Who Gets the Credit?

In modern terms, we would call this a new technological invention — even though it happened through a miracle with Dāwūd (peace be upon him). But I am getting to another point. In modern terms we call this a modern invention, just like a car, or a computer, or an aeroplane, or whatever. Even though we all believe that everything is created by Allah (swt), first we attribute these things to the human beings who made them. So we are always impressed with the manufacturer — whether it is IBM, or Intel, or Toyota, or Sony, whatever manufacturer is making these new inventions for us. And we always hold the scientists in high esteem, whether it is Isaac Newton, or Edison, or Bell, or Einstein, or others.

We rarely thank Allah (swt) for these things. Rarely do you find somebody saying: al-ḥamdu lillāh for the car; or al-ḥamdu lillāh, who made communication easy; or al-ḥamdu lillāh, who made transportation easier for us; al-ḥamdu lillāh, who provided us with the telephone, or the car, or the aeroplane, or whatever. Whenever we attribute the credit, we give the credit to the human being. Now, it is true that this happened through the human being; that is true. But in the end, who is the One who made it possible for the human being to do it? It is Allah (swt).

Now, when Allah (swt) is talking about Dāwūd (peace be upon him), particularly making these shields, what did Allah (swt) say? We taught him how to make armour for you — fa-hal antum shākirūn — so are you going to be grateful? Allah is telling the human beings: it is Dāwūd who made this for you — but Allah (swt) did not say, be grateful to Dāwūd. Allah (swt) said: be grateful to Allah (swt), because that is where the credit belongs. So whatever technological accessories we have, credit should go to Allah (swt), the One who created everything. It is from Allah (swt), and it is a blessing from Allah, and it is a test for the ones who made these things, and it is a test for the nations who are producing these things for us: who are they giving the credit to?

In France, there was a Muslim PhD student who did an excellent piece of research, and then he wrote on the cover page of that PhD dissertation: all credit goes to Allah (swt), and if there is any mistake in this research, it is because of me. His professor, who happened to be an atheist, said: you work four years on this research, and then you give credit to someone who did not do anything for you? And you are the one who worked for four years, and you say that all the mistakes belong to you? What is wrong with you? Can you not think straight? Now you are going to be a PhD student; I am going to give you a PhD — and you are still thinking with this backward mentality: that the credit does not go to you, it goes to Allah (swt).

We should say al-ḥamdu lillāh for everything. Al-ḥamdu lillāh for everything. Every tool, every instrument, every machine, anything that we have around us — it came to us from Allah (swt), through mankind. You find that many of these inventions were invented in what seems to be a random way. I mean, the scientist was sitting under a tree and then the apple fell down; this might be a story — but with penicillin, we know for a fact that it came from a random observation: they were studying something else, and somehow they discovered penicillin. And with many other things, the scientists would be studying something, and then this thing comes along on the side, and they find out about it, and it turns out to be a greater invention, or a greater study, than what they were studying before.

Who is turning their attention in these directions? It is Allah (swt). They say it happened randomly; it is not random. Everything is with the qadar of Allah (swt). It is qadar from Allah, taqdīr from Allah (swt). There is nothing haphazard and random in the universe.