THE QURAN

In Defence of Bill Gates & Pharma Companies

Introduction

In her book, Oneness vs the 1%, Vandana Shiva launches a scathing attack on Bill Gates and his pharmaceutical companies, casting accusatory blame on them for orchestrating the current worldwide lockdown for financial gain [1]. This simple and shallow analysis led me to question her grasp of the complexity of the lockdown. To engage in an activity or business for financial gain is hardly news but doing so illegally should make headlines. As the lockdown was endorsed by every government on earth, it suggests that any active involvement in organising the lockdown was perfectly legal. So, if this tells us anything, it is that there is so much more to Bill Gates and the pharma companies’ relationship with the lockdown than meets the eye. To determine the nature of this relationship and an appropriate response to it, we must delve deep into the real motive behind the pandemic.

In this essay, I will argue that the real motive behind the pandemic is to try healing an ailing economy through behaviour regulation of the masses, by using the technology and modern-day medicine. I will start by briefly explaining the importance of adopting a behaviour regulation system for a healthy economy. Next, I will show that any behaviour regulation system that only focuses on changing visible behaviour without pacifying the hidden beast behind it, i.e., the human instinct, is doomed to fail tragically. Finally, I will present in detail, the one and only behaviour regulation system with the right tool that is able to appease the human instinct while changing undesirable behaviour at the same time, thus ensuring a long-lived healthy economy.

Modern Technology, Behaviour Regulation, and the Economy

It is not news that the current worldwide lockdown has received polarising opinions about its real motives. Yet, there is one aspect of lockdowns that everyone agrees with: regulating people’s behaviours and habits is at its very core. Not only that, but as time goes by, it is becoming apparent that this behavioural regulation is rather about economic matters than human health, as people’s mental health has taken a huge hit as a result [2]. But one might rightly wonder; how do acts like social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks relate to the economy? And why would governments go to such an extent of inventing a pandemic to achieve a legitimate end, instead of bluntly stating that such measures are necessary to heal an ailing economy?  The short answer is that such acts have real impact on the economy, especially when done collectively. But without a pandemic, it would have been impossible to regulate people’s behaviour as required. For a more comprehensive answer, we start with defining a healthy economy.

According to economists, a healthy economy is a growing economy, always. However, we know that healthy growth entails taking respite from our normal activities. Respite literally means a delay or cessation for a time. It also denotes relief and comfort. The best example of what constitutes respite is sleep.

In sleep, we do not eat, drink, or take medicine, and make sure to be protected as much as possible from nature, yet the body grows and heals, and it in turn, makes us feel rested and energised. However, economic respite is not only achieved by completely stopping normal economic and social activities but can also happen by continuation of these activities in a restrictive manner, such as covering up body parts like through mask wearing. Furthermore, economic respite can be achieved through engaging in simple acts that delay normal activities and reserve energy, like washing hands and social distancing. The mechanism which acts of respite utilises is called homeostasis. Homeostasis is the tendency of an organism or cell to maintain internal equilibrium by regulating its physiological processes. In short, economic respite acts are as important to the health of the economy as sleep is to human health.

Despite these indispensable benefits of respite acts to the health of the economy, they are much detested by humans because of their dull and unexciting nature. So, it is only natural that people will choose not to engage in them readily. I would imagine that had sleep not been spontaneous, most people, me included, would choose not to sleep. After all, sleep is the brother of death, and no sane person chooses boring death over exciting and joyous life. This human natural loathing of respite acts makes any straightforward attempt to engage the masses in them impossible. So, a subtle method was needed to gain the cooperation of people in embracing the lockdown rules and lessen the need for policing. The only safe and quick method to attain a goal of such magnitude seems to invent a pandemic. In using the word, ‘invent’, it does not necessarily mean that the disease is bogus. Rather, it is specifically referring to claims made about how diseases spread that contradict reality, which I will discuss later.

Advancement in technology and medicine has offered solutions to enforce respite acts in our lives, thus eliminating the need for policing and ensuring an ever-growing economy. Acts like working from home, remote learning, scanning QR codes and vaccines have the characteristics of respite acts in that they are restrictive. Though only physically, they offer physical comfort and health as well as delay most of our normal economic and social activities considerably. They are also simultaneously economic and social activities. So, I will refer to them as man-made economic and social activities to distinguish them from normal acts done in a traditional manner and other respite acts mentioned above. This unusual combination of being both respite acts and economic and social activities in one makes them attractive to governments’ policymakers. This better explains Bill Gates and Pharma companies’ heavy involvement with the lockdown than any other businesses or industries. It is a mere stroke of fortune for Bill Gates and Pharma, for they have not created the natural law regarding the positive correlation between respite activities and the health of the economy.

However, despite the innovative nature of man-made economic and social activities, they fare no better to other respite acts regarding human aversion towards them. In fact, they are much more despised than the traditional respite acts due to their excessive restrictiveness which, in many situations would mount to actual harm. For instance, they are extremely limiting in that most jobs and social activities cannot be fulfilled using the technology.

Even for those that can be completed using the technology, they become devoid of their lively contents, leaving one feeling highly unsatisfied and unmotivated, as in remote learning and teaching. Moreover, although engaging in man-made economic and social activities may require very little amount of physical exertion, they still require a considerable mental effort, leaving one mentally exhausted to do other things. Man-made activities in a way are sneakily stealing our time.

In addition, man-made activities do not allow for the conservation of natural energy, like sleep. Rather, they involve using as much energy as needed to do the same act in the traditional way, if not more, but in a different form. That is why they require that we cut back on many normal activities to make way for them to operate. This is in line with the natural law that stipulates that “energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed”. 

Unfortunately, despite the negative effects of man-made activities, governments will most likely not be deterred from adopting them, because their negative effects are seen as mere side effects of treating a very sick economy. Man-made remedies always comes with horrible side effects, sometimes worse than the diseases they are treating, yet people choose to take them readily. So, if such side effects are what it takes to keep the economy healthy, so be it.

Fortunately, it is not all doom and gloom, for there exists a one of a kind behaviour regulation system that we can adopt for economic health. This produces no undesirable side effects on people, such as mental stress and anxiety, and does not need to be introduced sneakily through inventing a pandemic or its likes, and does not need policing, because participants not only look forward to following its rules, but would give the world so they do not miss out on them. This essay explains this unique method and its underlying ideology in detail.

Islam, Mental State Regulation, Behaviour Change, and the Economy

The ideology I am referring to here is the religion of Islam. It is the one ideology with a unique behaviour regulation system that targets both human aspects: physical and mental. In other words, its behaviour regulation system not only regulates the outside behaviour, but also the hidden drive behind it, which is the human natural instinct, hence its name, the religion of instinct. As per Islam, one of the human raw instincts everyone is born with is called hysterical panic. This instinct is manifested in all human behaviours and feelings. As such, it is responsible for producing behaviours that obstruct the flow of wealth in society. So, it is not an exaggeration to say that human nature is indeed the number one enemy for healthy economy.

The Ayat 19-23, of Surah Al-maarij, say to the effect:

“Truly, mankind by nature is in a state of hysterical panic. As such, when struck by misfortune, he breaks apart emotionally and lives meagrely. While when struck by fortune, he holds on to it and shuts others out from it completely.”

This means that humans, irrespective of being rich or poor are always inclined to retaining wealth, thus obstructing the flow of the economy and creating imbalance [3]. Obstructing the economy is done by either holding on to wealth, which causes economic retention at the end of the buyer, or by living meagrely which causes economic retention at the end of the seller.

But what happens when a behaviour regulation system, such as the current one of the pandemic, forces people to spend their money in times of misfortunes instead of tightening their belt as dictated by this instinct? The answer is that while this behaviour regulation might succeed in changing the outside behaviour, it will surely fail to control the instinct behind it.  As such, while people might spend their money, it will still be in a hysterical panic mode, hence the panic buying we witnessed when the lockdown was announced. So, this shallow behaviour regulation only shifted the problem of retention, where instead of being about money, it has now become about the retention of something else, like certain goods. This means that the behaviour has to be continually modified by introducing new rules as the situation develops. It is a pity that panic buying was modified by restricting the amount one could buy of toilet paper and pasta but was not extended to farmlands or properties [4]. Economic growth without flow gives the wrong type of growth. Obesity is growth and so is cancer but we abhor both.

Furthermore, this behaviour regulation does not do anything to lessen feelings of anxiety and gloom that is associated with being struck with misfortune. What such behaviour regulation does do, however, is that it exacerbates negative feelings as it creates  dissonance within the person, between how they feel they should instinctively react and how he is pushed to react as per the imposed rules. The Ayat continues to affirm that the only way to solve economic retention and feelings of worry and anxiety is through practicing Islamic rituals and following the teachings of Islam. So, what are these rituals and how do they pacify human instincts and fix harmful behaviour?

Islamic Rituals: Pure Acts of Respite for the Human and the Environment

The Islamic rituals refer to the five pillars of Islam – Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Siyaam and Hajj.  These rituals are strictly respite acts that provide unparalleled rest to the physical body and appeasement to the instincts. I will refer to them as God-ordained respite acts to distinguish them from all other respite acts mentioned before. To understand how they differ from other respite acts of man-making, we need to learn their unique characteristics.

First and foremost, the Islamic rituals provide actual sustenance which the human needs for survival, but it is from a non-natural source. That is why all of the rituals are directed at the individual and not the collective, with the exception of Hajj and the collective Salat as in Friday prayers, which I will touch upon later. As per Islam, the human is composed of two elements: natural and spiritual. These two elements became amalgamated by the Word of God, “Kun”. This word means to “be alive”, or “be in existence” and “stand firm”. So, to continue to be in this state of “Kun”, each part needs to be constantly fuelled from its respective sources. Humans fuel their physical part from the abundant natural resources available in nature. While the Islamic rituals are the only way to increase human spiritual energy because they connect the believer with the Source of the human spirit, the Almighty Creator of nature, Allah.

This power of rituals to connect humans with the Source of the human spirit stems from being spoken by God in the Quran. The Speech of God is referred to in the Quran as the Spirit or Ruh, which literally means to “bring to life” or “animating force”.

To truly appreciate the Divine power of the Speech of God or the Quran, I will quote from the Quran itself from Ayah no. 31, Surah Ar-raad, which says to the effect:

“Had a Quran been sent to set the mountains in motion, or cut Earth into slices and blocks, or speak fluently with the dead, it would be this Quran”.

But that is not why the Quran was sent to people, rather to fulfil other roles which are of equal magnitude. One of these roles is to stimulate the human memory where human instincts lie in its capacity as Zikr. The word, Zikr connotatively means the incarnation of reminiscing and nostalgia. The denotative meaning of Zikr is to remind, nudge and prompt [5]. The interaction of the Quran with the human memory will instill great mental relief and calm in the reader/listener because this contact puts one in a state of mindfulness, unlike in sleep, where mental relief happens due to being in a state of heedlessness. It is interesting to mention that advancement in neurology was able to show that during sleep, the human memory is relieved by means of clipping, literally [6].

Thankfully, there is no need for complicated or advanced tools to ascertain the Divine power of the Quran in relieving mental tension, as anyone, whether a believer or non-believer, can do that easily by simply doing some recitation of the Quran or listen to its recitation, with or without understanding the text. However, while getting mental relief through the Quran is an effortless process, increasing spiritual energy requires belief in Islam and consistent practice of Islamic rituals to secure connectedness with God.

Secondly, despite the restrictiveness of Islamic rituals, they are easy to do both physically and mentally, as they require only a moderate amount of physical exertion and the consumption of as little energy of natural sources as possible. This, in turn, allows for the conservation of natural energy. This is why some Islamic rituals are designed specifically to disrupt the normal economic and social activities for some time during the day. For example, Salat contains specific physical hygiene requirements prior to starting. This physical hygiene demands engaging in traditional respite acts such as washing body parts; not only the hands but also private parts, arms, feet, face, mouth, nose ears, and feet and stroking the head with water. Salat also requires the covering of certain body parts for both males and females. These hygiene elements and covering of body prerequisites prolong the time of Salat considerably, thus delaying going back to normal activities in the process and conserving energy as a result.

Thirdly, Islamic rituals are not arbitrary as they occur periodically and seasonally in known durations and time periods. This gives ample time for adequate preparation, so they do not disrupt economic and social activities abruptly. For example, Salat is to be done 5 times daily at known interval times, while Hajj is required to be done once in a lifetime and is only held once a year. Ramadan is the longest of all rituals which lasts one month every year.  

Fourthly, Islamic rituals are balancing acts that provide stability for the person performing them, from within. So, it is imperative to adhere religiously to their specified dose. Interfering with the prescribed dose will reduce their effectiveness considerably and could even render them ineffective. For instance, the first ritual, Shahada always requires 100% continuous restriction of all forms of worship with God, both physically and mentally, while Zakat occurs only once annually and involves giving a small percentage between 2.5% to 10% of certain types of wealth that have not been used for a year. (Zakat rules are quite complex, consult related books for more details).

Moreover, the rituals provide both the prevention and cure of physical and mental ailments by means of inhibition of immoral acts. The constant practice of the rituals will build an internal policing mechanism within the person stopping one from engaging in immoral deeds. The rituals can literally order the person to engage in the right deed and forbids from doing the wrong ones [7]. Immoral deeds are very dangerous because they drain significant spiritual energy due to their permissive nature. Permissive acts are highly addictive because they allow for cutting corners, thus providing instant gratification.

Spiritual energy in Islam is not constant like physical energy so it can increase and decrease depending on one’s deeds. The dwindling of spiritual energy is very harmful to the human because it is the reason why pain and suffering never go away. Chronic pain and suffering can only be brought to a halt by increasing spiritual energy. It is well documented that it is possible for a disease or an injury to be long gone physically but for its lingering pain to remain. Similarly, every practising believer knows that it is possible to have an injury or a disease but not suffer from it and continue to live life happily.

The topic of disease from an Islamic perspective is long and manifold so it cannot all be squeezed into this short essay. However, there is enough space to mention one major aspect of this topic regarding infectious diseases. Islam teaches that diseases are part of life and that they do not spread as taught in modern science. Yet, Islam has more stringent rules regarding mixing with certain diseased people. For example, Islam instructs the believers to avoid any contact with lepers, no matter how small. Islam also offers certain teachings on how to mix with them safely when providing them with lifesaving services. The harm they cause to healthy people is not due to transferring physical germs or bacteria, but through an imbalance of an innate power that emerged because of the disease. This innate power is capable of killing the healthy person through the human eye [8]. On the other hand, for most other diseased people, Islam encourages the healthy to visit them and considers this an act of worship which increases the visitor’s spiritual energy.

Last but not least, Islamic rituals provide “Barakah” in time [9]. The word, “Barakah” denotes three things: increment, continuity and lingering [10]. While all rituals have a “Barakah” effect on how one perceives and uses time, it is most felt after doing it the middle of the night, Salat “Tahajud”, as it is the most restrictive ritual of all. Any practicing believer knows how much time increases after a night of “Tahajud”. It is as if time has frozen, and gives one plentiful time the next day, along with a proportional dose of motivation to do as many tasks as possible. The Quran encourages the believers to spend as much as half of the night performing Salat without any harm from sleep deprivation. As sleep is referred to “the brother of death” in a hadith, Islam wants the believers to be in a constant state of life by replacing sleep with Salat. 

Hajj and the Environment

If human nature is the number one enemy for the establishment of a healthy economy, then Mother nature is number two. Therefore, Mother nature needs to be appeased so that it can be rid of its retention which accumulate due to human immorality and transgression. The only way to create a vent for nature to gently release itself from its withholding is through the performance of Islamic rituals. This is because Mother nature is also a Muslim, so it understands the rituals and reacts to them appropriately. While the effects of the individual rituals on relieving nature are cumulative, the effects of the collective ones are instantaneous, as in Friday prayers and Hajj.

One of Hajj’s many objectives is to pay homage to mother nature collectively, not by words but by very restrictive actions. Hajj is when representatives from every race and nation on earth come together as one to engage in acts that show great humility and appreciation to nature. Hajj is an acknowledgement of human transgression against nature hoping they will be forgiven. Pilgrims perform Hajj unkempt and covered with dust to tug at nature’s heartstrings. It is as if they are saying, “sorry mother nature for all that we have put you through to make our lives easier”, “Look at what will become of us if we do not use your resources to look after ourselves”, “We come here as one and endure physically to show our appreciation and gratitude”.

Hajj is the ultimate self-sacrifice one can give for the sake of nature.  To perform Hajj, pilgrims must put a pause on their entire life to go on an extremely restrictive journey. For this journey to eventuate, the pilgrim needs to spend his hard-earned money to pay for the journey and leave behind the comfort of his home, wealth, property, children, partner, work, relatives and social life. All of this is in order to go to a place where no one would willingly choose to go to if it was not part of the religion. This place lacks beautiful scenery and has no greenery or special beauty. It is full of plain mountains, stones and black rocks, a place known for its harsh weather and burning sun that grills the head and face.

Upon starting Hajj, pilgrims must engage in very restrictive rites that forbid one from wearing usual clothes, showering, combing of hair, cutting hair, nail trimming, using perfume, sexual activity, hunting and any financial or social activities. The rites must be done within a specific timeframe and specified areas which forces participants to physically squeeze in with complete strangers. Hajj is the Islamic definition of curfew and social distancing, even though there is so much physical closeness and so much walking around involved.

Interfering with how the collective rituals are done, with the excuse of making them “easier” only defeats the purpose behind them, which is that they must be restrictive. Making Hajj and collective Salat unrestrictive by using the technology and following orders of modern medicine only reduces their effectiveness both on the person and the environment, if not renders them completely unacceptable.

At the end of Hajj, participants must fulfil the rite of animal sacrifice. This rite provides much needed nutrition for the human body and relief for Mother nature from many herds responsible for producing harmful gasses into the atmosphere. From the Quran, one cannot help but notice the strong connection that exist between practicing Islamic rituals and sacrificing animals for food consumption. Apparently, Bill Gates is very much aware of this fact, and he is well prepared to fill the anticipated void with his meatless meat. As societies are pushed to become confined to certain industries and jobs due to using technology and modern-day medicine as its behaviour regulation system, many traditional jobs and industries will be lost as a result. One of these jobs seems to be animal herding.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is quite evident from the ideas presented that we are bound by laws of invisible nature which we cannot to take precautions against without the appropriate tools. One of these laws relates to the need for a behaviour regulation system that is capable of appeasing the human instinct to ensure healthy economic growth. As the economy permeates every aspect of our lives, it is vital to wisely choose the regulation system we want to adopt, both as individuals and societies. Choosing the technology and modern medicine path, which lacks the appropriate tool, will severely limit our life experiences and reduce the quality of the remaining ones dangerously. The result is the production of endless number of mental and physical ailments. Conversely, choosing the Divine method, which has the right tool, will only enhance life and make it livelier, thus eradicating all mental diseases and most physical ones. People deserve to know about this Divine system so that they can make an informed choice on how they want to survive these extremely difficult circumstances that we are living in. The choice we need to make lies between the one and only alive and life infusing system that allows us to live in harmony with ourselves and nature, versus the lifeless and life sucking method that can only put us in a constant fight with ourselves and nature.

References