It has thus become clear that there is no basis for regarding anyone in either category as a deputy for Allah: neither one who worships Him, nor one who obeys Him, nor one who associates partners with Him and disobeys Him. This is from the standpoint of divine decree, predestination, and Allah’s creative command. Allah is the Creator of everything: He creates every living being—angels, humans, jinn, and animals—and creates their abilities, wills, and actions, just as He creates inanimate things.
Although He creates some things by means of others, as He creates vegetation through rain and rain through clouds, none of these is His deputy, for He creates both the thing itself and the means by which He creates it. He is the Lord and Sovereign of everything. Were such a designation valid, every created being would be a deputy for Allah. Rather, all are subjected to His command, directed by His will, governed by His power, and ordered by His wisdom. Allah has no need of any of them, while all are dependent upon Him; nor is the small more dependent upon Him than