At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let us make oven-fired bricks." They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, "If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another's speech." So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-9 HCSB)
And We have revealed to you, [O Muúammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ. (Surah 5:48 Sahih International Version)
Had your Lord wanted, He would have made all people one united nation. They still have different beliefs (Surah 11:118 Muhammad Sarwar Version)
Did God ever create a world with only one language?
The answer from the Bible is "Yes". From Adam to Noah, the world had only one language. But when the people intend to stick together and build a city after the flood instead of spreading abroad, God decided to confuse their tongues so that they could not succeed in building the one world government ahead of its time.
The answer from the Koran is "No". In Surah 5:48, the Muhammad Sarwar version translated as "Had God wanted, He could have made you into one nation" Yusuf Ali translated as "If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people," And the above Sahih International translate as "Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion]". The implication is God had never created a world with one language. The world had many languages from the beginning and God wanted them to "compete with each other in righteousness." In Surah 11:118, God gave another reason why many languages were created, that is, even with one language, they will still fight and quarrel.
No comments:
Post a Comment