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Androids and inheritance

Haji 2003

Entry posted by Haji 2003 in Sexuality

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In this thread there was a half jokey but also serious issue that I raised:

At some point Muslims will ask whether conjugal relations with androids are allowed and we can predict the answer will be no.

 

Since I first started that thread a lot has happened and I think it's worth introducing some new variables to the discussion.

There was a time when men who dressed as women (and vice versa) did so either for humour or if it was in some way related to their sexuality the attempt would seem a bit ridiculous. Nowadays though fantasy can be more readily realised with the aid of technology.

In a similar vein men who play with dolls (this is serious, stay with me) are faintly creepy and weird. But technology moves on and at some point the dolls will pass for humans. While orthodox Muslims may well be aghast at the idea of relations between us and the androids, clearly this will be considered to be progress amongst some people. They may not currently regard it as such but their ideological progeny will.

But then another issue will emerge. If someone gains emotional and other forms of support from their android, what if they want to pass on their wealth to the android?
 

Quote

How the super-rich care for their pets after they die is a growing, and very discreet, area of estate law, says Valerie Wu, a partner specialising in tax, trust and fund law at Pinsent Masons, the law firm, in Singapore. Pets, she says, have become an established class of beneficiary.

https://www.ft.com/content/b9b78aae-1f32-11e9-a46f-08f9738d6b2b

 

So while we have had dystopian science fiction prognosticating about robots AI becoming 'self-aware' and stealing the planet from us what if such a loss can happen without such a confrontational dystopia?

What if large numbers of humans give up on human-to-human relations and instead take up with androids who will never argue back, will always say yes and be physically whatever people want them to be.

And as a reward for this their human companions leave their possessions to robots?

It could be that it is selfishness and narcissism that disinherits us and nothing more sinister.

Edited by Haji 2003
added the quotation from the FT, removed the reference to German inheritance law for which I could not find evidence

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Haji 2003
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This newspaper story highlights the evolving relationship between pets and humans in the West and highlights exactly the issues I am picking up above:

Quote

It is also about different cultures and backgrounds. “I was brought up in Ireland 30 years ago, and it was very much: dogs are outdoor creatures, they’re animals, not part of the family,” says Burke.

Gradually, over those 30 years, in Ireland and elsewhere, dogs have snuck in, out of the cold, into the living room, then sometimes, sneakily, upstairs. And this, says Burke, represents a change in attitudes towards pets, the way people treat and interact with them, their role in the household. “Is it like a substitute baby? Is it one of the family, with equal rights?”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/jul/27/he-chose-the-dog-over-me-the-pets-that-ruined-relationships-from-pups-interrupting-sex-to-aggressive-pigs

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Haji 2003
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Unconditional love - a common factor between pets and androids?

Interesting observation about what makes pets special:

Quote

Anyway, not all familial relationships are perfect. Costa, who is queer, says: “When I came out, I had a really terrible experience with it. The notion of unconditional love vanished for me at the age of 19. With this cat, I thought: hang on a second, it is possible. It was the first time I’d experienced that.”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/15/the-surprising-shame-of-pet-loss-you-are-supposed-to-think-humans-are-more-important-than-animals

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Hameedeh
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When animals did work for humans (cow=milk, cat=catch mice, dog=guard sheep), they were allowed. To have an animal as a pet, just to pet it, is where the Islamic scholars disagree. If we "use" a pet for companionship, then don't get married or if we ignore our spouse and give all the attention to the pet, this can cause relationship problems. Androids are a whole new thing. Stay tuned.   

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Haji 2003
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On 8/15/2024 at 4:35 PM, Hameedeh said:

To have an animal as a pet, just to pet it, is where the Islamic scholars disagree.

Well dogs are najis. Keeping one as a pet and keeping a clean household would be complicated, I think. This goes back to the point made in the article above that even in non-Muslim countries, dogs had historically been kept outside the house.

AFAIK there have been all sorts of reasons given for why dogs are najis, e.g.:

Quote

Every rule in Islam is based on our interest and avoiding us any harm. We do not know all the details of the reason but Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and the Prophet (SAWA) know the full reasons. We trust Allah and His Messenger and believe that dog is Najis because it is harmful for us to be in contact with dog.

Many medical scientists confirmed that many dangerous parasites can come to humans from contact with dog

https://www.al-islam.org/ask/why-is-a-dog-considered-impure-and-not-allowed-to-be-kept-inside-a-house/sayyed-mohammad-al-musawi

So here's a hypothesis. Without denying the validity of the parasite argument, what if the reason for that ruling was precisely because of the social and psychological aspect of human and dog relationships? And God wanted us to limit the extent to which these could be formed, given the negative impact that they can have on human-human relationships?

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         2 comments
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      By Haji 2003 in Contemporania
         4 comments
      In this thread there was a half jokey but also serious issue that I raised:
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      Since I first started that thread a lot has happened and I think it's worth introducing some new variables to the discussion.
      There was a time when men who dressed as women (and vice versa) did so either for humour or if it was in some way related to their sexuality the attempt would seem a bit ridiculous. Nowadays though fantasy can be more readily realised with the aid of technology.
      In a similar vein men who play with dolls (this is serious, stay with me) are faintly creepy and weird. But technology moves on and at some point the dolls will pass for humans. While orthodox Muslims may well be aghast at the idea of relations between us and the androids, clearly this will be considered to be progress amongst some people. They may not currently regard it as such but their ideological progeny will.
      But then another issue will emerge. If someone gains emotional and other forms of support from their android, what if they want to pass on their wealth to the android?
       
      https://www.ft.com/content/b9b78aae-1f32-11e9-a46f-08f9738d6b2b
       
      So while we have had dystopian science fiction prognosticating about robots AI becoming 'self-aware' and stealing the planet from us what if such a loss can happen without such a confrontational dystopia?
      What if large numbers of humans give up on human-to-human relations and instead take up with androids who will never argue back, will always say yes and be physically whatever people want them to be.
      And as a reward for this their human companions leave their possessions to robots?
      It could be that it is selfishness and narcissism that disinherits us and nothing more sinister.

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