Exploiters and hostility toward religion

Al-Kindi, one of the famous Islamic philosophers, said, “Whoever trades in something sells it, and what is sold is no longer theirs. Whoever trades in religion has no religion!” From this, we understand that using religion as a tool for trade is not a phenomenon unique to our time. On the other hand, the light of this statement remains, and to understand what is happening today, one must start precisely from this discourse.

Let us begin, then.

Religion, for believers, is a path that involves experiencing the sacred and practicing rituals related to the sacred; it is a form of connection to God. For its followers, it stands in a respected place for this very reason. Because religion is the name of the bridge built with God. In this aspect, it can never be used as a tool for worldly matters, nor can it be seen as a stepping stone for someone's ambition or career. To put it mildly, this is the exploitation of religion, and the exploiter cannot have a religion. Recalling Al-Kindi here, the merchant has no religion; ultimately, their concern is the trade of religion.

But wait, does turning a blind eye to today's merchants, or worse, supporting them and standing by their side, not constitute a form of collective trade? Can such people be “religious”? And a second question: are the ordinary people who stand by the big merchants, or those who serve in exchange for handouts, not aware of this situation?

The Answer: Let us answer directly; they are mostly aware. However, there is such a situation. While this mass knows about the religious racketeering of the big merchants, they constantly create another “enemy” to escape the “sinful” environment they are in, and they choose to occupy their minds with that enemy. In this way, while they somehow soothe their consciences, they continue to support the big merchants for various reasons on the other hand.

The exploiters of religion, of course, support these masses we mentioned economically during this process, while also using all their propaganda processes. Because they need the support of those masses to protect what they have. In this aspect, they distribute an insignificant percentage of the great “spoils” they have seized to these masses in proportional terms. The real major sharing happens at the top: at the very peak of the pyramid is the tribal chief; followed by oligarchic groups, capital circles acting in cooperation, and other wealthy gangs.

Let us clarify a second situation here as well. Are the merchants Al-Kindi spoke of truly irreligious in the literal sense, or how do they justify this situation to themselves?

Let us start with the issue of irreligion, if you wish: They are not irreligious; they certainly have a religion they are affiliated with. In fact, they are mostly born into religious families within a cultural religious world. They carry their affiliation both in their identities and in their words. And yet, these individuals do not have a deep, faithful, philosophical, or moral commitment or belonging. Their primary, unstated allegiance is to power, money, and authority; precisely for this reason, their true gods are these phenomena we have listed. Because they pour almost all their efforts, mental preoccupations, and plans into this. It cannot be otherwise; wherever a person turns their soul, that is where their qibla (direction of prayer) lies.

Let us come to the second question: So how do they justify this situation to themselves? Because they get used to this situation over time, and they do not want to wake up from the spell of the comfort, money, and power they possess. Of course, they also know the crimes behind the wealth they have acquired, the rights that have been violated, and the laws that have been broken; they are aware of the sin that falls to their share, but at this point, they willingly choose a life of luxury stained with sin. Because they are transforming; their personalities and characters are evolving into a structure suitable for this, and they are crossing all thresholds, starting with their threshold of shame. Once these boundaries are crossed, there is not much left anyway.

What I have said here should be seen entirely as an observation. Otherwise, I am not saying this from an emotional position. Not knowing shame, calling something white yesterday and black today, constantly contradicting oneself, and not abandoning the rhetoric of a “great country” despite all the figures are all observation-based facts. They live with such a personality; this personality type is necessary for the life they lead. Isn't it so: Every life creates its own personality.

Just as religion is being dissolved and destroyed from within, and religious values are being eliminated one by one by the hands of the exploiters and their supporters we mentioned, that is exactly when the “other” enemies are created. That is why the cheerleaders of the world created by the exploiters constantly chew on the phrase “enemy of religion” like gum, while never looking at themselves or their masters. Because they know that the “enemy of religion” they speak of is their lifeline. Only through them can they justify the situation they are in, both to themselves and to their neighborhood. Their tongues do not say it, but their interests say exactly this: “Long live the enemies of religion.”