Thus He stated that the mountains joined him in repeated praise, as did the birds, and He stated that He subjected them to glorify Him.

He also says:

“Do you not see that all those in the heavens and the earth glorify Allah, as do the birds with wings outspread? Each knows its prayer and its glorification.”

[Surah al-Nūr: 41].

And He Most High says:

“There is nothing that does not glorify Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification.”

[Surah al-Isrā’: 44].

And He says:

“To Allah prostrate all those in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly.”

[Surah al-Ra‘d: 15].

And He says:

“Then, after that, your hearts hardened, becoming like stones or even harder. Indeed, among stones are those from which rivers gush forth; others split open and water flows from them; and others fall down in awe of Allah.”

[Surah al-Baqara: 74].

A fuller discussion of the prostration and glorification of these things is given elsewhere(1).

The point here is that, by consensus, all of this is created by Allah, even though the Quran attributes these acts to the entities themselves. It is therefore known that this does not conflict with the Lord Most High being the Creator of all things.

If it is said: Your assertion that, if we regard Allah as the agent, that act(2) must necessarily exist, and that creating the act necessarily entails its existence—as well as other such assertions—entails compulsion, which is a false doctrine.