The essence of Darwin's theory of evolution is the claim that, under purely natural conditions, lifeless matter spontaneously brought forth the first living things, and that from them, again under these same conditions, all other species developed merely by chance. In other words, the theory of evolution proposes the existence of a self-contained system, that has organized itself without a creator, and spontaneously brings living things into being. This idea, that nature organizes itself without a creator, is called "naturalism."
The theory of naturalism is as absurd as the idea that a library could create itself without writers. But, since the earliest ages of history, this idea has been defended by numerous thinkers based merely on their philosophical and ideological whims, and been adopted by a number of civilizations.
Naturalism was born and flourished in pagan societies such as Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. But, with the spread of Christianity, this pagan philosophy was largely abandoned, and the idea that God created the whole of nature and the universe came to dominate. In a similar manner, as Islam spread throughout the East, naturalist ideas, and pagan beliefs, such as Zoroastrianism and Shamanism, were eradicated, and the fact of creation was accepted.
Nevertheless, the naturalist philosophy persisted underground. It was preserved by secret societies and emerged again under more suitable circumstances. In the Christian world, as we mentioned at the beginning of this book, naturalism was preserved by the Masons, and other secret societies who followed their lead. A Turkish magazine, named Mason, published for distribution to members of the order, provides the following interesting information:
Those who arrived at new discoveries in the world of natural phenomena and events without taking God into account were forced to keep their discoveries to themselves. Research was done secretly and even those who were engaged in similar research had to keep their relationship hidden. This secrecy required the use of several signs and symbols in the course of projects which were undertaken. (Mason Dergisi (Journal of Freemasonry), No. 48-49, p. 67)
What is meant here by "new discoveries" is an understanding of science aligned to naturalism, a theory that does not accept the existence of God. This distorted approach to scientific study was developed secretly in esoteric societies that needed to use signs and symbols for this purpose, and so the roots of Masonry were established.
One of these so-called secret societies, responsible for planting the roots of Masonry, was the Rose-Cross (Rosicrucian) order, a sort of meeting point between the Templars and Masons. This order, first heard of in the fifteenth century, created a fury of interest in alchemy, especially in Europe, of which its members were said to possess secret knowledge. But the most important legacy of the Rose Cross order today is the naturalist philosophy, and the idea of evolution, of which it is a part. The Mason declares that the roots of Masonry go back to the Templars and the Rosicrucians, stressing the evolutionist philosophy of the latter:
Speculative Masonry or the contemporary organization of Masonry is founded on Medieval construction guilds we refer to as Operative Masonry. But, those who brought the basic speculative elements to this foundation were members of certain organizations that studied pre-historic esoteric systems and the knowledge they contained. The most important of these organizations were the Templars and the Rosicrucians…It is unknown where and how the Rosicrucian order was established. The first traces of it come from fifteenth century Europe, but it is clear that the order is much older. As distinct from the Templars, the basic interest of the Rosicrucians was scientific. Its members were widely engaged in alchemy….The most important characteristic of its members was the fact that they believed that every stage of development was a stage in the process of evolution. For this reason, they placed naturalism at the basis of their philosophies and became known the "naturalists." (Mason Dergisi (Journal of Freemasonry), No. 48-49, p. 67, (emphasis added))
Another Masonic organization to have developed the idea of evolution was not in the West but it was another Masonic order founded in the East. Grand Master Selami Isindag provides the following information, in an article entitled "Masonry and Us From Its Foundation Until Today":
In the Islamic world there was a counterpart of Masonry called the Ikhwan as-Safa' [The Brethren of Purity]. This society was founded in Basra in the time of the Abbasids and published an encyclopedia composed of 52 large volumes. 17 of these dealt with natural science and it contained scientific explanations that closely resembled those of Darwin. These found their way even to Spain and had an influence on Western thought. (Dr. Selami Isindag, Kurulusundan Bugune Masonluk ve Bizler (Freemasonry and Us: From Its Establishment Until Today), Masonluktan Esinlenmeler (Inspirations from Freemasonry), Istanbul 1977, pp. 274-275, (emphasis added))
This society originated in the Ismaili sect and its basic purpose was to make religious dogmas intelligible by allegorical and symbolic explanations. Its philosophy was influenced by Pythagoras and Plato. To enter this secret society, a person was first enticed by mystical instruction and later purged of vain religious beliefs and dogmas. Later he was familiarized with philosophical and symbolic methods. Such an initiate who passed through his apprenticeship was sometimes put through training in neo-platonic ideas, and then he could begin chemistry, astrology and numerology, the science of the significance of numbers. But all this knowledge was kept secret and was given only to those deemed worthy to receive it. So, the origins of Masonry is based on these foundations. Some of the symbolic meanings of these elements were not contrary to science and logic and so survive in various places in our rituals today. (Dr. Selami Isindag, Kurulusundan Bugune Masonluk ve Bizler (Freemasonry and Us: From Its Establishment Until Today), Masonluktan Esinlenmeler (Inspirations from Freemasonry), Istanbul 1977, pp. 274-275)
The words quoted above, "purged of vain religious beliefs and dogmas" mean that initiates were made to reject religion at all. That is how the Mason Isindag defines religion. However, as we examined in earlier sections, "vain belief and dogma" is a euphemism particular to Masonic philosophy. It must be recognized that Masonry, or any other materialist group, express such anti-religious ideas without logical justification; they rely only on propaganda and suggestion. Because they cannot denounce religion rationally, they resort to these methods of suggestion and words selected to create a particular psychological effect.
From the quotation above, we learn that the Ikhwan as-Safa', a parallel society of Freemasonry in the Islamic world, carried on activities much like those of the modern Masons. Their method was to espouse a pagan philosophy contrary to true religion, to express that philosophy by means of symbols, and to introduce this secret philosophy to its members gradually.
In the history of Islam there have been various thinkers who in this way distanced themselves from Islam, and were influenced by the Ancient Greeks' materialist and evolutionist myths. The fact that this school of thought, that the great Islamic scholar Ghazali so loathed and refuted in his works, has a Masonic character to it surely casts some important light on the matter. In his work entitled Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance From Error), Ghazali directly criticized the Ikhwan as-Safa' society, explaining that it espoused a corrupt philosophy influenced by the ideas of the Ancient Greeks. And, in his work entitled Fedaih-ul-Batinniyye, he demonstrated the perversity of the teachings of the Ismaili sect, to which the Ikhwan as-Safa' belonged.
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