How Can Allah Create Everything from Water If Jinn Were Created from Fire? A Complete Response
The Response to the Doubt About How God Created Every Living Thing from Water While the Jinn Were Created from Fire
Table of Contents
- Content of the Doubt
- First: The Doubt Destroys the Critics’ Own Scripture
- Second: The Word “Every” Does Not Always Mean Absolute Generality
- Third: Fire and Light Can Be Produced from Water
Content of the Doubt
“And We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” — Al-Anbiya’ 30
“And God created every living creature from water.” — An-Nur 45
“And the jinn - We created them before from scorching fire.” — Al-Hijr 27
“And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire.” — Ar-Rahman 15
Their question: How can God make every living thing from water, even though the jinn are living beings created from fire?
First: The Doubt Destroys the Critics’ Own Scripture
The first to invent this suspicion were Christians at the beginning of this century, spreading it on their forums. What is remarkable is that in doing so, they unknowingly destroy their own scriptures.
“Because this is hidden from them by their own will: that the heavens were from of old, and the earth stood out of the water and through the water by the word of God.”
“Creation: The heavens and the earth did not exist, and God created them with His word from the water that filled every place. Then God separated the waters from the waters and made the heavens above. Then He brought forth the dry land from the waters, and it became the earth (Genesis 1:9, 10).”
If the heavens and the earth were created from water according to the Bible itself — then why is the interior of the earth blazing with fire, and why are the stars in the sky ablaze with fire? The Christian who repeats this doubt against the Qur’an is simultaneously destroying his own book without realising it.
Second: The Word “Every” Does Not Always Mean Absolute Generality
Many commentators have said that the verse “And We made from water every living thing” does not refer to the jinn or the angels. This is because the word “every” (kullu) in the Arabic language sometimes does not mean absolute generality — certain things can be excluded depending on context. This linguistic style is repeated throughout the Holy Qur’an.
It was said of the Queen of Sheba:“And she was given of every thing.”
It was said of the waves: “And the waves came upon them from every direction.”
It was said of the wind of Aad: “Destroying everything by the command of its Lord.”
In none of these cases does “every” or “all” refer to absolute totality — rather, specific things are intended, as made clear by context.
Even in daily speech, we use the word “all” without meaning it in an absolute sense. A person may tell their manager they have prepared all the papers — without meaning every paper in existence. Likewise, saying “everyone is talking about you” does not mean every person on earth. The Qur’an operates by the same principle of contextual specification.
“If it is said: How could He say: We created every animal from water, when He said: ‘And the jinn - We created them before from scorching fire’ (Al-Hijr: 27), and the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘God Almighty created the angels from light’… then the answer is: Although the wording is general, the specific evidence is still there.”
Likewise, God created the jinn from fire — that is their origin. But their structure changed after creation. The clearest evidence of this is that fire is visible to the eye by its very nature, yet we cannot see the jinn; they are hidden from our sight entirely. This confirms that the nature of the jinn transformed into another form after creation. There is therefore no obstacle to the jinn now requiring some water to sustain their existence, just as humans do.
“Allah ﷾ created us from water and dust, but the origin of creation from something is completely different from the existence of that thing and its subsequent transformation. Since we humans were created from clay, would we become clay if we get wet with water? This is not the case. Likewise, the origin of the creation of the jinn was from fire, as in His saying: (And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire), but what is the state of the jinn now? We do not know: (Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them) [Al-A’raf: 27]. So the fact that they were originally from fire does not necessitate that they are fire now.”
The hadith — “Anger comes from Satan, Satan comes from fire, and water extinguishes fire…” — is aweak hadith and should not be relied upon in this discussion.
Third: Fire and Light Can Be Produced from Water
Fire itself can be created from water. When sodium is mixed with water, a fierce flame and explosion occurs. Furthermore, water is composed primarily of oxygen and hydrogen — two elements that cause intense fire and explosion. If God willed to break down water into its elemental components, a flame of fire could be produced from it, and jinn creatures created from that flame.
Scientists who study the origin of life affirm something consistent with this understanding:
Water decomposition occurred in the early Earth’s environment, though under conditions vastly different from today. Earth’s primitive atmosphere contained large amounts of gases such as methane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The sun produced powerful ultraviolet radiation with sufficient energy to break down water molecules (H₂O) into hydrogen and oxygen through a process known as photodissociation — meaning water itself produced the components capable of generating fire. In those early environmental conditions, oxygen from water could react with methane and produce a flame.
Additionally, the intense volcanic activity of early Earth and extreme geothermal heat could have partially decomposed water, producing hydrogen and oxygen.
The Devonian period (419 to 359 million years ago) further illustrates this. During this period, a rapid expansion of woody trees caused a surge in photosynthesis via the process:
6CO₂ + 6H₂O (+ light energy) → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂
This led to a dramatic rise in atmospheric oxygen — from approximately 13% to 17% — which models indicate potentially caused widespread wildfires across terrestrial forests. The plant’s use of water directly led to the formation of oxygen and, consequently, fire.
Furthermore, when a very high electrical voltage is applied to water, it can ionize it, forming a luminous plasma. The thunder created by God contains an electrical voltage of up to 100 million volts — sufficient to ionize water and produce luminous plasma. This resulting light could be used by God to create angels.
There also exists a phenomenon called Cherenkov radiation: when charged particles such as electrons move inside water at a speed greater than the speed of light in water, they emit a radiant blue flash. God is fully capable of using water to produce both flames and light.
God is able to use water to create flames, and then create jinn from that flame. God is also able to use water to produce light and create angels from it. The apparent tension between the verses dissolves entirely under both linguistic and scientific examination.
“The Almighty’s saying: ‘And God created every living creature from water’ has two opinions: One of them is that the origin of creation was from water, then it was turned to fire, from which He created the jinn, and to light, from which He created the angels, and to clay, from which He created whoever He created and whatever He created, as narrated by Ibn Isa.”
“He replied that it is mentioned in the narrations that He, the Almighty and Majestic, created the angels from wind, which He created from water, and the jinn from fire, which He created from it, and Adam from dust, which He created from it.”
“If it is said: Why did God Almighty say: {And We made from water every living thing}, even though the angels are alive and the jinn are alive, and they were not created from water, but from light and fire? We said: What is meant by it is some, which is the animal, as in the saying of Allah the Almighty: {And they have been given of everything} [Surat An-Naml: 23], and His saying: {And the waves came upon them from every place} [Yunus: 22] and many similar interpretations. As for the second interpretation: that all were created from water, but some through an intermediary, and some without an intermediary. For this reason it was said that Allah the Almighty created the angels from wind, which He created from water, and He created the jinn from fire, which He created from water, and He created Adam from dust, which He created from water.”
The same position was affirmed by Zakaria Al-Ansari in Fath Al-Rahman bi-Kashf Ma Yultabsat fi Al-Qur’an (1/374), and by Al-Razi the linguist in A Noble Example of Questions and Answers about the Strange Verses of the Revelation (1/337).
