Podcast
Bismillah Rahman Raheem
In this episode, will discuss another issue that needs lots of thinking/pondering ~ changing Allah’s creation.
(4:118-119) …[Satan] said: “I will surely take from among Your servants a specific portion. And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them [sinful] desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah.”…
The above verses clearly point out that Satan will cause people delusions and cause humans to change the creation of Allah. There is no doubt that everything on the earth is a gift from Allah, from mobile phones, computers, and household appliances, to the most basic necessities like clothing, food, housing, and medicine, and all the materials to produce all these are taken from the earth. In the Quran 34:10-11 and 21:80, Allah clearly stated that it was Allah who taught prophet David to take iron from the earth and then make armor. It is also known from the story of the Qur’an that Allah himself directed Prophet Noah to build an ark, and Prophet Adam to make clothes, build houses, and so on.
Therefore, these examples do not alter Allah’s creations, but instead confirm all the needs of the earth have been created by Allah for human beings. How to make good use of these creations to benefit people or harm people is entirely up to human beings themselves. What kind of causes to choose and lead to what kind of consequences are all in the hands of human beings.
So what does it really mean to alter Allah’s creation?
At the beginning of Surah 67, Allah declares clearly that all things He has created are perfect, without flaws and defects. Also in various chapters of the Qur’an such as (54:49), (64:3), (25: 2), (15:19), (13:8), (91:7), (23:18 ), (43:11) etc., when Allah describes his creations, such as heaven, earth, mountains, rain , man, etc., he clearly states that He created all of them by measure, with precise measure, everything grow with balance, and everything has its own due measure.
That is everything has a specific measure to achieve balance and harmony. Just like a person’s body temperature, one degree more may cause a fever, and one degree lower may cause the body temperature to be too low. Another example is a person’s pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar level, pulmonary oxygen level and other indices, etc, if little bit high or low, people’s health will be out of balance and problems will arise.
Another example, greenhouse gases, temperature changes, are the world’s attention nowadays. One-degree higher, which has already caused melting of icebergs, increased number of typhoons and more severe, flooding and other natural disasters, as well as ecological changes of animals and plants.
Therefore, anything that puts men and nature out of balance is to alter Allah’s creation. Also there are many reminders in the Qur’an that do not overly/exceedingly do anything, also should be the middle way. Environmental damage occurs when certain natural materials are over-exploited in many cases. Overfishing, overhunting, which caused the slow extinction of many fish and animals. Many times, one may not realize that the balance has been lost until the problem arises, and it may not be easy to remedy after that.
Another example: our body
A hadith recorded that there are five things to be done that belong to religious life: circumcision, shaving underarm and pubic hair, clipping nails, and trimming beard. Another hadith records that except beards, those who remove eyebrows hair and face hair for beauty, getting tattoos and practising tattoos, those who create spaces between teeth for beauty are cursed because these are the changes the creation of Allah.
These two hadiths clearly pointed out what can be done and what can’t be done for self-care. If you can’t even pluck eyebrows and facial hair, then plastic surgery or gender-changing surgery will not be permitted. But in Islam , there are always exceptions, for example, like in the Qur’an mentioned about to consume the prohibited meat, if it’s by force or due to famine, involuntarily, even if one eat forbidden food, one will be forgiven.
Therefore, in the case of accidental disfigurement, such as in South Asia, many women are disfigured by corrosive liquids due to attack, or birth defects, these are exceptional cases. So that corrective surgery such as cosmetic surgery is allowed as treatment. But on the contrary, if one just dissatisfied with one’s own appearance and just wishes to be beautified, then it becomes a change in Allah’s creation.
Another example, some people need to remove certain parts of the body in order to survive and restore health, then, such removal surgery is allowed. On the contrary, it is not allowed to perform excision surgery for the sake of appearance, or just worrying about the possibility of getting sick in the future, but still in good health, etc., because it is unknown what will happen today, even in the
coming minute, what will happen, and no one can say for sure. The parts that are removed maybe never get sick, but the parts that have not been removed might become sick, so don’t overdo it / exceed the limit.
There is a hadith that recorded that Allah has already created and distributed all that is needed on the earth. Therefore, there is an antidote for all diseases, except death.
This hadith clearly encourages the discovery of medicine and the search for an antidote, but at the same time it is necessary to distinguish the boundaries, to change the creation of Allah, or to use the creation of Allah correctly, like in the stories of the prophets Adam, Noah and David?
Therefore, no matter how the times progress, and new medical sciences and technologies continue to emerge, if it is to save lives and reduce physical pain, then it is permitted. Otherwise, if any progress is just to beautify, or the existence of the progress doesn’t even matter to exist or not, which means not necessities, then it would be excessive, and it could turn into altering the creation of Allah.
Just like genetically modified food, the plants originally created by Allah will automatically grow seeds, which will continue to grow repeatedly, supplying unlimited amounts of life to humans, animals, insects, and other plants. However, genetically modified plants cannot reproducing the seeds. Therefore, from the unlimited natural supply granted by Allah, to become has to continuous purchase of seeds for every grow from designated suppliers. Meanwhile, the original ecology of many insects or plants has also been changed. Then, this is a clear example in altering Allah’s creation.
At the same time, some will object and argue that if God has given human beings the form of beauty, why are there still babies born with defects?
Air pollution, river pollution, ocean pollution, water pollution, food pollution, light pollution, noise pollution, grassland pollution, nuclear pollution, drug abuse, overexploitation, overproduction, hidden close kins marriage, etc., the environment we live in seems to be Constantly improving, but is it also destroying the ecological environment, including for human beings? Has medicine also disrupted certain balances while medicine has been progress a lot? How many diseases are caused by these environmental changes and people’s behaviour?
Before blaming the creation of Allah for all kinds of problems, should one be honest and ask about what one has done? as the Quran (4:79) What comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself….
(42:30) And whatever strikes you of disaster – it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much.
This verse clearly states that Allah has bestowed all things for mankind to enjoy and how to use them is the responsibility of mankind, and the Qur’an emphasizes in many places that one must know how to be grateful and how to share with others, so that these blessings will continue to flow, but when When people’s pursuit of goals is no longer pure for Allah, then many times the calamity is self-inflicted, and cannot blame others.
In conclusion, Islam is a simple and straightforward religion and way of life, except for those things that are expressly forbidden in the Qur’an, all things are permitted until one has to give reasons and proves why they are forbidden.
Everything in the world is interrelated in a certain way. The sun, air, vegetables, fruits, water, animals, and even insects that humans are enjoying are related to the entire ecological balance. When any behaviour or actions that caused the ecological imbalance, then it should be reviewed, has it changed any of Allah’s creations? Or are humans excessively abusing the use of His creation?
This is a very broad topic. In this podcast, we only discuss simple concepts, hopefully will make people start to observe and ponder our surroundings. The society is changing every day. Too much information is constantly being released. Besides continuing to look for the root cause, also one gets familiar with the Quran’s teaching, stay away from all things prohibited or suspected of approaching prohibition.
Meanwhile, one should look more at the nature around us and be more grateful. We may find that there is actually a lot of blessing already around us, but only we don’t realize.
No matter what, sins committed due to ignorance, as long as repent to Allah, then will be forgiven. One always be grateful to Allah, will find that the mind will become calm and content because of it.
(4:147) Why should Allah punish you, if you render thanks to Him and believe in Him? God is appreciative and aware.
Next episode will continue. Thanks for listening.