“Who is it Who provides you with sustenance from the heavens and the earth? Is there any god associated with Allah [in these tasks]? Say: ‘Bring forth your evidence, if you are truthful.’ Say: ‘None in the heavens and on earth has knowledge of the Unseen save Allah. They do not know when they will be raised to life.’”
(Al Qur’ān – 27:64-65)
The question of providence and sustenance is not simple. There are millions of animal and plant species on this earth and billions of members of each of these species, each with its own peculiar food requirements. The Creator has set up a mechanism to provide food for every one of these millions of species in such a manner that it is within the reach of them all. Additionally, there are countless forces working to maintain these mechanisms. If heat, light, air and water do not function in harmony with various elements on earth, not even an atom of food would grow.
Who can imagine that this intelligent and complex mechanism could have come into operation without there being a One who regulates and controls; who can claim that any jinn, angel or saint had a share in its creation?
They were asked to produce proof that any other being has a share in this creation. If they failed to do so, then they should at least explain how it stands to reason that when God created all these things that people worship aught beside Him. History bears witness that they failed to produce any proof thereof.