Ask Ghamidi

A Community Driven Discussion Portal
To Ask, Answer, Share And Learn

Forums Forums Epistemology And Philosophy Dependence Of Animals On Humans

Tagged: ,

  • Dependence Of Animals On Humans

    Posted by Amjad Khan on July 23, 2022 at 7:13 am

    AOA, I was sitting at my uncle’s farm the other day where I noticed something interesting. The workers on his farm were trimming the horns of buffaloes. When I inquired why they were doing so, they replied so that the horns don’t overgrow into the buffalo’s skull and cause it damage (later he showed me photos of buffalo that was suffering from overgrown horns)

    I am still curious about what I witnessed. It never occurred to me before that a creature could be in need of some external help to conduct its affairs, since God has designed each creature so well that there arises no need of external intervention (snakes get new skin on their own etc).

    Could it be God’s scheme to establish a bond of kindness and understanding between us and our fellow creatures who inhabit this planet by making some animals dependent upon humans (in a very narrow capacity like trimming cattle horns, forging horseshoes for horses etc)?

    Also if God created some animals solely for human usage (for carrying loads etc), then why were some gaps left to be filled by humans themselves? (trimming horns, hooves etc) @UmerQureshi @Irfan76 @faisalharoon

    Dr. Irfan Shahzad replied 2 years, 3 months ago 3 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • Dependence Of Animals On Humans

  • Amjad Khan

    Member July 25, 2022 at 1:00 pm

    @UmerQureshi @faisalharoon @Irfan76 teachers, can you please shed light on this?

  • Faisal Haroon

    Moderator July 25, 2022 at 1:33 pm

    Generally, horns are primarily trimmed or removed for our own ease of handling the animals and for our own safety. They don’t need to be trimmed or removed in natural environments of any the animals.

    Of course in some individual animals the horns may grow towards the head causing injuries to the animals, but that’s clearly an abnormality. Some entire breeds of animals might have such an abnormality as well, however, I don’t believe that there are any natural breeds of animals like that. In conclusion, unless there’s any evidence to the contrary, I don’t believe that dependence of animals upon humans can be regarded as part of God’s scheme.

    • Amjad Khan

      Member July 25, 2022 at 2:04 pm

      Sir I got your point but the question still remains: if God created certain animals for domestic usage (as mentioned in Quran), then shouldn’t have they been designed in a way that humans were absolved of making extra efforts? Humans since antiquity have been trimming the horns and hoofs of their animals, making them suitable for their own use. You’re right they don’t need to be trimmed in their natural environments, but as per Quran their primary role comes in the domestic sphere (for carrying loads, riding etc). Therefore, shouldn’t they have been designed in a way that nature itself would’ve catered their needs in the domestic sphere? (they should have been able to shed their horns/hooves in the domestic sphere as they do in the natural sphere). JazakAllah.

    • Faisal Haroon

      Moderator July 25, 2022 at 2:25 pm

      I don’t believe that the fact that animal horns are being trimmed for a very long time raises any concerns to what I stated earlier.

      Also there’s no valid basis for how things should have been. Unfortunately this universe doesn’t function according to our wishes and desires. Things in this universe are the way that they are, and unless we have been given any divine reasoning behind them, there’s perhaps no value in speculating.

    • Amjad Khan

      Member July 25, 2022 at 2:50 pm

      Could it be also the fact that these animals are not something that have solely been created for us humans? I mean they are a complete creation of God in their own right (not all the sheep/horses of the world have been domesticated). Yeah, at times, we do use them since they have been placed at our service, but that doesn’t mean that is all that is there to their existence. And neither does the Quran states that they have been CREATED FOR US rather that WE USE THEM to fulfill our needs.

  • Dr. Irfan Shahzad

    Scholar July 26, 2022 at 2:23 am

    The intelligent design of God is no a perfect one to let it cause different results, which were not possible if the design was a perfect one. Each being depend upon other to feed or to cure itself. This dependence sometimes causes grave and painful situations. Your question is related to the problem of pain. Why God created pain in this world, He could have chosen some other scheme of existence.

    This question arises from the perception of a Merciful God. The fact is, God is not as merciful as we traditionally assume. Mercy is the ultimate result of the great scheme He has initiated, but the scheme itself is the manifestation of Will, Power, Knowledge and Wisdom and He has told us little about it. He willed it this way to see if we do good deeds or not, believing that the ultimate results will be a benefit in abundance for his creatures.

You must be logged in to reply.
Login | Register