Angels, plea to God

Behold, thy Lord said to the
angels; "I will create
A vicegerent on earth." They said:
"Wilt Thou place therein one who
will make
Mischief therein and shed blood?-
Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises
And glorify Thy holy (name)?"
He said: I know what ye know
not"


And He taught Adam the names
Of all things; the He placed them
Before the angels, and said: "Tell
Me
The names of these if ye are right."


They said: "Glory to Thee: of
knowledge
We have none, save what Thou
Hast taught us: in truth it is Thou
Who art perfect in knowledge and
wisdom."


He said: "O Adam! tell them
Their names." When he had told
them their names,
God said: "Did I not tell you
That I know the secrets of heaven
And earth, and I know what ye
reveal.
And what ye conceal?"


And behold, We said to the angels:
"Bow down to Adam:" and they
bowed down:
Not so Iblis: he refused and was
haughty:
He was of those who reject Faith.

It would seem that the angels, though holy and pure, and
endued with power from God, yet represented only one side
of Creation. We may imagine them without passion or emotion,
of which the highest flower is love. If man was to be endued
with emotions, those emotions could lead him to the highest
and drag him to the lowest. The power of will or choosing
would have to go with them, in order that man might steer
his own bark. This power of will (when used aright) gave
him to some extent a mastery over his own fortunes and
over nature, thus bringing him nearer to the God-like nature,
which has supreme mastery and will. We may suppose the
angels had no independent wills of their own: their
perfection in other ways reflected God's perfection but
could not raise them to the dignity of vicegerency. The
perfect vicegerent is he who has the power of initiative
himself, but whose independent action always reflects
perfectly the will of his Principal. The distinction is
by Shakespeare (Sonnet 94) in those fine lines: "They
are the lords and owners of their faces. Others but
stewards of their excellence." The angels in their one-
sideness saw only the mischief consequent on the
misuse of the emotional nature by man; perhaps they
also, being without emotions, did not understand the whole
of God's nature, which gives and asks for love. In humility
and true devotion to God, they remonstrate: we must not
imagine the least tinge of jealousy, as they are without
emotion. This mystery of love being above them, they are
told that they do not know, and the acknowledge
not their fault (for there is no question of fault) but
their imperfection of knowledge. At the same time, the
matter is brought home to them when the actual capacities
of man are shown to them.

"The names of things:" according to commentators
means the inner nature and qualities of things, and
things here would include feelings. The particular qualities
of feelings which were outside the nature of angels
were put by God into the nature of man. Man was thus
able to love and understand love, and thus plan and initiate,
as become the office of vicegerent. The angels acknowledge
this. These things they could only know from the outside,
but they had faith, or belief in the Unseen. And they knew
that God saw all-what others see, what others may even
to conceal. Man has man qualities which are latent or
which he may wish to suppress or conceal, to his own detriment.

The Arabic may also be translated: "They bowed down,
except Iblis. In that case Iblis (Satan) would be one
of the angels. But the theory of fallen angels is not accepted
in Muslim theology. Iblis is spoken of as
a Jinn. We shall discuss later the meaning of this word.

Abraham preaches to his people,

His people disputed
With him. He said:
"(Come) ye to dispute
With me, about God,
When He (Himself)
Hath guided me?
I fear not (the beings)
Ye associate with God"
Unless my Lord willeth,
(Nothing can happen),
My Lord comprehendeth
In His knowledge all things.
Will ye not ( yourselves)
Be admonished?

"How should I fear
(The beings) ye associate
With God, when ye
Fear not to give partners
To God without any warrant
Having been given to you?
Which of (us) two parties
Hath more right to security?
(Tell me) if ye know.

"It is those who believe
And mix not their beliefs
With wrong -that are
(Truly) in security, for they
Are on (right) guidance."

That was Our argument
Which We give to Abraham
(To us) against his people:
We raise whom We will,
Degree after degree:
For thy Lord is full
Of wisdom and Knowledge.

The story of Abraham is highly instructive for all men in quest of truth. If enlightenment go so far as to take a man beyond his ancestral worship, people will come to dispute with him. They will frighten him with the dire consquences of his dissent. What does he care? He has found the truth. He is free from superstitious fears, for has he not found the true God, without Whose Will nothing can happen? On the contrary he knows that it is the godless who have just grounds for fear. And he offers admonition to them, and arguments that should bring them the clearness of truth instead of the vagueness and mystery of superstition,- the security of Faith instead of the haunting fear of those who have no clear guidance.

The word "wrong" here refers to ascribing partners to God as has been stated by the Prophet (peace be on him) in the explanation of the verse.

The spiritual education of Abraham raised him many degrees above his contemporaries, and he was expected to use that knowledge and dignity for preaching the truth among his own people.

The Purpose of Education

As I engage in the so-called "bull sessions" around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the "brethren" think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the ligitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

The late Eugene Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or even America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contents that I am an inferior being. Are those the types of men we call educated?

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-- that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumuated experience of social living.

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immorals acts. Be careful,"brethren!" Be careful, teachers!

What Is Your Life's Blueprint?

I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life's blueprint?

Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.

Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint.

I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life's blueprint. Number one in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you fell that you're nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

Secondly, in your life's blueprint you must have as teh basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You're going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life- what your life's work will be. Set out to do it well.

And I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you--doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers - and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great essayist, said in a lecture in 1871, "If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

This hasn't always been true - but it will become increasingly true, and so I would urge you to study hard, to burn the midnight oil; I would say to you don't drop out of school. I understand all the sociological reasons, but I urge you that in spite of your economic plight, in spite of the situation that you're forced to live in - stay in school.

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep street like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.