1975-November-7

Bilalian News

The Tower Of Babel

Imam W. D. Muhammad

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"And God 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 God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

"And God blessed them, and God 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
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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 God 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 God.

The language of Genesis pictures an earth that was not populated and a world that lay before man to be conquered. God 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. God 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 God.

The Absence Of Revealed Knowledge

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1. Now the whole earth had one language and few words.

2. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

3. 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.

4. 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."

5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built.

6. 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.

7. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

9. 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
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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 God 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 God.

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 God gave man the instruction, to fill the earth, to subdue it, and to make good use of 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 God, 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 God 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. Th6ref ore, the human being should worship God in that part of his make up that is superior. That part is his brain (mind).

The Light And Life Of God

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 God  which removes us from the confused, grafted "baby talk" of this world's modern Tower of Babel.

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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
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Thank you for honoring us with your time to read these few words.
Your Brother, W.D. Muhammad