What is the difference between making and creating?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The deed of "creating" is an expression used exclusively for the Creator. The deed of "making" is also used for human beings.However, no matter what expression is used, it is not appropriate to attribute the things that can only be done by Allah to human beings by using the words "did, made or created".

Man uses some materials from the world and makes a new work. He calls it "my work" but this owning can only be metaphorical. A new work of art is added to the gallery of the universe; its real artist is Allah. 

It is not difficult to understand that the soil cannot create the plant, the tree cannot create the fruit and the bee cannot create the honey. For, they are ignorant, unconscious and will-less beings. Man is a being with superior abilities. It might not always be possible to remember Allah by looking at the works made by the conscious hands of man.His skills act as a veil for the eye of the mind.

However, when we think carefully, we understand that man is a means, too.  For, man does not create any materials out of nothing when he produces something; he only arranges and organizes things that have been created. When he does so, he uses the organs and feelings granted to him. It is Allah who gives man his mind, heart, memory, ears, eyes and hands. The artist who works in His land with the organs and the materials that He has given him cannot be the real owner of his work. Therefore, all of the praise and appreciation based on the beauty of a work of art belong to the Creator. 

The role of the artist is to will; what matters is whether he uses his will for good or bad deeds. It can be said that Allah, who creates the fruit through the tree, creates works of art through man. The difference is whether it is done through the will or not. Then, man cannot say, “I created this work” because he has intellect and will; he can only think as follows: “This work was created by me.” There is no drawback for man to say, “This is my work” if he accepts the Creator. His duty is to thank His Lord, who gave him his mind and will. 

These decrees which are valid for works of art are also valid for technological works.The real artist of a poem, a painting, a sculpture or a composition is Allah; similarly, the real master of a table, carpet, computer or machine is Allah. All technological devices are produced through the hands of man but by His creation.

A technician uses the materials in the world like an artist. All of the laws of the branches of science are present in the universe. What a scientist does is to discover these laws and to practice them. All of the branches of science came into being as a result of searching the book of the universe and determining the rules there.

Scientists and technicians use the talents given to them by their Lord when they understand the beings and produce various devices and machines. It does not make them a legislator or a creator to say, “I found this law; I produced this machine.” The real doer of the deeds "to do, to make and to find" is somebody else.  

Doubtlessly, we do not ignore the human will when we say so. Yes, man has free will and he uses it to as he wishes. However, is it not Allah who gives him this free will? How can we ignore thinking that we are not the real owners of even our bodies, which we always say to be "our bodies"? Our heart works, our blood is cleaned, our cells are renewed, billions of things take place in our bodies but we are not aware of most of them. How many people know where their organs are, what they do and how they work? We lose our hair, our faces wrinkle, our waists bend, we start to lose our teeth and eventually we die but we cannot do anything except watching what happens.

We keep saying “I, me" but we are not the real owner of the material or spiritual organs with which our bodies are equipped. We did not produce them; we did not buy them from anyone; we did not find them anywhere. The Creator created them and gave them to us by saying, “You are free to use them as you wish but do not forget that you will be accounted for whatever you do.”

How canman, who is not the owner of his own body and feelings, be the real owner of the things made by his hands? How can he feel conceited with the bounties granted to him and say, “I did everything; I earned; I found” and forget his Lord?

That is, Allah, who creates so many miraculous works through non-living beings, plants and animals, also creates works through human beings. For, He is "the one who knows all kinds of creating".

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