"And G-d said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
"So G-d created man in his own image, in
the image of G-d created he him; male and female created he them.
"And G-d blessed them, and G-d said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
-Genesis I: 26-28
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful; Peace and Blessings upon His Servant and His Messenger, Muhammad,
forever. Amen.
As -Salaam -Alaikum
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Bible says that man (male and female) was
made by G-d and that He gave them (human beings) dominion and power to rule
over water, land, air, and all therein. In the Genesis we see the great role,
the great office, and the great power that was given to human beings by G-d.
The language of Genesis pictures an earth that
was not populated and a world that lay before man to be conquered. G-d did not
tell man to set in a hole and pray or meditate, but He told man to fill the
earth and subdue it.
We see human beings being given the land, water,
and air as a challenge to their intelligence and to their morality. They were
given an opportunity to see if they could go out and make the best use of the
challenge given to them. G-d would see if the moral strength of the man could
survive the test of conquest. So men were ordered to go out, to conquer the
land, and to face the challenge to be tested by wealth and power. The
worthiness of man could be proven by passing the test given to him by G-d.
THE ABSENCE OF REVEALED KNOWLEDGE
"Now the whole earth had one language and
few words.
And as men migrated from the east, they found a
plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
And they said to one another, "Come, let us
make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and
bitumen for mortar. .
Then they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name
for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
earth."
And the Lord came down to see the city and the
tower, which the sons of men had built.
And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one
people, and they have "all one language; and this is only the beginning of
what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible
for them.
Come, let us go down, and there confuse their
language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord
scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left
off building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because
there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord
scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
-Genesis 11: 1 -9
In the Bible story of "The Tower of
Babel," we are given the cause of the fall, the ruin, and the trouble that
came -upon the society (nation). That cause was the confusion that came into
human life because of the accumulation and the massive increase of knowledge
that was other than revealed knowledge.
The word "Babel' has in it the word
"bab," which in Semitic language means "door" or
"book." A book or a body of knowledge is an opening because it opens
the way to new understanding and to broader discoveries. This simple word
"bab" gives the invitation for men to open up and come into a new
field of knowledge.
"BABY TALK" PHILOSOPHIES
The Tower of Babel is a story, which gives a
description of the many diverse philosophies that grew up among the people.
Because these philosophies did not respect the idea of G-d or divine worship,
they caused nothing but confusion. Of the many philosophies that grew out of
the human study, some were built upon the knowledge of the ground (knowledge of
the physical environment); some were built upon the knowledge of fertility in
nature; some were built upon the knowledge of emotionalism in the human being;
some were built upon the knowledge of greed; and some were built upon the
knowledge of love and lust.
These philosophies grew up as "bab,"
or "babel," as baby talk. There is a hint or a suggestion of baby in
the word "babel." We could go on with further discussion on this word
and we could go into other definitions of scriptural language to make the word
clear to you, but it may be confusing at this time.
For now, it is enough that you understand that
the Tower of Babel was a tower or a great mass of philosophies, which were not
based on respect for G-d.
SPIRITUAL DARKNESS
When we read the history of the world, we find
that there came a great period of philosophies behind the great religious
teachings. Behind that period of philosophies there came a period of spiritual
darkness. After G-d gave man the instruction, to fill the earth, to subdue it,
and to make good use of it understand what brought about the fall of great
nations that rose up on the earth. We must also understand the terminology of
scripture to understand the cause, the fall, and the effect of the Tower of Babel
on humanity.
"LAND," "WATER," AND
"AIR"
From Genesis to Revelations we have the three
concepts of land, water, and air taking on different outer appearances but
having the same inner nature and function. The ancient people in religion saw
water as a good symbol for the moral makeup of the human being because morals
are like water. Water, which has to be contained in something, has the property
to clean (remove filth) but it can also be made filthy and polluted.
The land contains the water, so the ancient
people used the land to symbolize laws. Some land is softer than other land
like some laws are softer than other laws. Air was used as a symbol to
represent prophecy and spiritual teachings. So we see that the ancient
religious people used good words as symbols for great ideas that they had in the
body of their religion.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
Brother and Sister, it is important that each
one of you understand that you are a power in creation. The thing that
separates you from other creation is your freedom of movement.
As a human being, you have a greater freedom of
movement than any other creature in creation. You can master your flesh, which
responds to you and follows you and you follow it.
You dictate to your hands and your hands do what
you want them to do. You dictate to your feet and your feet do what you want
them to do. Your heart, which is the sentimental part of your self, responds to
emotions and it responds to what is morally right and morally wrong. The heart
is related to the human conscience.
THE POWER OF THE BRAIN
The third part of our makeup is the
intelligence. If you are to worship G-d, you have to worship Him in the
physical flesh by submitting your physical body to do what is right. You -also
have to submit your heart (sentiments) to G-d and do what you feel in your heart
is good for you. You avoid the thing that you feel in your heart that is bad
for you.
You also have a brain that is able to question
the movements of the feet (flesh) and the heart. Sometimes your brain will tell
the heart not to go a certain way because it knows that the way is not good for
you. Threfore, the human being should worship G-d in that part of his make up
that is superior. That part is his brain (mind).
THE LIGHT AND LIFE OF G-D
If the religious language of today had been
interpreted from the original religious language and composed in the likeness
of the original religious language, we would have an intelligent religious
world instead of the confused, false religious philosophies of a Tower of
Babel. In an intelligent religious world, there is religious life, light, human
success, and prosperity. We would have these benefits not only in the physical
world, but in the moral world and in the intellectual world also.
The growth of natural religious life is
producing an intelligent religious community in the Lost - Found Nation of
Islam in the West (the Body - Christ). The Great Truth of Divine Mind has given
us a Light and a Life from Almighty G-d which removes us from the
confused, grafted "baby talk" of this world's modern Tower of Babel.
12. One Day shalt thou see The believing men and
The believing women How their Light runs Forward before them And by their right
hands: (Their greeting will be):" Good News for you this Day! Gardens
beneath which flow rivers! To dwell therein for aye! This is indeed The
highest Achievement!"
Holy Quran – Yusuf Ali translation – Sura LVII:
12
Thank you for honoring us with your time to read
these few words.
Your Brother, W.D. Muhammad
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