The news on Saturday, January 25

All businesses exaggerate to promote themselves, but Arad, in order to make the income from trade believable to the public, has to downplay it.

9. This is How to Think About Branding.

You probably do not know that Allah has mentioned branding five times in the Quran.

Since the word “brand” is derived from a foreign term, at first glance, it may not seem like Allah has referenced branding in the Quran.

When you say a certain product or company is a brand, what do you mean?

You mean that it is well-known.

In colloquial terms, they say it has made a name for itself.

For example, they say a certain sandwich shop has made a name for itself in the city, and this means it has become a brand.

In Arabic, they call this Musawwamah, which means that everyone knows its name.

What is interesting is that in all five of these references, Allah has mentioned branding in relation to jihad and uprising, and even more interesting is that branding itself is not jihad or an uprising; it is a support for jihad and the uprising.

If you are patient for a moment, I will elaborate so you can fully understand, because I suspect you might be a bit confused.

Imagine that you are going to a war.

Your presence in the war is essential, but having the proper weaponry is a supportive tool. If it is absent, you can still fight, but most likely, you will face failure and death.

Let me open a topic in parentheses, and then I will return to the main issue.

Today, our main war is not physical, and our war is an entirely economic one, with one side shaped by sanctions and the media-driven fear of Iran, aimed at reducing Iran’s share in trade and exports, and the other side shaped by ignorance, fear, and poor minds among our own ranks, who do not believe they can become traders. They spend time and energy in every profession, but when it comes to trade, either they do not enter it, or if they do, they want to take and conquer.

The day he accepted to be a mechanic apprentice, he spent two years learning about different wrenches, ten hours a day, but when it came to trade, he was not willing to spend even one hour a day learning to become a trader.

And I have mentioned many times that Allah has preferred economic jihad over military jihad, and whenever the word jahadu (struggled) is mentioned, it first refers to wealth, then to lives.

But despite all this explanation, we only accept jihad in military terms, and we hardly accept economic jihad.

As the Messenger of Allah said:

“An hour of seeking lawful sustenance is better than a hundred years of fighting in the way of the Imam al-Ma’sum.”

And also, His blessed presence said:

“Whoever struggles in the way of earning lawful sustenance for his wife and children, it is as if he is a martyr in the way of Allah.”

And He said:

“Whoever dies in the pursuit of lawful sustenance has died as a martyr.”

We have all read and heard these numerous times, yet still, Satan prevents us from accepting that seeking lawful sustenance should become sacred for us.

And how beautifully Imam Jawad (peace be upon him) said:

“The fatigue of a believer in working and striving for lawful sustenance is an atonement for major sins.”

And what day is greater and more lawful than trade, which is the tradition of the Prophet of God.

That is, as soon as you are negotiating, God erases your sins.

There have been many times when you wanted to swear to God by something, and you said, “O God, by the right of that prayer I offered in the middle of the night, by the right of that Qur’an I recited in the holy sanctuary, by the right of that prayer I made with a broken heart, by the right of those fasts I endured during the summer.”

These are all accepted, but have you ever said, “O God, by the right of that business trip I took and the fatigue I endured, by the right of that moment when I wanted to tear apart the foreign customers deal during a negotiation but swallowed my anger, remembering the Muslim workers in my country, so the deal could go through and the economy could move?”

Do you think God sees your prayer and fasting but does not see the hardships and efforts you endure in trade?

One day, Moses, peace be upon him, the Prophet of great resolve, went to Mount Sinai to converse with his Lord.

A voice called, “O Moses, do you love Us?”

He replied, “Yes, O my Lord.”

“Can you show your love?”

He said, “I pray and fast.”

“These are your duties, O Moses, and those who do not love God also pray and fast out of fear of Hell or hope for Heaven.”

“What do you do to show your love for Us?”

He said, “I do not know, O my Lord, how I should show my love.”

The voice came again, “O Moses, have you ever, for Our sake, befriended someone whom you once considered an enemy, or become an enemy to someone you once considered a friend?”

Now you answer this question:

Have you ever, for the sake of God and His religion, or for the poor believers who worship God, befriended people with whom you had no interest in being friends?

Have you ever distanced yourself from old friends, just because they hinder your trade and the economic prosperity that, in reality, is part of the economy of the Muslims, and said, “O God, I distance myself from this person because being close to him keeps me and my family and my country away from business, and I know that You love it when I stay in business, so I will leave this friend behind”?

Thus, we know that trade, too, is a form of war, and it is the art of the men and women of God to stand firm for the sake of God, Islam, and the Muslims.

Let’s close the parentheses and return to our main topic.

10. Branding as a Helper for Trade

God has mentioned branding five times in His Book, and in all five instances, He refers to it as a tool to assist in war and rebellion.

Therefore, consider branding as a companion for your trade.

You can become a trader without branding, but it’s like a soldier entering battle without a weapon—he will likely be killed before the battle ends. Similarly, without branding, you will be a failed trader.

Unless you are one of the super-billionaires.

What does this mean?

It means the approach that the old traders used.

You invest several billion or tens of billions of money, buy the product from your supplier, and then take on all the logistical steps of transporting this load to a destination country at your own expense.

Before that, you would need to spend a few billion on registering your company and preparing for residency in that destination country.

Once the goods arrive in the destination country, you would rent a warehouse and set up an office.

You would hire dozens of employees in various fields, especially sales and marketing, in that country.

Surely, 90% of them, or more, will cheat you, and fewer than 10% will actually work for you. But with that 10%, after one or two years of struggling, you could achieve very successful and profitable exports.

Of course, you should also include expenses like attending exhibitions, advertising, and so on, in your budget, which with today’s money would exceed 100 billion Toman.

If an Iranian person had 100 billion Toman today, they would not get involved in such difficulties; instead, they would engage in car dealing, real estate, or construction with a lower profit margin in this inflationary country.

However, Arad has come to make those who are not super-billionaires, and who do not have such wealth, dignity, or power, successful and victorious in this economic jihad.

This is where the Book of God comes to our aid and shows us the way.

“And indeed, Allah gave you victory at Badr when you were weak and helpless.” Surah Al-Imran, Ayah 123

Here, God first sends 3,000 angels to assist the believers at Badr, but the task does not get accomplished with just these 3,000.

When the enemy’s attacks become intense but they still persevere, God says:

“If you remain patient and conscious of God, and the enemy attacks you with a rush, your Lord will support you with 5,000 angels marked with signs.” Surah Al-Imran, Ayah 125

Some may wonder, do we really have branded and non-branded angels?

Yes.

How many angels does God have?

Their number is thousands of times greater than that of humans.

How many of them do you know?

At most, 10.

So, these ten are branded.

But the criterion for being branded is not among us humans; it is among themselves.

Just as some of us humans are branded, meaning people know us, some angels are also branded and recognized among themselves.

Others, however, are not.

God says, “I came to your aid at Badr with 5,000 branded angels.”

Another instance where God uses the concept of branding, and it is used precisely as a tool for jihad, is the horse.

The verse I have mentioned several times:

“And the branded horses.” Surah Al-Imran, Ayah 14

Perhaps those who are not familiar with trade yet may not understand this concept, but you know that if you use a branded car, branded phone, branded clothes, branded perfume, and branded accessories, it affects your business contracts.

In truth, branding itself is not the trade, but it helps the trade, just as angels and horses are not the jihad itself, but they assist the believers in their jihad.

If you remember from the series Mokhtarnameh, the Iranian army was tricked by a cunning scheme to dismount from their horses, and they were defeated. If they had fought on horseback, they would have won.

And God mentions branding in three other places, all of which refer to a battle—the battle of God’s messengers with the people of Lut.

It is said:

“To bring on, on them, [a shower of] stones of clay [brimstone], Marked as from thy Lord for those who trespass beyond bounds.” Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Ayah 33-34

And in another verse:

“When Our Decree issued, We turned [the cities] upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer, Marked as from thy Lord.” Surah Hud, Ayah 82-83

What’s interesting is that in Surah Al-Hijr, Ayah 75, after describing the story of the people of Lot and the attack with the branded stones, it says:

“Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do understand.” Surah Al-Hijr, Ayah 75

“Musawwamah” means branded, and “Mutawassim” refers to a brand-recognizer or a brand enthusiast.

This term might be unfamiliar to some of you.

Have you seen someone who only holds an iPhone, and even if Iran is sanctioned and no new iPhones come in, they’ll still use their old iPhone, but refuse to buy a non-branded phone?

Such a person is called a brand enthusiast.

If they want to play games, they’ll only do so on an Apple brand phone.

Or if they want to buy a car, they’ll only choose a Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or similar brands.

They won’t go for a Chinese car, even if they have to walk for years.

That’s because they are a brand enthusiast.

Of course, the brand-related concept mentioned in the Qur’an isn’t exactly the same as the examples we’ve given, but we used them to help understand the idea.

What might interest you is that God says this story of the people of Lut is not something everyone can comprehend. Why would God choose to use branded stones among all the stones?

Why not use non-branded stones?

Or what difference does it make if you use a branded horse in battle versus a non-branded one?

If, in the Battle of Badr, God had sent His angels, but not the branded ones, would it not have worked out? Would it have been essential to send the branded angels?

This is where God says:

“Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do understand.”

In other words, you need to be a brand enthusiast to understand what these things mean.

And I believe our Lord is deeply into branding.

Our prophets and imams cared greatly about their brand.

Imam Hussein, in Karbala, was willing to have himself and his companions cut into pieces, but he would not allow the brand of Islam to be tarnished with shame and humiliation.

You need to be a brand enthusiast to truly understand what these things mean.