Surah Al-Ankabut: (6) And whoever strives, strives only for himself...

After establishing that the divine command is sound and that there are inescapable promises and warnings associated with it,

it is clarified that God's demand upon the accountable person is not for a benefit that accrues to Him, for He is absolutely self-sufficient (Ghani). Nothing other than Him depends upon anything else, just as nothing depends upon Him. This concept is frequent in the Qur'an, such as His saying: {Whoever does a righteous deed, it is for his own soul} (Fussilat: 46), and His saying: {If you do good, you do good to yourselves} (Al-Isra: 7).

In this verse, there are several issues:

The preceding verse and this verse together necessitate that the servant should increase in righteous deeds and perfect them. This is because when one performs an action for a king, knowing the king sees and observes him, one perfects the action. If one also knows that the benefit of the action returns to oneself and is measured according to the deed, one increases in performing it. Thus, when God states that He is Hearing and Knowing, the servant perfects and purifies his deeds for Him. And when it is stated that his striving is for himself, he increases in performing it.

One might argue that this indicates a recompense for the action, because when God said: {And whoever strives, strives only for himself}, it implies that whoever strives gains a benefit from his striving that he would not have gained otherwise. We respond: This is indeed the case, but it is by virtue of a promise, not by right (istiḥqāq). The explanation is that when God clarified that when the accountable person strives, He rewards him, then performing the striving becomes a beneficial striving for him, which is undisputed. The dispute lies only in whether God is obligated to reward the action without the promise. It is not permissible to suggest that one cannot be favored except through action, and this verse does not indicate that.

His saying: {fa-innamā} (only/indeed) implies restriction, suggesting that a person's striving is only for himself, and no one else benefits from it. This is not the case, as whoever strives benefits from it, and those whom he intends to benefit also benefit—even parents and children benefit from the blessing of the striver and his striving. We respond: That benefit is considered a benefit to him, as the benefit to the child is a benefit to the father. The restriction here means that no benefit from his striving reaches God. This is supported by His saying: {Indeed, Allah is free of need of the worlds} (Al-Imran: 97).

Related to this, there are further issues:

First Issue:

The verse indicates that God is not obligated to observe what is most beneficial (al-aṣlaḥ). This is because if He acted based on what is most beneficial, He would gain a benefit from it. If He gained a benefit, He would be perfected by that benefit, which is something other than Him (i.e., part of the created world). Thus, He would be perfected by something other than Himself, meaning He would be in need of it, while He is self-sufficient of the worlds. Furthermore, His actions are not based on effective causes (muʿallalah), as we have explained.

Second Issue:

The verse indicates that He is not in a place, nor specifically upon the Throne, because the place is part of the created world, and God is self-sufficient of it. One who is self-sufficient of location cannot enter a location. This is because something that enters a location can be pointed to as being "here" or "there" in an independent sense. That which is pointed to as being "here" or "there" cannot possibly not exist either here or there, otherwise, reason would permit the perception of a body existing outside of space, which is impossible.

Third Issue:

If someone were to say: His power (Qudrah) is not by a power, nor is His knowledge (ʿIlm) by a knowledge, because if it were so, He would be in need of a power that is other than Him in His power. Everything other than Him belongs to the created world, so He would be in need, while He is self-sufficient. We respond: Why do you claim that His power belongs to the created world? This is because the created world is every existent thing other than God and His attributes—meaning every existent thing outside the concept of the Divine Being who is Living, Powerful, Willing, Knowing, Hearing, Seeing, Speaking. Power is not outside the concept of the Powerful One (al-Qādir), and knowledge is not outside the concept of the Knowing One (al-ʿĀlim).

Fourth Issue:

The verse contains both a warning and good tidings. As for the warning: Since God is self-sufficient of the worlds, if He were to destroy His servants with punishment, there would be no consequence for Him due to His self-sufficiency. This necessitates great fear. As for the good tidings: Since He is self-sufficient, if He gave everything He created to one of His servants, there would be no burden upon Him due to His self-sufficiency. This necessitates complete hope.