1976-August-13

Bilalian News

The Clot Of Blood

Imam W. D. Muhammad

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

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1. Proclaim ! (or Read !)
In the name
Of thy Lord and Cheriser,
Who created-

2.  Created man, out of
A (mere) clot
Of congealed blood:

3.  Proclaim ! And thy Lord
Is Most Bountiful,—

4. He Who taught
(The use of) the Pen,—

5 Taught man that
Which he knew not.

Holy Quran translation by Yusuf Ali; Sura 96: Verses I—5
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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.

There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters:
The verses of the 96th Sura of the Holy Quran, entitled "Read!" or "The Clot of Congealed Blood," are the very first verses of the divine revelation to Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him). The Holy Prophet is instructed to recite with the name of his "Rabb." "Rabb" means the one who raises you up from nothing, the elementary life material (life germ), one who raises you up until you take your human form, and one who then provides your needs until you reach maturity. The opening Sura of the Holy Quran, entitled "Al-Fatiha," says that Allah is the "Rabb" of all the worlds. He is not only the Creator, the Nourisher, and the Completer for the human being, but he does this for all the creation.

In the above Sura, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is told to recite in the name of his "Rabb" (Lord) who has created the man (the human mind) from a small clot of congealed blood. Again, it says that thy Lord is most generous that it is He Who has taught man the use of the pen, and that it is He Who has taught man what he did not know.

The Plain Evidence

In these verses of the first revelation that came to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), we see an address to man as a thinking being. In the book of the Bible called "Genesis," we see a likeness of this particular revelation. The Genesis says that there was darkness upon the face of the deep and God said, "Let there be light." After God made light, He separated light from darkness and He caused the earth to take form, whereas before it had been formless.

When He brought about some order and form to the new creation, He caused things to grow out of the earth and He multiplied life on earth. Unlike the Bible, the Holy Quran goes right to the point and it does not mystify us or leave us in doubt as to what God is actually talking about. Because the Holy Quran is very plain, it is called "Al Baiyina," which means the plain truth or the plain evidence.

The Giver Of Form

In a clot of congealed blood, we can see no real order because nothing has yet been established as a design for structured life. We cannot distinguish any identifying form or characteristics and we cannot tell whether it is to develop into the form of a man or the form of an animal. You, as a human being, may look unstructured, unformed, and primitive -but your Lord is most generous. He knows how to give right form and He knows how to build up the proper structure. When the life germ grows from the simple state of congealed blood to take on design and take on form, it is delivered from the dark womb as a baby. Even though it emerges from the womb as a baby with its form complete, it is still helpless - it cries and it needs constant attention. Likewise, for the society.

Creation: Signs To The  Mind

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164. Behold ! In the creation
Of the heavens and the earth;
In the alternation
Of the Night and the Day ;
In the sailing of the ships
Through the Ocean
For the profit of mankind ;
In the rain which God
Sends down from the skies,
And the life which He gives
therewith
To an earth that is dead ;
In the beasts of all kinds
That He scatters
Through the earth;
In the change of the winds,
And the clouds which they
Trail like their slaves
Between the sky and the earth ;—
(Here) indeed are Signs
For a people that are wise.

Holy Quran translation by Yusuf Ali Sura 2: Verse 164
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Man too, is found in the simple, unformed  stage  and Almighty God is most generous to him. Allah has taught man by the pen, in that the knowledge of history is preserved with the pen. Society, which inherits volumes of knowledge is able to lift itself out of the simple blood form and take on proper structure. But it is not man himself who has the power to raise up society, it is the power of Almighty God. Man did not simply take up the pen and begin to write. There were generations and generations on the earth that had no knowledge of the pen or of writing. Gradually Allah entered man (mind) with His knowledge from His environment (creation). Man did not have an environment with knowledge from which to write. When he came on the earth, Allah had already placed him in the environment from which to write. As man began to write from Allah's environment and store up knowledge, he was blessed by Allah to learn to use the pen. Man was taught what he did not know or what he would not have learned by himself. Allah taught the holy prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) that the creation is a sign.

Brother and Sister, do not take Allah's creation just for face (surface) value. It suggest things to the physical eye, but in its nature it suggests things to the mind. These signs will develop the mind and they will bring the mind closer to a maturity to which Almighty Allah wants all of mankind to come.

Creatures Of Light

The Holy Quran says that there are signs for wise people in the alternation of night and day. When night comes, the creatures that seek their livelihood in the day naturally begin to feel the approach of sleep. Man takes his rest and when he wakes up, the body is usually calling for food again. When he wakes up in the morning needing food, he is not left in the dark. He does not have to go out in the dark and grope for food. Almighty Allah has already lit the world so that man can clearly see how to go out and how to find his food. For the human society, intelligence (rational truth) is the light of our society. No matter how much physical light we have in our society, we are in the dark in the human society if we do not have enough mental light. Just as Allah does not leave us in the dark when time comes for us to seek our physical livelihood, He also does not leave us to grope in the dark for our moral and our spiritual food. We should remember this and not leave our own selves in the dark. After all, Allah has not only prepared a way for us but He has insisted that we make motion (make movement) in the path to get the things that we need. As yon seek your physical livelihood, yon should remember that Allah has turned on the light for those people who want to find their higher food.

Before going out to get the things that you want to take into your body, the things that you want to take into your heart, and the things that you want to take into your mind, be sure that the light is on. We are not bats or owl birds that dwell in dark caves and musty attics. Allah has made us to be creatures that see in the light.

The Final Goal

The Nation of Islam in the West is a body of people that works in the light. You who are educated and you who are qualified to lead others should remember this and keep the lights turned on. Be as generous and as merciful to all humanity as Allah has been to you. Do not tell people to go out and make it for themselves in the dark - turn the lights on. Let us do our best to turn on the lights of truth and knowledge for those people who are coming out to find their livelihood and their sustenance. All human activity must have light for movement and for direction. If we do not have light, we will just be a clot of congealed blood. We will never build up an orderly design and an orderly society, and we will never raise our society from the blood form to the form of the completed human being or to the form of the completed society. The Holy Quran says that Allah made us from blood, but it lets us know that this was not the final form because it gives us instructions to move up step by step to the final goal.

For this kind of orderly movement, we must have light. Do not become lovers of darkness. Darkness can be superstition, suspicion, lies, filth, deceit, and ignorance. Do your best to stay in the light. The world has grown, developed and matured because of the power of light, not because of the power of darkness.

Your brother,
W.D. Muhammad