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Are cars, planes, and the like considered "dabah" (creatures/beasts) despite Allah Almighty's saying: "And Allah created every 'dabah' from water"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Originally, a "dabba" (creature/beast) is an animal that crawls and walks on the earth, as stated in the Almighty's words: "And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision." Lexically, the term "dabba" can be applied to anything that crawls on the earth. Accordingly, applying "dabba" to a car is not the primary meaning, but it might be permissible. As for an airplane, it is certainly not a "dabba" because its primary mode is flying, as the Quran differentiates between them by saying: "And there is no creature on earth or bird that flies with its wings." This does not negate the agreement of cars and airplanes with "dabba" in some jurisprudential rulings, such as the supplication for riding.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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