The Smoke

The Smoke

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw gave another sign of the smoke. He Stated:

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو خَيْثَمَةَ، زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَابْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ الْمَكِّيُّ – وَاللَّفْظُ لِزُهَيْرٍ – قَالَ إِسْحَاقُ أَخْبَرَنَا وَقَالَ الآخَرَانِ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ فُرَاتٍ، الْقَزَّازِ عَنْ أَبِي الطُّفَيْلِ، عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ بْنِ أَسِيدٍ الْغِفَارِيِّ، قَالَ اطَّلَعَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَيْنَا وَنَحْنُ نَتَذَاكَرُ فَقَالَ ‏”‏ مَا تَذَاكَرُونَ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالُوا نَذْكُرُ السَّاعَةَ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ إِنَّهَا لَنْ تَقُومَ حَتَّى تَرَوْنَ قَبْلَهَا عَشْرَ آيَاتٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَذَكَرَ الدُّخَانَ وَالدَّجَّالَ وَالدَّابَّةَ وَطُلُوعَ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَنُزُولَ عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ

Hudhaifa b. Usaid al-Ghifari reported:Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: What do you discuss about? They (the Companions) said. We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary … (Sahih Muslim Hadith 2901 a)

The sign of the smoke is another prophecy which is included in both the Qur’an and the Ahadith. This prophecy relates to the danger of a nuclear holocaust and other explosions. It was made at a time when no one was able to understand the idea of an atomic explosing. There are verses of the Qur’an which also describe this. Allah States:

فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاءُ بِدُخَانٍ مُبِينٍ {11} يَغْشَى النَّاسَ ۖ هَٰذَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ {12}

Then watch for the day when the sky will bring forth a manifest smoke, That will cast a shadow upon people. This will be a painful suffering (Chapter 44 Verses 11-12)

This cloud is further explained in Chapter 77 where Allah States:

انْطَلِقُوا إِلَىٰ مَا كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ {30} انْطَلِقُوا إِلَىٰ ظِلٍّ ذِي ثَلَاثِ شُعَبٍ {31} لَا ظَلِيلٍ وَلَا يُغْنِي مِنَ اللَّهَبِ {32} إِنَّهَا تَرْمِي بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ {33} كَأَنَّهُ جِمَالَتٌ صُفْرٌ {34}

Now move towards what you have been denying, move on towards a three-pronged shadow, Neither affording shade, nor protecting from th blaze, It throws up flames like huge castles, as though the castles were dusky yellow camels (Chapter 77 Verses 30-34)

Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad^rh beautifully explains these verses and this sign:

“The words ‘move towards’ indicate that mankind will be gradually carried into an era where it will confront this calamity of a tormenting cloud which offers no shade or protection. Shadows provide relief and shelter. The clouds stand between us and the blazing heat of the sun. In the above verse no sun is mentioned, just a fire, from whose blaze this shadow affords no protection. Rather, the shadow of this cloud becomes a means of transmitting the torment of the fire which emits it. Nothing under its shade is safe. This clearly is the description of a radioactive cloud. The event being described will throw up huge flames of a dusky yellow appearance, flames that are likened to castles and also have the appearance of camels. Perhaps, here it is not only the likeness to the colour of the camel, but also the shape of its hump which is highlighted.

People of the seventh century would not have been able to understand the significance of such a deadly cloud or smoke. It would have been beyond their comprehension. However, today we know of atomic explosions and can understand the images of radioactive clouds they produce.

This fateful description is also referred to in another verse of the Quran which reads as follows:

Woe on that day unto those who deny. (Chapter 77 Verse 16)

‘That day’ () can refer to the day of judgement, but it also refers to a time here on earth, when those who refuse to believe in the signs () will be tormented by a smoke that casts a deadly shadow over whatever lies beneath. It will be a shadow which will move on, from land to land, bringing no relief, but only a shade full of agony. That will be the age when having witnessed this Divine punishment of colossal dimensions, man would at last turn to God beseeching His favour to rescue him from this unbearable chastisement. But when the wrath of Allah overtakes people, the time for forgiveness and deliverance is already over. Thus the Holy Quran explains:

How shall a message be effectual for them, since a messenger has already come to them, explaining things clearly?

Yet they turn away from him, saying, ‘He is tutored, a man possessed.’ (Chapter 44 Verses 14-15)

Prophetic warnings only delivered to awaken man to the danger of calamities which are but the consequence of his own folly. The prophecies mentioned above clearly relate to our age. They speak of events which were completely unknown to the people of earlier ages. One wonders if the full implications of all such prophecies were revealed by God to the Holy Prophetsa in every detail. But the clarity with which he describes future events leaves a strong impression as if he were beholding them like a prophetic puppet show being staged in the hall of destiny. Yet mankind had to wait for more than a thousand years before these prophecies would begin to be realized. Hence, the real transfer of these events from the realm of the unseen to that of the seen, could only become possible in the nuclear age.”(Revelation Rationality Knowledge and Truth, Pages 617-620)

Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad^rh also mentioned the nuclear holocaust and gave a beautiful tafseer in this book under “Nuclear Holocaust” which goes into more depth in regards to these prophecies of the Qur’an.