Cattle and Robots
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
Say, "He (is) Allah, the One.
Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute.
Not He begets and not He is begotten.
And not is for Him equivalent any [one]."
[Al-Quran 112]
There is no ilah except Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى , the one and only God. The Quran is very very clear on this. The Quran also mentions some creation tasks performed through others.
In Surah Yasin we read:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَا لَهُم مِّمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَآ أَنْعَـٰمًۭا فَهُمْ لَهَا مَـٰلِكُونَ ٧١
Do they not see that We singlehandedly created for them, among other things, cattle which are under their control?
وَذَلَّلْنَـٰهَا لَهُمْ فَمِنْهَا رَكُوبُهُمْ وَمِنْهَا يَأْكُلُونَ ٧٢
And We have subjected these ˹animals˺ to them, so they may ride some and eat others.
وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مَنَـٰفِعُ وَمَشَارِبُ ۖ أَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَ ٧٣
And they derive from them other benefits and drinks. Will they not then give thanks?
[ Al-Quran, Surah Yasin, ayaat 71-73]
Cattle have been especially created to provide for many needs of humans: carrying loads, tilling the land, milk and meat, material for clothing and tents, and so on. All that is expected in return is gratitude for this special blessing.
Cattle have been created by those tasked with some creation tasks by Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى ( kindly read explanation at the bottom of this post in the note titled: THE CREATOR I and THE CREATORS WE ).
Robots are being built by humans to assist in many tasks.
Cattle are a carbon-based biological creation.
Robots are silicone-based artificial invention.
Cattle go through the cycle of life and death.
Robots are manufactured, and thus do not have a biological lifecycle.
Cattle mate to procreate their kind.
Robots do not have the ability to procreate, at least, not yet.
Cattle sleep and wake up.
Robots can be switched on and switched off.
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As humans advance technologically, more and more frontiers are being conquered. Humans have been granted the intellect to study and learn, and apply that knowledge. Adam عليه السلام and his progeny have been bestowed the responsibility of Khilafat. Their job is to rule with equitable justice, establish and uphold Allah ﷻ ’s Deen (legal system), and to remove oppression and corruption. We have to take care that Allah ﷻ ’s Deen is not violated by any of our technology. The power and the knowledge bestowed upon us is a trust (ٱلْأَمَانَةَ). We must always remember that our purpose is to humbly serve Allah ﷻ as we have been created to serve Allah ﷻ
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The following is an excerpt from Human: Body or Soul?
THE CREATOR I and THE CREATORS WE
بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لَهُ وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ تَكُن لَّهُ صَاحِبَةٌ
وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
Originator (of) the heavens and the earth.
How can be for Him a son while not (there) is for Him a companion,
and He created every thing? And He (is) of every thing All-Knower.
The Quran uses various words to inform us that it is Allah who has conceived, designed, originated, created and increases in creation, governs, sustains; and it is Allah to whom the Kingdom of the heavens and earth belongs. Therefore, Allah is the only Deity (ilah) and He alone is worthy of worship. Everything else is created, and no matter how great a task any created being may be entrusted with, everyone and everything, except Allah, is created and is serving Allah.
2:117 informs us that Allah is
بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ 7:54 informs us that
اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ
35:1 informs us that
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ فَاطِرِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ If we look at the usage of these words across the Quran, we find that 'badee' and '
fatara' are used exclusively as the acts of Allah, while 'khalaqa' is used for Allah and other beings. I think 'badee' means Inventor of creation, while 'fatara' means Separator of creation into individual units/beings.
Quran search results:
Moreover, wherever the act of creation is referred to using the root letters [kha-lam-qaf], it seems to imply creating something from something: humans are created from 'teen', jinns are created from 'naar', and probably [kha-lam-qaf] implies and/or allows for creation after a set pattern. Even where Jesus' miraculous ability to create a bird from 'teen' is mentioned, the root [kha-lam-qaf] is used, and it is clearly mentioned that Jesus was able to do so by Allah's permission (
Q3:49,
Q5:110).
I understand that in the grand governance of the heavens and earth, Allah has created some beings with mighty powers and entrusted some of the task of creation [kha-lam-qaf] to them. It seems that they are also entrusted with preparing the scriptures. However, Al-Quran
10:37 clarifies:
وَمَا كَانَ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنُ أَن يُفْتَرَىٰ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ
وَلَٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ الْكِتَابِ
لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِن رَّبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
And not is this the Quran, that (it could be) produced by other than Allah,
but (it is) a confirmation (of that) which (was) before it and a detailed explanation (of) the Book,
(there is) no doubt in it, from (the) Lord (of) the worlds.
So, I infer that the acts of creation, and the preparation and revelation of the scriptures are all done under the instruction, guidance, supervision and control of Allah. Creation belongs to Allah and the scriptures are from Allah for our guidance. Al-Quran
2:252 states:
These (are the) ayaat (of) Allah,
We recite them to you in [the] truth.
And indeed, you (are) surely of the Messengers.
Al-Quran 4:163-166 states:
Indeed,
We have revealed to you as We revealed to Nuh and the Prophets after him,
and We revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail, and Ishaq and Yaqub, and the tribes, and Isa and Ayyub, and Yunus, and Harun and Sulaiman
and We gave (to) Dawood the Zaboor.
And Messengers surely
We (have) mentioned them to you before and Messengers not We (have) mentioned them to you. And Allah spoke (to) Musa (in a) conversation.
Messengers, bearers of glad tidings and warners, so that not there is for the mankind against Allah any argument after the Messengers. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.
But Allah bears witness to what He (has) revealed to you. He has sent it down with His Knowledge and the Angels bear witness. And Allah is sufficient (as) a Witness.
However, that does not make these beings gods, nor do they ask to be taken as 'ilah' instead of Allah. Rather, they reiterate across the Quran that there is only one God (ilah). They do not make themselves known to us by their names or forms. In Al-Quran
37:164-166, they state:
وَمَا مِنَّا إِلَّا لَهُ مَقَامٌ مَّعْلُومٌ
وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الصَّافُّونَ
وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الْمُسَبِّحُونَ
"And not among us except for him (is) a position known.
And indeed, we surely, [we] stand in rows.
And indeed, we surely, [we] glorify (Allah)."
As for polytheism, it is stated very clearly in the Quran that those who the polytheists take as their gods are nothing but Jinns (dJinns or genies), and that the Jinns are not the creators, nor do they have any such power or ability to make them worthy of any deification, worship or obedience.
In fact, in the story of Adam, whom Allah created Himself, the Quran is very clear that Adam was honoured because of the knowledge that Allah endowed him with, and those with lesser knowledge were asked to submit/prostrate to Adam. When Iblis was questioned why he didn't obey God, Allah is quoted thus: He said, [Al-Quran
38:75]
قَالَ يَا إِبْلِيسُ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَن تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنتَ مِنَ الْعَالِينَ
"O Iblis! What prevented you that you (should) prostrate to (one) whom I created with My Hands? Are you arrogant or are you of the exalted ones?"
Surah al-Jinn is very clear about the condition of the Jinns, how the secrets of the heavens are protected and they prevented from it, and that whenever Allah sends any message through a chosen messenger, Allah ensures that the messenger and the messages are well-guarded, protected, brought and delivered.
And Allah knows best.
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Also consider the following excerpt from The Creation & Emergence of Species:
Jinns & Humans خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِن صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ
وَخَلَقَ الْجَانَّ مِن مَّارِجٍ مِّن نَّارٍ
He created the man from clay like the pottery.
And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire.
Based upon the ability of organisms to internally produce heat or depend upon external sources to regulate their body temperature, they are classified as endotherms and ectotherms: endotherms such as humans
thermoregulate their body temperature; ectotherms, on the other hand, depend on their environment to heat or cool down their bodies, such as
snakes and other reptiles.
The Age of Reptiles
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ
وَالْجَانَّ خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن قَبْلُ مِن نَّارِ السَّمُومِ
And verily, We created humankind (out) of sounding clay from black mud altered.
And the jinn We created it before from fire scorching.
The Quran states that in this world the jinns were created before humans. Jinns, I understand, are Snakes, as discussed in detail in
جَانٌّ (Snake || Jinn). According to fossil records, the reptiles appeared on the Earth much before the mammals.
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No ilah but Allah لا إله إلا الله
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