Because Islam is the only religion that commanded its followers not to do it, I had to write you.
To Paul Graham @paulg, Marc Andreessen @pmarca, Michael Seibel @mwseibel and Peter Thiel @peterthiel.
After more than a decade of reading what you write, and watching what you say, maybe I had to live in two antithetical worlds to write you. Your actions with founders, investors and Venture Capitalists reminded me of this verse (And if Allah had not repelled some men by others the earth would have been corrupted. But Allah is a Lord of Kindness to (His) creatures.) throughout the years.
Your writings about entrepreneurship and its ethics is what Almighty Allah, said more than fourteen hundred years ago, but Iโm neither a scholar nor a theologian. So I will only cite your writings/actions and quote the translated version of Quran by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall.
You wrote about the importance of luck/chance, and divided it into 4 parts. The Arabic word for luck has no exact synonyms. Whatโs even more interesting is that the same word is pronounced the same way in both formal and informal Arabic. Unfortunately, most English translations of the Quran failed to capture that!
Before 2020 only three versions actually used the word โluckโ.
T.B. Irving (1985, The Qurโan: The First American Version):
โYet only those who discipline themselves will attain it; only the very luckiest will achieve it!โMuhammad Ahmed & Samira (1994, The Koran: Complete Dictionary and Literal Translation):
โAnd none receives/finds it except those who were patient, and none receives/finds it except (owners) of great luck/fortune.โMufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (2007, The Meanings of the Noble Qurโan with Explanatory Notes):
โAnd no one is blessed with this (attitude) but those who observe patience, and no one is blessed with this (attitude) but a man of great luck.โ
In Suraht Fussalit verse 35 Pickthall translated it to โBut none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness.โ
*Great happiness* is literally *great luck*.
Another topic you excelled in handling is startup valuation, in Quran only two Surah that start with warnings and one is about the fraudulent behavior, and causing a loss.
083.001 Woe unto the defrauders:
083.002 Those who when they take the measure from mankind demand it full,
083.003 But if they measure unto them or weight for them, they cause them loss.
083.004 Do such (men) not consider that they will be raised again
083.005 Unto an Awful Day,
083.006 The day when (all) mankind stand before the Lord of the Worlds ?
The other one is about envy. Almighty Allah told us how to pray against them in Surat Alfalaq:
113.001 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak
113.002 From the evil of that which He created;
113.003 From the evil of the darkness when it is intense,
113.004 And from the evil of malignant witchcraft,
113.005 And from the evil of the envier when he envieth.
Another thing you spoke about was trusting your gut! God told us how to trust our guts in the story of Yusuf!
Lastly, youโve done an excellent job in dealing with those who spy! And funding the victims to drag them to court. Islam, is the only religion in the history of mankind, of more than 5,000 religions, that *explicitly* told its followers โnot to spyโ, and no AI will tell you that! AI will say close behavior like gossip, backbiting and slander but will never find any religion that explicitly said โdonโt spyโ. And as you know closeness does not mean exactness.
In Surahat al hujurat, almighty Allah said:
049.012 O ye who believe! Shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother ? Ye abhor that (so abhor the other)! And keep your duty (to Allah). Lo! Allah is Relenting, Merciful.
With that I end and I pray that you see the truth, after all god said:
028.056 Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.