From the Los Angeles Fire to Babylonian Horoscopes, Conspiracy Theories, and Arguments of Evil
By Yaqub Yasna, writer and researcher, member of the Sangar Advisory Board
A while back I read a piece of Babylonian astrology, which has been around for five thousand years and has been popular since the Sumerians and then developed during the Assyrian and other periods. These horoscopes are based on omens (good and bad) and are usually based on the intersection and opposition of two events. For example, seeing the new moon over a donkey is a bad sign, but seeing it over water is a good sign. The new moon means that when the moon is new, your eyes see something and then immediately see the new moon, which is the reason for the astrology. What would happen if you were traveling and saw a black cat when you left your house? What would happen if there was a solar eclipse?
People's behavior in the past was usually judged and implemented based on these horoscopes. For example, a woman with four brothers should not wash her hair on Wednesday. What are the consequences if an earthquake occurs in winter, and what if in summer or spring? Religious culture is also usually influenced by Babylonian horoscopes.
We were sheep farmers and usually on the 15th of Aqrab (November 5th) we added the takkas (goats) and kochkars (rams) to the flock. This was done according to rituals and horoscopes. Several men drove the goats and rams, pouring water and barley on their backs. My father told the people transporting the kochkars to pay attention and see what color sheep the kuchkar mated with first. My father used this to predict whether the winter would be cold or warm, good or bad. If the kochkar had mated with a white, black, red, etc. sheep for the first time, the horoscope result would have been different.
I see many of our Muslim friends and enthusiasts getting carried away with Babylonian astrology making connections between the Gaza war and the Los Angeles fire, and screaming their heads off saying, “Did you see what happened in Los Angeles? The American government failed to put out the fire!” Even some supporters of the Islamic Republic have come to the conclusion that this fire is weakening the US influence in the Middle East and strengthening the influence of regional players.
In addition to the Babylonian prophecies about the Los Angeles fire, conspiracy theories have also been intensified and spread that the US government deliberately burned the city to build a new smart city using scientific advances. If the city had not burned, it would have been unable to move people out of Los Angeles and pay for their homes.
But let's put aside Babylonian horoscopes and conspiracy theories and look at the evidence for evil: what role does God play in this fire or other natural phenomena?
Religious beliefs say that nothing, not even a leaf on a tree, happens or falls without the will of God. Because God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. The fact that God is omnipotent supports the belief that nothing happens without the will of God, but when evil happens and burns everything in its path and God does not intervene, then the theory of God as an omnibenevolent being is rejected.
If God were an absolute benefactor, He would not have allowed the evil that is happening in the Middle East to happen, and He would not have allowed the fire in Los Angeles to happen, which killed thousands of innocent animals and many living people. If we say that God does not know about the war in Gaza and the fire in Los Angeles, then the theory of God's omniscience is rejected.
In any case, it is better not to interfere with God in the affairs of man and nature, because the Word of God is pure and holy in these matters.