attacks. Hence the human nervous system will get disrupted with the gradual increase of this deadly gas in the atmosphere. Table 1 shows clearly how the gradual increase in the amount of hydrogen sulfide gas in the atmosphere will make humans vulnerable in terms of problems of eyes, ears, and nose and how humans will engulf in various diseases related to their sense organs. Once the amount of hydrogen sulfide gas crosses 500 PPM mark in the atmosphere, man’s nervous system will collapse completely. Subsequently, man will lose the ability of hearing, sight and smell completely.
  
  A question may arise here as to why only hearing and sight got mentioned in the hadiths, whereas hydrogen sulfide is causing a lot more other human illnesses? The answer could be that the hearing and sight are the two most important gifts of God to humans. It is through hearing and the sight that humans are capable of differentiating between the right and the wrong. Hence depriving humans from these blessings is a great lesson for man.
  
  Losing Consciousness
  The third characteristic of this smoke ‘dukhan’ stated in the hadiths is that at the time of release of this gas, people will lose their consciousness and they will be in a state like that of the drunkard. This hadith has been narrated by Tabri from Huzaifa bin Yaman; and have been reported by Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and Suyuti in their commentaries of Holy Qur’an. The words used in hadith are “the infidels will be in a state like that of a drunken man.”18
  
  As it has been explained earlier that as hydrogen sulfide gas inflicts pain physically to each and every part of human body, it affects various systems badly in the same way. Human nervous system will be the most vulnerable. Once its amount reaches the 500 ppm mark in the atmosphere, man will become senseless. Upon reaching 600-700 ppm, man will start to lose his consciousness rapidly and collapses immediately. This is the reason hydrogen sulfide gas is also called as a “knock down gas”:
  
  H2S has been referred to as the “knock down gas” because inhalation of high concentrations can cause immediate loss of consciousness and death.19
  
  Once the concentrations of hydrogen sulfide reaches above 800 ppm in the atmosphere, it will cause immediate collapse with loss of breathing, even after inhalation of a single breath, breathing stops, and death within minutes. (to be continued)
  
  Footnotes:
  13- http://en.wikipedia.org/
  wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide
  14- For a detailed study of its causes refer the next chapter of this book.
  15- PPM or Parts per million is a measurement used to denote amount of something out of a million. For example concentration of 200 ppm of hydrogen sulfide means 200 parts out of one million atmospheric parts.
  16-  Greenwood Norman N, op. cit.
  17- Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 4774.
  18- Al Durr Al Mansoor, V. 6, P. 29.
  19- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  /pmc/articles/PMC2850187/