Warnings
& Past Extinction Events
… Not (is) the command but for Allah. He has
commanded that not you worship but Him Alone … [Q12:40]
Abstract
The
Quran warns of a smoke from the sky. In the same surah, it mentions the
Qaum-e-Tubba and the people before them who have all been destroyed. A look at
the world history to explore some well-known /closely-studied past extinction
events to see if some parallels can be established between the secular and
scriptural history of the world.
Full
Text
فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاءُ بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِينٍ
يَغْشَى النَّاسَ هَٰذَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
رَّبَّنَا اكْشِفْ عَنَّا الْعَذَابَ إِنَّا مُؤْمِنُونَ
أَنَّىٰ لَهُمُ الذِّكْرَىٰ وَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ مُّبِينٌ
ثُمَّ تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ وَقَالُوا مُعَلَّمٌ مَّجْنُونٌ
إِنَّا كَاشِفُو الْعَذَابِ قَلِيلًا إِنَّكُمْ عَائِدُونَ
يَوْمَ نَبْطِشُ الْبَطْشَةَ الْكُبْرَىٰ إِنَّا مُنتَقِمُونَ
Then watch (for the) Day (when) will bring the sky smoke visible,
Enveloping the people. This (will be) a punishment painful.
"Our Lord!
Remove from us the punishment; indeed, we (are) believers."
How can (there be)
for them the reminder, when verily, had come to them a Messenger clear.
Then they turned away
from and said, "One taught, a mad man."
Indeed, We (will)
remove the punishment a little, indeed, you (will) return.
(The) Day We will
seize (with) the seizure the greatest, indeed, We (will) take retribution.
The Smoke
(adDukhan) is mentioned twice in The Quran: once to describe the state of the
sky at the time of its creation, and once to warn of a smoke from the sky:
قُلْ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَتَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ أَندَادًا ذَٰلِكَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ
وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ مِن فَوْقِهَا وَبَارَكَ فِيهَا وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَا أَقْوَاتَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَاءً لِّلسَّائِلِينَ
ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ائْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ
فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَىٰ فِي كُلِّ سَمَاءٍ أَمْرَهَا وَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَحِفْظًا ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ
فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَقُلْ أَنذَرْتُكُمْ صَاعِقَةً مِّثْلَ صَاعِقَةِ عَادٍ وَثَمُودَ
Say: Is it that ye
deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do ye join equals with Him? He
is the Lord of (all) the Worlds. He set on the (earth), mountains standing
firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measure therein
all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four Days, in
accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (Sustenance).
Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: "Come
ye together, willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come
(together), in willing obedience."
So He completed them
as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and
command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with
guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.
But if they turn
away, say thou: "I have warned you
of a stunning Punishment (as of thunder and lightning) like that which
(overtook) the 'Ad and the Thamud!"
Smoke
from the Sky or Cosmic Dust, to use a more current term, is extraterrestrial
dust, which abounds throughout the cosmos. Thousands of tons of cosmic dust
reach the Earth every year.
Micrometeorite collected from the Antarctic snow
Attribution:
By CSNSM IN2P3-CNRS - http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/leonidnews40.html
(http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20160418-pourquoi-micrometeorites
),
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=284612
A Flame in Orion Belt
This mosaic image taken by NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,
features three nebulae that are part of the giant Orion Molecular Cloud. Included in this view are the Flame nebula,
the Horsehead nebula and NGC 2023.
Cat’s Eye Nebula
Observations suggest the star ejected its mass in a series of pulses at
1,500-year intervals. These convulsions created dust shells, each of which
contain as much mass as all of the planets in our solar system combined (still
only one percent of the Sun's mass). These concentric shells make a layered,
onion-skin structure around the dying star. The view from Hubble is like seeing
an onion cut in half, where each skin layer is discernible.
Surah
arRehman which lists the favours of Allah, informs us of a future event:
فَإِذَا انشَقَّتِ السَّمَاءُ فَكَانَتْ وَرْدَةً كَالدِّهَانِ
Then when is split
the heaven, and it becomes rose-colored like murky oil.
[Al-Quran 55:37]
Qaum-e-Tubba &
The Toba Catastrophe Theory
Surah
adDukhan, which warns us of a smoke from the sky, also mentions Qaum-e-Tubba
and the people before them have already been destroyed:
أَهُمْ خَيْرٌ أَمْ قَوْمُ تُبَّعٍ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ أَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ
وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا لَاعِبِينَ
مَا خَلَقْنَاهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
مَا خَلَقْنَاهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Are they better or
(the) people (of) Tubba and those before them? We destroyed them, indeed, they
were criminals.
And not We created
the heavens and the earth and whatever (is) between them (in) play. Not We
created both of them but in [the] truth, but most of them (do) not know.
Qaum-e-Tubba
are also mentioned only twice in The Quran, without any details, as if its something
well-known or evident, and needs no elaboration.
The Toba
volcanic eruption, that is supposed to have occurred about 70,000 years ago, in
Sumatra, Indonesia, is the most closely studied super-eruption. The volcanic
ash that erupted from it has been found as far off as in Lake Malawi, East Africa.
However, ice cores samples from Greenland do not show any evidence of the ash
from Toba. Therefore, although massive, it was not a global extinction event.
Parallel
to the timeline of the Toba eruption, it is theorized that a genetic bottleneck
may also have occurred around the same time, due to mass extinction. This
genetic bottleneck could be the reason homo sapiens became the dominant specie
of the genus Homo.
Interestingly,
also mentioned twice in The Quran is the fact that the Earth has been reset:
وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلَاحِهَا وَادْعُوهُ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا إِنَّ رَحْمَتَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ مِّنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And (do) not cause corruption in the earth after its reformation. And call Him (in) fear and hope.
Indeed, (the) Mercy of Allah (is) near for the good-doers.
[Al-Quran 7:56]
وَإِلَىٰ مَدْيَنَ أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًا قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُم بَيِّنَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَأَوْفُوا الْكَيْلَ وَالْمِيزَانَ وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلَاحِهَا ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
And to Madyan, his
brother Shuaib. He said, "O my people! Worship Allah, not for you any god
other than Him. Verily, has came to you a clear proof from your Lord. So give
full [the] measure and the weight and (do) not deprive [the] people in their
things and (do) not cause corruption in
the earth after its reformation. That (is)
better for you if you are believers.
[Al-Quran 7:85]
Allah
has sent several Messengers, and also The Book and The Balance, and warned
humans to not upset the Balance!
Reading
together these ayaat of The Quran, it may be plausible to imagine that the
cause of the extinction of many species may have been a cosmic smoke that
engulfed the Earth, leading to the extinction event, and the consequent
resetting of the Earth. That would also
offer an explanation as to why, if not how, only few breeding pairs survived:
repeatedly in The Quran, in each example of past civilizations that were
punished for their crimes, the believers who kept their duty and/or did acts of
reform were saved and
delivered, along with their Messenger from God.
أَفَلَمْ يَرَوْا إِلَىٰ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ
إِن نَّشَأْ نَخْسِفْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضَ أَوْ نُسْقِطْ عَلَيْهِمْ كِسَفًا مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً لِّكُلِّ عَبْدٍ مُّنِيبٍ
Then, do not
they see towards what (is) before them and what (is) behind them of the heaven
and the earth?
If We will We (could)
cause to swallow them the earth or cause to fall upon them fragments from the sky. Indeed, in
that surely, is a Sign for every slave who turns (to Allah).
[Al-Quran 34:9]
وَإِن يَرَوْا كِسْفًا مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ سَاقِطًا يَقُولُوا سَحَابٌ مَّرْكُومٌ
فَذَرْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُلَاقُوا يَوْمَهُمُ الَّذِي فِيهِ يُصْعَقُونَ
يَوْمَ لَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ
وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ
وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَإِدْبَارَ النُّجُومِ
And if they were to see a portion from the sky
falling, they will say, "Clouds heaped up."
So leave them until they meet their Day which in it they will faint.
(The) Day not will avail to them
their plotting (in) anything, and not they will be helped. And indeed, for
those who do wrong, (is) a punishment before that, but most of them (do) not
know.
So be patient, for
(the) Command (of) your Lord, for indeed, you (are) in Our Eyes. And glorify
(the) praise (of) your Lord when you arise, And of the night, glorify Him, and
after the stars.
[Related
Posts: Balance
& Guidance || Crime
& Punishment || Stones
from the Sky || Hailstones from the Sky || When the
Seas Boil || Days of
Allah || Humans: Extinct & Extant ]
Some Scientific Terms, Concepts &
Theories
Cosmic Dust
Cosmic
dust, also called extraterrestrial dust or space
dust, is dust which
exists in outer space, as well as all over planet Earth.[1][2] Most
cosmic dust particles are between a few molecules to
0.1 µm in
size. A smaller fraction of all dust in space consists of larger refractory
minerals that condensed as matter left the stars. It is called
"stardust" and is included in a separate section below. The dust
density falling to Earth is approximately 10−6/m3 with
each grain having a mass between 10−16kg (0.1 pg) and 10−4 kg
(100 mg).[3][4]
Cosmic
dust can be further distinguished by its astronomical location: intergalactic dust, interstellar dust,
interplanetary dust (such as in the zodiacal
cloud) and circumplanetary dust (such as in a planetary
ring). In the Solar System, interplanetary dust causes the zodiacal
light. Sources of Solar System dust include comet dust, asteroidal
dust, dust from the Kuiper belt, and interstellar dust passing through the
Solar System. The terminology has no specific application for describing
materials found on the planet Earth except for dust that has demonstrably fallen to
Earth. By one estimate, as much as 40,000 tons of cosmic dust reaches the
Earth's surface every year.[3] In
October 2011, scientists reported that cosmic dust contains complex organic matter
(amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic–aliphatic structure)
that could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars.[5][6][7]
In
August 2014, scientists announced the collection of possible interstellar dust
particles from the Stardust spacecraft since returning to
Earth in 2006.[8][9][10][11] In
March 2017, scientists reported that extraterrestrial dust particles have been
identified all over planet Earth.[2] According
to one of the researchers, “Once I knew what to look for, I found them
everywhere.”[1]
'Superstar' Eta Carinae Acts Like a Ginormous Cosmic-Ray Gun, But Why?
https://www.space.com/41111-giant-cosmic-ray-gun-star-system.html
By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor | July 10, 2018 07:20am ET
A huge star system 7,500 light-years away is shooting out radiation at superhigh speeds. A new study with NASA's NuSTAR space telescope shows that Eta Carinae may act as an accelerator of charged particles, which are also called cosmic rays.
Eta Carinae is a famous hourglass-shaped gas cloud containing two massive stars orbiting each other: They are 30 and 90 times the mass of the sun, respectively. The system experienced an outburst in the 19th century and briefly became the second-brightest object in the sky. Astronomers, however, still struggle to understand the source of the outburst — and the dynamics of that star system in general.
...
NASA added that some of these superfast electrons, as well as other charged particles, likely escape Eta Carinae. Some of those particles may fly in Earth's direction, showing up here as cosmic-ray detections.
Toba Catastrophe
Theory
The Toba
supereruption was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred about
75,000 years ago at the site of present-day Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia.
It is one of the Earth's largest known eruptions.
The Toba catastrophe theory holds that this event caused a
global volcanic winter of six to ten years and
possibly a 1,000-year-long cooling episode.
In
1993, science journalist Ann Gibbons posited that a population bottleneck occurred in human
evolution about 70,000 years ago, and she suggested that this was caused by the
eruption. Biologist Michael R. Rampino of New York University and volcanologist Stephen
Self of the University of Hawaii at Manoa support
her suggestion. In 1998, the bottleneck theory was further developed by
anthropologist Stanley H. Ambrose of the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. Both the link and global winter theories are highly
controversial.[2]
Volcanic Ash
To
get an idea about what the above theory suggests, most people might remember
the relatively small eruption in Iceland, in April 2010, whose volcanic ash spread
over Europe:
Image Attribution:
In
this Blog
External
References & Links
Last updated on: August 31, 2018
