Valuable Lessons from Squid Game

Squid Game is a Korean horror and mass-murder drama where hundreds of financially ruined individuals are invited to participate in a series of Korean children’s games, where the prize is immense wealth—but the cost of losing is death.

Stripped of dignity and reduced to nothing but a green tracksuit that contains their player number, a total of 456 financially desperate Koreans are deceptively lured into this kind of brutal environment every year, fated to die for the pleasure and entertainment of the rich.

In the drama, the staff who runs the Squid Games looks for financially desperate individuals in Korea and lures them with the promise of money if they win a series of children’s games. Once the players arrive at the meeting point, they are taken to a secret island where the Squid Games are conducted.

After signing a deceptive contract, the players are put into 6 rounds of children’s game. The players do not find out that you get killed if you lose any game until the games begin. But by then, it is too late because they already signed the deceptive contract saying that the players cannot stop playing, and that losing or refusing to play results in “elimination” (death).

After round 1, a vote is held. If a majority of players votes to leave, everyone leaves the game without any prize money. But anyone can come back to rejoin the games if they want. No vote is held after rounds 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

In this way, the Squid Game overlords provide each player with the illusion of choice and democracy, so that the Squid Game staff can tell any player who complains, “You chose this, don’t blame us! You could have left but came back! We’re carrying out the will of the people!“

Any person who survives all six rounds gets the prize money, which is 100 million Korean won for every person that was killed (eliminated) during the Squid Games rounds. There is no rule against killing other players in between rounds to increase the prize money as well, the guards will look the other way.

If you lose during any of the rounds but are not killed in that round, then one of the Squid Game guards will kill you to make sure you are dead. All dead bodies are collected and cremated.

The sad reality is that the games are designed so that one person ends up winning. The winner receives 45.6 billion Korean won as prize money, since that is 100 million won x 456 players killed (except the winner’s life).

Before the story begins in 2020, 32 prior Squid Games have been conducted. That means there are 32 winners of those horrendous, mass-murdering games hidden in Korean society, suffering from lifelong psychological trauma, with parts of their humanity forever gone which all the wealth in the world cannot bring back.

That also means more than 14,000 players have been murdered during the 32-year history of the Squid Games, and 455 more are destined to join them after the conclusion of the story.

Who is Gi-hun Seong?

Gi-hun is the main character of the series. He used to work at a car factory before suddenly being fired. Then Gi-hun tried his luck and owned both a snack bar and a restaurant, both of which failed and left him in debt. Due to his poor financial luck, his wife divorced him and obtained custody of his daughter, and remarried. As he was no longer able to financially support himself, he moved back in with his mother.

All of these factors caused him to develop a gambling addiction (betting on horse races, specifically) to help him cope with life and to possibly solve his debt problems by a stroke of luck, which left him deeper in debt and at the mercy of predatory loan sharks. His current job as a chauffeur was not enough to even cover the interest on his debt.

One day, he was approached by a mysterious man who offered him 100,000 won if he won a children’s game against him known as ddakji. If he loses, he gets a slap. After several losses, Gi-hun finally won, and the mysterious man handed him the prize money and told him to call the number on his card if he wants to play other games for bigger prizes.

What caused Gi-hun to call the number on the card was the prospect of never seeing his daughter again, because his ex-wife and her husband were planning to move to the United States if he cannot provide any child support for his daughter. Determined to get more money, he called the number, then met at a secret location, and was subsequently transported to an unknown island where the Squid Games were hosted. Gi-hun was Player 456 of the 33rd Squid Games.

After the first game, 255 out of the 456 players were killed due to the shock and chaos that resulted from the players realizing that losing means death. Gi-hun barely managed to survive the first round.

After that round, a vote was held for the remaining 201 players. Gi-hun and a majority of players voted to leave. He attempted to report the Squid Games to the police but was unsuccessful in doing so.

But after learning of his mother’s severe diabetes diagnosis, and the lack of funds needed for her treatment, he chose to rejoin, vowing to his mom that he will get all the money needed for the treatment soon.

If he fails to get the money in time, his mom will die without treatment. Knowing this, Gihun was among 187 players who chose to return to the Squid Games to complete the remaining 5 rounds.

After living through the horrors and the treachery of the 33rd Squid Games, Gi-hun emerged as the only survivor (and therefore, the only winner) and received his prize money, forever psychologically damaged. But when he went home to pay for his mother’s treatment, he found that he was too late. His mother’s dead body was on the floor, waiting to be buried. All of his efforts were useless. He was too devastated to even cry and could only lie on the floor, hugging her dead body.

After paying off all debts, he hardly touched his prize money and fell into a deep depression for 1 year, before discovering that the Squid Games started because a group of wealthy men had nothing better to do with their money than watch desperate people kill themselves for entertainment.

After that, he vowed to use his resources and find the location of the secret island to destroy the Squid Games forever.

So what important lessons can people learn from this three-part series?

Lesson #1: You Cannot Save Those Who Don’t Want Saving

In seasons 2 and 3 of Squid Game, which takes place in 2024, Gi-hun successfully infiltrates the 37th Squid Games after spending 2 years tracking down the agent who recruited him four years prior and winning a game of Russian roulette against him. He once again becomes Player 456. He is not entering the games as the novice he used to be 4 years ago, but as a veteran who trained himself how to fight and use a gun.

The Front Man (who owns the Squid Game organization) allows this to happen out of curiosity to see what Gi-hun can do to destroy the Squid Games from within, and to see how many lives a returning veteran like him is able to save.

Additionally, his return in Season 2 provided a source of excitement and fascination for the VIPs who spectate and fund the games, as they wonder why someone would willingly come back to the same hell that he once escaped, when he could have easily enjoyed a lavish and comfortable life outside. To them, Gi-hun is the unknown variable that could potentially shake up the game.

Round 1 starts with the game, “Red Light, Green Light” where people need to get to the other side of the field in 5 minutes. People can only run during Green Light, but they must remain frozen during Red Light. If a player makes even a small movement during Red Light, they are killed.

This is the same game that round 1 started with during the 33rd Squid Games in Season 1, so Gi-hun was prepared to use this opportunity to save as many people he could this time.

In season 1, the shock of the first player getting shot after moving in Red Light created a panic that lead to the death of 255 players in round 1.

Before the timer started, Gi-hun raised his voice and warned all the players that if they move a muscle during Red Light, they will get shot, to avoid the same chaos that killed many players the last time.

People thought Gi-hun was crazy until they saw someone move during Red Light then get shot. Despite his warning, the first death caused a panic that lead to dozens of subsequent deaths in round 1.

The good news is that in all, only 91 players died in round 1 this time, meaning that due to Gi-hun’s warnings prior to the game, he saved 365 lives.

After round 1 was completed, and during the voting, Gi-hun told everyone that he was a previous winner of the Squid Games and came back to save everyone. He urged everyone to vote to end the games.

The voting rules in seasons 2 and 3 are slightly different. In Seasons 2 and 3, there is a vote after every round, unlike in Season 1. If a majority votes to end the games, then all the accumulated prize money up to that point (100 million won for every player that was killed) will be distributed evenly.

Therefore, any rational person who lived through the first round should have thought: “Okay, if we all vote to end the games now, I will only get about 25 million won. Maybe that is not enough for my financial needs, but Player 456 is a veteran. He saved 365 people, so the proof is there that he wants to save and help everyone. The fact that he came back to this hell wanting to save as many people he could might mean he hardly spent his prize money due to survivor’s guilt. He might be able to give me the money that I need if I trust him and ask him where I can meet up with him after the games end.”

Yet, financially desperate people do not act like rational human beings. Despite all the proofs showing that he is a previous winner and has the money, and will gladly give it all away, most people rejected Gi-hun. Nobody even bothered to ask him how much prize money he has remaining from his previous win.

The vote results of round 1 was 182 in favor of leaving, and 183 in favor of staying. Hence, the games continued.

After that first round, it was too late for Gi-hun to save anyone. The Front Man realized Gi-hun will continue saving too many people as the games go on, so rounds 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 has totally different games compared to Season 1.

That means the Front Man changed up the games at the last moment to prevent Gi-hun from utilizing his experience to save people.

This is why during round 2, when the game was switched up, the people who believed Gi-hun was a veteran once again disbelieved in him as nothing but a crazy fraud. Gi-hun’s fore-warning didn’t help this time because the game was switched last minute into something different.

The rational person who survived round 2 should have thought, “Okay, it makes sense that Gi-hun’s warnings didn’t save him this time because the overlords saw this coming and this time prevented Gi-hun from using his experience. But he is still a veteran with prize money and survivor’s guilt. If I end the game now, I will get about 79 million won, and Gi-hun can cover the rest once I meet up with him after the games.“

But the same pattern continued. Despite the evidence, people did not believe Gi-hun was a hidden benefactor who can solve their financial troubles outside the game. Hence, due to this and a combination of desperation and greed, the majority of players in rounds 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted to remain in the game.

As a result, they paid the ultimate price. Only two players ended up surviving the 37th Squid Games even though the rules allowed for more survivors, unlike season 1. One player managed to escape after a rebellious guard helped fake his death and escape during elimination, and the other was the actual winner of the games.

Does this chain of events sound familiar at all?

The Quran in multiple instances mention how messengers came to them with solid proofs, urging them to worship God alone, follow God’s guidance, and to forget all other idols before it’s too late.

Noah spent a jaw-dropping 950 years trying to warn his people according to the Quran, yet they were persistent in their disbelief. Due to their continued disobedience and their attempts to harm him, God drowned them all.

The same was repeated for the people of Lot, Pharaoh and his soldiers, the people of Aad, the people of Thamud, the people of Midyan, and others.

Rashad Khalifa: The Most Recent Example

The Quran in verse 3:81 says that God took a covenant from the prophets, that they all should pledge their support and belief in a messenger who will one day come to them, as one who will confirm their scriptures. All the prophets said they accepted the covenant.

Muhammad is a prophet, so he too accepted this covenant like all the other prophets. That means while he is the final prophet, he is NOT the final messenger. He too agreed to support and believe in a messenger who is coming after him, like all the other prophets did.

[3:81] And when God took the covenant of the prophets: “Definitely, this is what I will give you of Book and wisdom. Then a messenger will come to you (all prophets) as one who will confirm what is with you (the scriptures). Definitely, you (all prophets) shall indeed believe in him and support him.” He said, “Have you agreed and accepted that, My heavy responsibility?” They (all prophets) said, “We have agreed.” He said, “So bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.

Obviously, the messenger after Muhammad will be a messenger that isn’t a prophet.

Verse 33:7 confirms that prophet Muhammad took the covenant just like all the other prophets did. Which means, just like the other prophets, he agreed to believe in and support a messenger who is coming after him.

[33:7] And when We took from the prophets their covenant—including from you (Muhammad), Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, the son of Mary—and We took from them a stern covenant.

Despite such clear Quranic evidence, Muslims continue (without any evidence from scripture) to believe that Muhammad is the last messenger.

The Quran mentions Muhammad is the final prophet (verse 33:40), but it does not say that he is the final messenger.

But since most Muslims have erroneously believed that all messengers are given a scripture, and that all prophets are sent to teach and judge by a scripture given to a messenger, they have believed that all messengers are prophets (since messengers have to teach and judge by their own scripture) but not all prophets are messengers (since not all prophets are given a scripture).

As a result, they believe that being the final prophet = being the final messenger, because their definition of messenger does not allow a messenger that isn’t a prophet to exist.

Thus, they have perfectly prepared themselves to reject the messenger mentioned in verse 3:81 who came after him.

But verse 3:81 says the complete opposite of their definition of prophet and messenger.

Verse 3:81 says every prophet was given a scripture. That means there are no prophets who aren’t given a scripture, which establishes the definition of prophet as an individual who is given a scripture.

Verse 3:81 says that a messenger will come after all the prophets to confirm their scriptures, which logically means that this messenger will not be a prophet himself, therefore he will not receive his own scripture. He will be sent to teach and judge by the scripture given to the final prophet (the Quran).

So according to verse 3:81: all prophets are given a scripture, and all messengers are sent to teach the law or scripture given to a prophet. That means all prophets are messengers (since all prophets are sent to teach and judge by their own scripture). But not all messengers are prophets (since not all messengers are provided with a scripture).

Alright, this is good, we know that a messenger is coming after prophet Muhammad. Does the Quran tell the Muslims how we can recognize him?

Yes, verse 74:31 says the number 19 will someday increase the faith and certainty of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims, while removing the doubts from their hearts. That can only happen if the number 19 somehow proves to them that the Quran is the truth, beyond all doubts. This is the Quran’s “prophecy of 19“. How the prophecy of 19 will be fulfilled is unseen information (ghayb in Arabic) because we had no idea how it will occur in the future. But verses 72:26-27 states that God only makes known the unseen to a chosen messenger.

So the very first person to know how the number 19 will fulfill its Quranic function must be a messenger to whom God first allowed this information to be known.

As it turns out, the Quran has a very complex mathematical structure based on the number 19, which you can read about in this link. Given that prophet Muhammad (who knew nothing about 19) couldn’t have unintentionally created that kind of structure while fabricating the Quran, this is undoubtedly the mechanism by which the prophecy of 19 (which says the number 19 will confirm that the Quran is not a book fabricated by Muhammad, beyond all doubts) will be fulfilled. The first knower of that information was Rashad Khalifa. Hence, he is a messenger.

If Rashad Khalifa said that he is the messenger from 3:81 (which he did), then he is that messenger.

The other piece of evidence is that the messenger from verse 3:81 is supposed to confirm the Quran and all previous scriptures as the truth. Verse 74:31 says the number 19 is supposed to confirm the Quran. If you put 2 and 2 together, the messenger from verse 3:81 is supposed to confirm the Quran as the truth with the number 19. The person who did that is Rashad Khalifa, hence his identity is the messenger who is mentioned in verse 3:81.

Yet, despite such clear evidence, what happened? Rashad was mocked, ridiculed, rejected, targeted, and killed inside his masjid, all done by those who professed belief in the same Quran that warned them of his coming 1400 years ago.

This is why Squid Game teaches a very valuable lesson: Despite Gi-hun’s best efforts, he is unable to save people who act and think like they don’t want saving. He is a fictional character, but this rings true in the real world, because not even a messenger sent by God, with all the proofs in the world, can save those who do not really want saving.

Lesson #2: Greed and Hypocrisy Destroys Conscience

Season 3 of Squid Game (which is a continuation of the 37th Squid Games that began during Season 2) is essentially a case study showing how the oppressed become oppressors, and how the victims of a corrupt system ultimately become its enablers. We see the gradual transformation of people from desperate humans into greedy monsters.

To begin with, let’s start with the prize money. Unlike season 1, people had multiple opportunities after each round to end the game early with a good sum of prize money, yet a majority continues to vote to remain in the games for all rounds.

Why is that the case? Never mind the fact that Gi-hun could be the players’ hidden benefactor outside the games, but after round 3, the accumulated prize money would have been 660 million won per person if they voted to end the games. After round 4, the accumulated prize money would have been 1.7 billion won per person if a majority voted to end the games then. After round 5, the accumulated money would have been 4.9 billion won per person if they voted to end the game then.

The VIPs questioned the Front Man for changing up the rule and giving the players a chance to leave early. He told them that even with multiple chances for a safe exit and prize money, their greed won’t allow them to resist the temptation of “just one more game” and it will instead add more drama and excitement.

As it turns out, his calculation proved to be exactly right.

The Front Man also has an unspoken motive: to prove to Gi-hun that humans are greedy trash and not worth saving, and to see how far he is willing to go to save them and end the Squid Games despite witnessing their greed as a participant of two Squid Games.

In between round 3 and 4 was a “special round” in which players in the dark were free to stab and kill one another in the dormitory.

Players from “Team O” (those who voted to continue the games) took this opportunity to massacre players from “Team X” (players that voted to end the games).

Gi-hun saw this coming due to his experience and managed to save many “Team X” players (the players that voted to leave) as a result. But Team X was nonetheless disproportionately targeted and killed due to being older, weaker, and more emotionally exhausted, therefore being easy targets to help Team O to grow their majority and increase the prize money.

This shows how much human greed can dehumanize and strip away conscience, causing people to commit needless atrocities.

During the game in round 4, Player 222 (Jun-hee Kim) gave birth to her baby. But despite knowing about her baby, and her status as a new mother, and despite all surviving players being able to leave with 1.7 billion won per person if a majority voted to leave, the majority of players after round 4 voted for all to stay and continue the games.

The greed for more was so intense that not even 1.7 billion won each (and a heartfelt plea from an old woman) was enough for the majority to avoid putting a new mother and her baby through suffering.

If that is not enough to infuriate you, Jun-hee ended round 4 with an injured ankle and a newborn infant to take care of, causing her to be too physically incapacitated complete round 5.

In round 5, players had to cross a very narrow bridge that is high in the air, while jumping over the giant, moving jump ropes. If a player slips, or gets hit by the jump rope, they will end up falling to their deaths on the ground below.

What made it worse is that the jump rope’s speed increased over time, forcing people to jump faster to avoid getting hit. That is an impossible task for a woman with a broken ankle.

The Front Man did not order any staff to remove the baby from harm for round 5, nor was any medical attention provided by the staff.

Gi-hun was the only one who volunteered to get her baby across, which he was successful at doing. But when he tried to cross the jump rope bridge again to go back to the starting point and carry Jun-hee on his back, he had trouble because none of the players were (out of consideration for someone trying to help a new mother) making any space for him to cross the bridge again to go back for her.

Some players on the other side even tried blocking the exit so that no subsequent player can pass through the bridge, which caused several people to exhaust themselves from jumping and get hit by the jump rope. and caused there to not be enough time left for Gi-hun to go back to help her.

As a result, Jun-hee killed herself by falling to her death before a guard eliminated her, and to prevent Gi-hun from going back across the bridge to save her (thus leaving no one reliable to take care of the baby if he were to die in the process).

Obviously, the kind of cruelty is intentionally arranged as part of the entertainment value for the sadistic VIP sponsors who were watching. In a way, the Front Man also arranged this to show Gi-hun how greedy humans are, that not even an innocent baby and an injured new mother is enough to soften their hearts.

And if it cannot get any more infuriating, one of the VIP spectators suggested making Jun-hee’s baby (now under Gi-hun’s care) a contestant after her death. Logically, the rules of the game would not allow it, because a baby cannot consent to enter the Squid Games or sign any documents, nor would the baby be able to win on its own effort.

But the Front Man forced the baby to be a Player and assigned the baby the number 222 (which was Jun-hee’s player number prior to her elimination).

For a game that prided itself on providing its players with an equal opportunity to win with their own effort, and informed consent, this decision violated both principles.

In the end, the entertainment needs of the VIPs outweighed any commitment to fairness that the Front Man and the Squid Game organizers may have pretended to have.

Believe it or not, the greed becomes even more infuriating. There were 9 remaining players after round 5 (including the baby).

After round 5, six of the players conspired to eliminate the baby, Gi-hun, and Player 125 (a timid, weak person named Min-su Park) during the final round and split the prize money amongst themselves, because all 3 seemed like easy targets. While Gi-hun was the strongest and most experienced fighter, he promised Jun-hee that he would protect her infant, thus having a serious handicap.

Each player could have walked away with 4.9 billion Korean won, if the majority chosen to end the games before round 6 started, without risking any harm to the baby or anyone else. But to the majority, an innocent baby (and Gi-hun) was just another easy kill that would increase the prize money of each contestant. Hence, there were 5 “O” players (players who wanted to remain in the game), 2 “X” players (Gi-hun and Min-su, who voted to leave) and 2 non-voters (the baby, and one of the O players who arrogantly didn’t vote since a majority for the O side was already secured).

In round 6, there are 3 sub-rounds. During the first sub-round, all 9 players stand on a high square tower. One person must be eliminated. The players have 15 minutes to decide who will be the one pushed off the tower. Then they will advance to the triangle tower and do the same for the second sub-round. Then they will advance to the circle tower and do the same for the third sub-round, but with 10 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

True to their word, the 6 “O” players eliminate Min-su at the square tower. Then at the triangle tower, they unsuccessfully attempt to separate the baby from Gi-hun to throw the baby off the tower. But Gi-hun insisted on drawing lots, fair and square, to determine who gets eliminated, while leaving the baby out of the decision. In anger, the O players attempt to pull Gi-hun towards the center to separate him from the baby, but Gi-hun reveals that he has a knife. Then, Player 333 (Myung-gi Lee) pushes someone off the triangle tower with a pole and joins Gi-hun’s side, revealing that Myung-gi is the real father of the baby and has only been pretending to conspire against the baby.

You wouldn’t expect the situation to become any more infuriating, but it turns out that Player 333 (Myung-gi Lee) was the greediest, yet most regretful, villain of them all. His behavior shows that he topped the charts in terms of greed, and he may even be in second place in terms of regret, preceded only by Gi-hun.

After Myung-gi joins Gi-hun’s side for the sake of his baby, this causes the O players betray one of their own teammates and cripple him, saying once they drag him over to the circle tower to start the third sub-round, they can push the cripple over the edge and all walk away together with the prize money.

Myung-gi seemed receptive to this idea because he wanted to end the game as quickly as possible and with a guaranteed outcome, but Gi-hun insisted that this is not a fair solution, and once again ordered them to draw lots and fairly decide who gets to be eliminated.

This angered the O players, who attacked both Myung-gi and Gi-hun, and the resuting fight caused two more O players being eliminated in the second round.

The only O players remaining were Player 100 and the one who got crippled by his teammates.

Gi-hun’s position on drawing lots to decide the outcome (while excluding the baby) still did not change, but Myung-gi wanted to hurry up and end the game. He pushed player 100 off the edge of the triangle tower. Then Myung-gi planned to carry the cripple over to the circle tower and push him off during the third sub-round as the sacrifice, but the cripple denied him the satisfaction of being his sacrifice and rolled himself off the triangle tower.

As a result, there was only Myung-gi, Gi-hun, and the baby remaining on the triangle tower. Then, he started breaking down and lost all rationality to both greed (wanting to be alive with all the prize money) and regret (because he was about to kill his own baby in the process).

He tearfully forced Gi-hun to remain on the triangle tower and leave the baby on the bridge connecting the triangle and the circle towers. Myung-gi’s plan was to throw the baby off the circle tower during the final sub-round so that he alone can get the entire 45.6 billion prize money as the only survivor.

Why? Despite Gi-hun promising to eliminate himself, the greed of winning the money and regret of planning to kill his baby caused intense paranoia, and he did not believe Gi-hun would remain faithful to his word. He was scared of fighting Gi-hun on the circle tower, thus forcing him to remain on the triangle tower, leaving him and the baby alone in the circle tower.

Luckily for the infant, Gi-hun ran across the bridge as it was retracting, and jumped when it was halfway retracted. This caused him to reach the circle tower in time before the bridge fully retracted.

Myung-gi lost all rationality due to his intense paranoia and emotional breakdown, stemming from a combination of both regret and greed, and attacked Gi-hun, forgetting to allow Gi-hun to press the button to officially start the third round. Any deaths that occurred before pressing the button would not count as a qualifying elimination.

As a result, Gi-hun (Player 456) and Myung-gi (Player 333) fought to the death. Myung-gi held his own baby over the edge of the circle tower to force Gi-hun to hand over the knife, although he was crying when doing so. But even when disarmed, Gi-hun prevailed and Player 333 was thrown off the circle tower, although Gi-hun tried saving him. Unfortunately, given that the button to start the third sub-round was not pressed, Myung-gi’s death did not count.

So Gi-hun pressed the button to officially start the third sub-round. Due to Player 333’s actions, this created a situation where either Gi-hun dies, or the baby dies, for the game to end. Consequently, Gi-hun Seong (the main character) sacrificed himself, to the complete shock of the VIP spectators and the Front Man, causing the baby to be the de facto winner of the 37th Squid Games.

Of course, according to the original rules of the game, Gi-hun is the de jure (by law) winner because infant is not a legitimate contestant. But the original rules were bypassed for the entertainment and greed of the VIP sponsors, thus forcing him to sacrifice himself.

And lastly, the VIPs who funded the games get together in a luxury room with animal-shaped masks to watch the games, which are meant to be a symbol of their wealth, as well as their dehumanization. It makes symbolic sense for them, in a way, to hide their humanity underneath a mask as they enjoy the cruelty and massacre.

Islam: Your Best Weapon Against Greed

What lessons can we learn from this horrific display of greed?

The Qur’an warns that the greedy and selfish people will pay a heavy price after they die. Greed is likely the worst sin in Islam after disbelief, polytheism, and hypocrisy, because its various manifestations (greed for power, greed for wealth and property, greed for status, and greed for drama/entertainment) are the root of so many other sins.

This is why Qur’an gives us many tools to fight against greed and promote righteousness.

For each good and selfless deed, one is given a reward in Paradise that is 10 or more times whatever reward it is actually worth.

Zakat (an obligatory form of charity) is a pillar of Islam.

The Quran says Salat prayers (a pillar of Islam) protects against greed if done correctly.

The Quranic inheritance system makes wealth less concentrated over several generations if people and corporations follow the rules, without using loopholes to protect accumulated wealth.

Gambling is prohibited in the Quran, due to it fueling hatred between the people. Gambling fuels greed and causes massive losses, and the Squid Games (an extreme form of gambling where players are betting their lives rather than betting money) are an excellent example of that.

Usury and other forms of exploitative transactions are forbidden in the Quran.

The Quran provides many specific behavior guidelines to promote consideration and empathy for others, which is important to fight greed (such as making room for others, returning all greetings with its equivalent or better, restrain anger, forgive and overlook, do not hold assumptions about others, do not spy on, slander, and gossip about others, do not enter houses without being welcomed, do not seek praise about what you did not do, and much more.)

The Qur’an reminds that it’s useless to use debt and financial desperation as a reason to be greedy and commit horrendous crimes. The worst that can happen is being homeless and penniless, and if God doesn’t change your financial luck, you die poor in this world, but rich and successful in the Hereafter.

The Qur’an reminds that God is in control of all provisions, both in this life and the Hereafter. As a result, God in the Quran says that when someone fights in the path of God (by resisting oppressors and aggressors), they can only be met with “one of the two good outcomes” (either death, or victory).

In Islam, there are only three minimum requirements to enter Paradise: Believe and worship God alone, believe in the Last Day, and do good deeds. If you’re Muslim, but your bad deeds outweigh the good deeds, you will go to Hell. If your good deeds outweigh the bad deeds, but you’re not Muslim, you will go to Hell.

Although the Qur’an (verse 2:286 and others) says God doesn’t assign anyone any responsibility that is beyond their capacity, so whether your societal, physical, and intellectual circumstances justify not holding you accountable for certain bad deeds or for not being Muslim, God would be the best judge for that.

But in general, good deeds nullify bad deeds, but bad deeds also nullify good deeds, like on a scale where opposing weights cancel one another out.

The reward in Heaven changes depending on the ratio of good deeds to bad deeds. If you made it to Heaven, but your good deeds hardly outweigh the bad, you will be given a very low reward. If you were cast in Hell, but your good deeds outweigh the bad deeds, you will be given a far lighter punishment than those whose bad deeds outweigh the good.

The extremely dangerous thing about greed is that not only it counts as a bad deed, but it can affect whether or not your Islam is valid. You may think of yourself as a Muslim, but God may (in my opinion) look at the greed in your actions and your heart, and decide that your Islam is not sincere and doesn’t count, so you will be condemned in Hell. That’s because a true Muslim is not a greedy Muslim. It is just my opinion, but be careful.

This is why people are given the tools in the Quran needed to avoid becoming the greedy, dehumanized monsters you see in Squid Game.

Lesson #3: “Humans Are…”

In the final episode of Season 3 of Squid Game, Myung-gi Lee (Player 333) tried to eliminate all contestants to claim the money for himself, including his own infant child.

To achieve that, he even prevented Gi-hun (Player 456) from pressing the button to officially start the final round at the circle tower. If the round officially started, and both of them fought, and one of them died, then the prize money would have been split between the infant and either Myung-gi or Gi-hun (depending on who won the fight between both).

So unfortunately, Player 333 ended up losing the fight and dying before Gi-hun could press the button to start the round. So when Gi-hun pressed the button and the round officially started, it was just him and the baby as the only players remaining.

And in this scenario, one of them had to die for the other to live.

So Gi-hun pressed the button and held the baby in his arms for 10 minutes, and kissed it to say his final goodbyes.

When the time for the final round was almost over, Gi-hun placed the baby down at the center of the cicle tower, walked over to the edge of the tower, and defiantly looked up at the VIP sponsors and the Front Man who was watching him from up high.

Then Gi-hun said to the Front Man his final words: “We are not horses. We are humans. Humans are…“

Then, to the shock of everyone who was watching, Gi-hun sacrifices himself by falling off the circle tower, dying due to the impact with the ground.

Most people who have seen the drama argue that this was the most impactful moment in the entire Squid Game series.

The context behind Gi-hun’s final words is that when Gi-hun won the 33rd Squid Games during season 1, he emerged traumatized. When being transported back to his home by the Front Man at that time, he asked the Front Man why did he even do all of this (organize the Squid Games, commit mass murder, etc).

The Front Man responded by referencing Gi-hun’s past gambling addiction (betting on racing horses to see who would win). He said to them (the rich VIPs), the Squid Game contestants are nothing but racing horses they bet on for fun, to see who will win and who will die.

So Gi-hun’s final words in season 3, before his self-sacrifice, was to respond to the Front Man’s claim, saying humans are not horses. After saying, “Humans are…” Gi-hun deliberately did not finish that sentence, because it is almost impossible to lump humanity into one category.

Humans are so many things.

One kind of human (Squid Game VIPs) watches desperate people die and kill themselves for fun, because all other pleasures of life have become boring, and they have nothing better to do with their money.

But another kind of human finds joy even in the simplest of life’s pleasures.

One kind of human will cheat to win, but another kind will play honorably even if it means he may lose.

One kind of human will even put even an infant baby and a suffering mother in harm’s way for the sake of money, while another kind of human will give up his money and put his life on the line to protect both and fight corruption.

One kind of human kills his child for immense wealth, and another kind of human turns away from double that wealth to protect an infant child from a murderous father.

Gi-hun was a previous Squid Game winner with 45.6 billion won of wealth. When he could have received a combined total of almost 90 billion won (the earnings from season 1 when he first won the games, and the earnings from season 3 if he killed the baby), he gave his life to protect a baby that is not even his own.

Some might ask, “Humans are corrupt, unjust, evil, so why did God even bother creating us?” The answer is, as Gi-hun said, humans are not corrupt, nor just, nor evil, nor good. Humans simply are the many things that they are.

According to verse 33:72, God offered the Trust to the humans, and they accepted it. God ends the verse by saying the humans have been transgressing and ignorant. Verse 33:73 says the purpose of the trust is to redeem the believers who deserve it, and punish those who deserve it.

The humans are not transgressing and ignorant for accepting the Trust, but have been ignorant and transgressing for what they did during the previous existence that caused God to offer them the Trust as a form of redemption.

The “Trust” is simply that humans were entrusted with moral responsibility, worshipping God alone, avoiding the devil, and willingly accepting and following God’s guidance when it reaches mankind. The creation of the world was done for the singular purpose of facilitating people to carry out this responsibility.

All of these stars, galaxies, space, time, and more, was created just for the sake of the small minority of humans who will successfully accomplish this Trust.

This is why even though “humans are” corrupt and greedy, a minority of humans are so precious to God that an entire universe was created to facilitate their redemption.

Lesson #4: Fight Desensitization

The Squid Games was founded by a group of bored, rich people who simply had nothing better to do with their money.

In season 1, the founder of the games told Gi-hun that he was an extremely rich man who lost joy in all the pleasures of life. He had access to potentially all the luxuries that life had to offer him, but it all became extremely boring to him.

So he created the Squid Games as a source of thrill and excitement. He wanted to re-create the joy he found from his childhood, playing childhood games, but with the added twist of death being the price of losing those games.

It was also a way for fellow rich people to find fun in gambling on human lives.

Additionally, he wanted to use the games to test his belief that humans are innately selfish and cruel.

And lastly, the founder and his underlings only recruited players who were in deep financial trouble. He told Gi-hun the games provided a nice distraction and escape from their miserable lives, and provided an equal opportunity to all to escape from their financial troubles.

What Squid Game shows us here is a very serious problem in human nature that we need to consciously fight against: desensitization.

We are constantly trying to find new sources of entertainment and pleasure after getting bored of existing sources of entertainment, and this behavior is called “novelty-seeking”.

This is why we want to watch new movies, read new stories, visit new places, eat new foods, etc.

There is nothing wrong with novelty-seeking, if you can protect yourself against being desensitized with what you already have.

The rich founders of Squid Game experienced all that life can give them, and allowed themselves to be too desensitized to everything, such that nothing excited them anymore, or provided joy to them, except seeing humans act cruelly to one another.

Actively fighting against desensitization is very important for people if they want a happy life, and especially for Muslims if they want to maintain sincerity in their worship.

Why? Because the Salat prayers are a pillar of Islam, done multiple times every day. Maybe your first time performing the prayer was full of sincerity and a desire to please God, but if you let yourself get desensitized, then after a while, you will get bored of it and see it as nothing but a chore, instead of an opportunity to connect with God.

It’s the same with Ramadan fasting, maybe you feel good about yourself for the first few times, but then over the years you might get bored of it if you are desensitized to the value of Ramadan fasting.

It’s the same with reading the Quran, after decades you might think to yourself, “The Quran is so boring and lame. Reading it is not as fun as it used to be!” That is the power of desensitization.

You might even get bored and desensitized to showing your appreciation and gratitude to God after doing it so much.

God expects sincerity and devotion from Muslims, rather than half-heartedness. So if you want the best possible chance of going to Heaven, being a true Muslim on the inside (not just outside) and earning God’s approval, you need to actively train yourself to fight desensitization.

How do you do this? It’s very simple, you need to keep reliving old experiences. As you relive those experiences, you must pretend as if you are experiencing them for the first time, and evoke the same emotions that you felt when you first experienced it.

For the old movie you watched and enjoyed, watch it again and think to yourself that you are watching it for the first time. If you can, remember exactly what you felt when you were first watching it (the joy, the suspense, the fascination, the horror, etc.) and make yourself feel those exact same emotions somehow.

It’s the same thing with the old fiction book you already read (such as Harry Potter), re-read it and pretend you are reading it for the first time, and let yourself feel exactly the emotions that you felt when you first read the story.

Or the usual cup of coffee or tea, pretend you are having it for the first time and experiencing its taste. As you drink now, let yourself remember and feel exactly how you felt when tasting it for the first time, and focus on all the flavors that you experience.

Do the same when you are cuddling with your wife or husband. You used to get butterflies in your stomach and very intense feelings when first cuddling with them, but now you don’t anymore because you are desensitized. So remember those feeling again as you cuddle and have intimacy with them now, and pretend it is your first time again.

Many men have erectile dysfunction after long marriages due to desensitization. The same visual, auditory, and kinesthetic stimuli from their spouses that used to cause physical and mental arousal no longer do the same because they are physically (and maybe emotionally) desensitized, even if they don’t intend it. To prevent erectile dysfunction, they must (from day 1 of the relationship) keep reliving old experiences like this as if they are brand new experiences, so they never get bored of even the slightest romantic and sensual touch from their spouses.

The nearby park that you already visited, go visit it again and re-live the experience (colors, sounds, view, happiness) of visiting it for the first time.

If you don’t train yourself now, then you risk getting bored with all the things that make life wonderful. No life experience will satisfy you anymore if you get desensitized, and your life will be miserable. You might even become the same monsters that the Squid Game VIPs became.

Not even worshipping God will bring joy and happiness to your life anymore, and that is a dangerous state of mind to be in as a Muslim, regarding the afterlife.

But if you train yourself to rediscover novelty from old experiences, you will rarely get bored, nor will you ever need new experiences to be happy. It will be so much easier to find happiness with what you already have. And you will be more sensitive to actual new experiences than the average person.

Lesson #5: The Need for Safety Nets

Recall how Gi-hun’s financial problems didn’t just occur overnight. He was laid off from his job without unemployment benefits, and two of his businesses failed leaving him with massive debt and him relying on predatory loan sharks.

This caused his gambling addiction as a coping mechanism, which lead to even more debt. His new job as a chauffeur could hardly cover the interest on his debt.

This is an example of what could happen to someone without government safety nets in place. Here are ways to fix the system so that economic troubles do not become this serious, some of which may be already implemented by countries today:

Bankruptcy laws and small business safety nets
Interest rate caps
Public emergency loan systems
Implementing a Finland-style “Housing First” policy
Universal health insurance
Strong unemployment benefits

And outside the government sphere, people must educate their children on how to budget their money. Parents must maintain good relationships with their children and relatives, and vice versa, that way when someone needs help, there are generous relatives available. You should make new friends and maintain friendships, because you can get job opportunities through your friend referring you to their employer. Utilize food banks to keep grocery prices low IF NEEDED.

Ultimately, God controls your provisions, but you are expected to try your best at least, because God does not change a people’s condition unless they change something in themselves (verse 13:11). That change in your condition may occur in this life, and if not, then certainly in the afterlife it will.

Lesson #6: Spies Are Very Dangerous

Gi-hun did not re-enter the Squid Games without a plan. But little did he realize, his plan was being sabotaged from the inside out by spies.

Before he rejoined the games, he took out one of his teeth and implanted a tracker disguised as a tooth inside his mouth, so that a detective with whom he was allied, and his men, could use the tracker to find the location of the island.

If things went according to plan, the police would have likely found and destroyed the island before round 2 even started, and arrested the Front Man and the guards on charges of mass-murder.

But the detective’s benefactor (the captain of the ship) who saved him during season 1 turned out to be a spy for the Front Man. The spy revealed the existence of the tracker to the Front Man, who took it out of Gi-hun when he was knocked out with sleeping gas and transported to the island.

As a last resort, Gi-hun used the chaos of the “special round” to start a rebellion, where he and his allies stole weapons from the guards and broke into the Front Man’s headquarters.

But little did Gi-hun know, the Front Man actually inserted himself into the game as Player 001, and sabotaged the rebellion from inside, thus causing it to fail.

Just a bit of trivia: The Front Man was the winner of the 28th Squid Games, and Gi-hun was the winner of the 33rd Squid Games, so the 37th Squid Games was the first which featured 1 or more returning veterans, and the second one where Player 001 was the secret owner of the Squid Game organization.

One of the biggest mistakes made in the series is that the detective never revealed to Gi-hun that the Front Man was his brother, and never showed him a picture of the Front Man. That way, Gi-hun would have recognized the Front Man immediately, and would have had much more success in destroying the games from the inside.

The lesson to learn from this is that fighting in combat against attackers and invaders, and those who violently oppress people to the extent that their victims have no escape, is made obligatory in the Quran wherever it exists, only if the logistics allow for a feasible path to victory, and only if diplomacy does not work to remove the harm.

[9:13] Would you not fight a people who broke their oaths and intended to expel the messenger, and were the ones who attacked you in the first place? Do you fear them? But God is more worthy that you fear Him, if you have been believers.

[22:39-40] Permission (to fight) has been granted to those who are being attacked because they have been wronged. Indeed, God is Capable on their victory.

[2:216] Fighting has been decreed upon you, even though it is hateful to you. But perhaps, it may be that you hate something while it is good for you, and like something while it is bad for you. And God knows, while you do not know.

[2:190-191] And fight in the way of God those who fight you, but do not aggress. Indeed, God does not like the aggressors. And kill them wherever you have encountered them, and expel them from where they expelled you…

[4:75] And why would you not fight in the way of God, and for the oppressed among the men, women, and children who say, “Our Lord, take us out of this town of its unjust people, and appoint for us an ally from Yourself, and appoint for us a helper from Yourself!”

For example, it is mandatory for the Muslims (when capable) to organize behind the Palestinians in war and fight the state of Israel, because of how it expelled the Palestinians from their land and forbids refugees from returning. The state of Israel has committed more crimes than this, but verse 2:191 explicitly tells people to expel those who expelled them, which is sufficient grounds to make it mandatory for Muslims to support Palestine in a war effort against the state of Israel.

It is also mandatory for Muslims to stand behind the Ukrainians in war, support the war effort against the invading Vladimir Putin and the state of Russia until he ceases the invasion.

It is also mandatory for the Muslims to support a war effort against the state of China until the Uyghur Muslims are freed from their captivity.

It is also mandatory to stand behind the Sudanese civilians and fight against both warring factions in the Sudan Civil War, who have committed crimes against humanity and forced the Sudan civilians into a humanitarian crisis due to their war over power.

It is also mandatory for Muslims to support a war effort against the state of Iran because of how it killed tens of thousands of protestors in early 2026 without accountability, until the state of Iran makes such massacres illegal. The current US-Iran war does not count because the goal of this war is different and not an Islamically-supported reason to fight Iran (depriving Iran of its ability to acquire a nuclear weapon).

There are probably many more examples.

But in all of these fights against corruption, tyranny, aggression, and oppression, people must be prepared in case any spies sabotage the war efforts.