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The ruling on saying that humans 'create' things, like internet accounts for example
Fatwa No: 299617

Question

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatah. Dear Shaykh, nowadays, we see the English word 'create' being used in many books, magazines, newspapers, and websites. For example, on facebook, it says 'create' a new account, and so on. My question is, I know that in Arabic the word khalaqa should only be used for Allaah, The Exalted, but what about the word 'create' in English? Is it considered as infringing in the affairs of the Attributes of Allaah, The Exalted, and His Names? Please answer this question directly so that we can understand this properly. May Allaah reward you.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

The Arabic word 'khalq', meaning creation, is used in the Arabic language to denote several meanings such as making, decreeing and the like. It is permissible to ascribe the word 'khalq' in those senses to other than Allaah, as evidenced by the verse that reads (what means): {...So blessed is Allaah, the best of creators.} [Quran 23:14]

At-Tabari wrote:

“Some (scholars) said that the verse means ‘Blessed is Allaah, the best of makers.’ Those who adopted this scholarly view brought forth the following evidence: It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn Humayd from Hakkaam from ʻAnbasah from Al-Layth that Mujaahid commented on the verse: {...So blessed is Allaah, the best of the creators.} [Quran 23:14] saying, ‘They make and Allaah makes, but Allaah is the best of makers.’ ...... He then added, ‘The most correct opinion of the two is that of Mujaahid because the Arabs used to refer to every manufacturer or maker as ‘khaaliq’ as evident in Arabic poetry.”

The same applies to the word 'creation' in English or its equivalent in other languages. It is obvious that the phrase 'created a new (facebook) account' and the like does not involve likening the created to the Creator; it simply means that a person opens a new account or the like.

Allaah knows best.

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