A STUDY OF MERIT IN THE NATURE OF FREEMASONIC PHILOSOPHY

When it comes to the accumulation of knowledge, most nations, including our own to this day try to keep others out.  But there are exceptions to every rule as we know. Today we will look at the effects of medieval Islamic scholarship in map making, optics, medicine found in 12th-17th century  references in texts to Islamic thinkers. Just when freemasons were convinced it was about personnal advancement, freemasonry comes along with an obvious statement that within the scope of ideas, merit is the basis of promotion. As we examine this we find a journey into the history of Islam where the facts show threads of the mystery school we call freemasonry.  In 832AD, just 70 years after the city of Bagdad was founded,  the Caliph Al Ma'mun created the House of Wisdom after the Museum in Alexandria, founded about 280BC by Ptolemy I Soter, known for advanced scientific and literary scholarship. The House of Wisdom included Persian and Christian scholars drawn by the 'translation movement' of ideas and culture to transcribe knowledge into a common langauge- Arabic. Historians run out of superlatives to describe it: "an unrivaled centre for the study of humanities and science in medieval Islam including mathematics, astronomy, medicine, alchemy and chemistry, zoology, geography and cartography".

Restrictions on the source of knowledge should not exist but they do. Students of the Craft often are schooled in 'masonic' texts. But doesn't it make sense that advancement based on merit has continued the House of Wisdom, exposing all initiates to scholarship.  Why is it not democratic you ask? Because intellect and ability are God given tools, not for man to question. Advancement is always about the mind and indifferent to rank and privilege.