Nature, cause, and reason do not create anything. Allah is the creator of everything
Everything that has come into existence came after a state of non-existence. That thing that came into being was at one point in time non- existent and then Allah made it exit. Whether we are speaking of physical entities, ie the bodies, or what is similar to bodies that have a standing on its own. Also, the doings, the deeds, the intentions, and the thoughts of the slaves are created by Allah.
Why did we say earlier what is similar to bodies among what has a standing of its own?
A body is what is composed of two atoms- jawhars or more. An atom- jawhar al-fard is the smallest particle that cannot be divisible.
The difference between atom-jawhar al-fard and the body is that the body is tangible, whereas the atom- jawhar al-fard escapes tangibility, because it is not divisible.
The atom- jawhar al-fard has a standing of its own. It does not stand in something else. On the other hand, the quality- ^Arad is a quality, such as the color, does not have a standing of its own. Rather, it has to stand in something else. It stands in a particular body such as a ball that is white, or a carpet that is red and a wall that is pink.
Whether we are speaking of a body which is composed of two atoms- jawhars or more, or whether we are talking about the atom- jawhar al-fard, or we are talking about the quality- ^arad, or we are talking about the thoughts or ideas of the human beings, or the doings of the humans, or the intentions of the creations, they are all created by Allah, the exalted. They are all preceded by a state of non-existence. They were not existent at one point in time and thereafter that state Allah made them exist.
If we speak about the movement of the humans or their immobility, both are created by Allah. The scholars said change is the most significant indicator of that a certain thing is a created being. If one is walking, it means his immobility has ceased to exist, and if he comes to a standstill, then his mobility has ceased to exist. This is change. Allah is the one who specified him with one state over another.
Allah is the creator of everything, whether it is the fine dust or the largest mountain. Both the great ^Arsh, which is the ceiling of paradise and the greatest body that Allah created, and the smallest entity, are creations of Allah.
Hence, no one other than Allah, be it nature or cause, creates anything.
When we speak of nature- at-Tabi^ah it is defined as the characteristic with which Allah created the things. Sometimes it is called al-^Adah- habit of the thing that Allah created. In other words, Allah created fire, and the habit or nature of the fire is to burn. The quality or attribute with which Allah created fire is burning. Snow is cold. Trees have two qualities, the quality of being moist (fluid in it) and the quality to burn if you subject it to fire. A maple tree can be tapped for sap. If you chop that tree and burn it, it is combustible. This is the nature-habit-quality with which Allah created the trees. Nature does not have a will or a life or knowledge, so it does not create anything.
Cause- ^illah, is technically defined as the presence of which necessitates the presence of its effect, and the absence of which necessitates the absence of its effect. Ex: If I move my finger that has a ring on it, the ring moves. The movement of the ring is the effect that took place as a result of moving my finger. The cause of the movement of the ring is the movement of the finger. If I do not move the finger the ring would not move.
Again, the cause- ^illah, does not create anything. The fact that I moved my finger and therefore the ring moved is not my creation. The movement of my finger and the movement of the ring is created by Allah. So the cause does not createt anything because cause does not have a will, life, or knowledge.
Reason is similar to the cause except its presence does not necessitate the presence of its effect. Ex: If you are down with flu and you take medicine for it you might be cured. If you get cured then this effect, or the reason for the cure is the medication. But the cure might not occur. The nature of the fire is to burn, however, the fire might be there and might come in contact with the body but the burning might not take place just as what had happened with prophet Ibrahim. His tribe threw him into a huge fire and the fire did not burn his skin and did not burn his clothing.
Reason does not create. When you eat, usually you get full. If you drink, your thirst usually gets quenched. However, this is not necessary the case. You might eat or drink and might not feel full or your thirst quenched. You might have fire in contact with your body and yet burning might not take place. Food does not create the satiation, the fire does not create the burning, and the knife does not create the cutting in the body.
Allah is the creator of all things and creates in accordance to His eternal will, knowledge, and according to his Destining. Allah said in the Qur’an in surat al-Furqan:
وخلق كل شيء
Which means, Allah created everything.
Allah brought everything form a state of non-existence into the state of existence.