Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 23

(Ayah 23){ لَا يُسْـَٔلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ … :} There are two meanings of this attribute of Allah Almighty: one is that He Himself is the Owner and Sovereign of everything; who would dare to ask about any of His actions, "Why did He do this?" because in His own possession, He may do as He wills. If He were to punish all the creatures of the heavens and the earth, even then it would be absolute justice, because He is the Owner and may do as He wishes with what belongs to Him. Just as a person places one of his purchased bricks in the front of a building and another in the stove or furnace, and no one calls him unjust, even though he is not the creator of the brick, only its temporary owner; and if Allah Almighty shows mercy to the creation, then that is His grace. The second meaning is that every action of His is so perfect and correct that there is no flaw or defect in it; whatever He has done and whatever He has said is of the highest excellence and utmost beauty and perfection. Therefore, there is no room for questioning or objecting to any of His actions. The commentator Baqa'i has quoted from an ancient philosopher that someone asked him, "When Allah Almighty has always existed and there was nothing besides Him, why did He create this world?" He replied that the question "why" cannot be asked of Him, because only someone above Him could ask such a question. In contrast, people can be questioned for both reasons, and will be, because they are not owners but slaves, and the owner can and does ask the slave why he did something; and also because there is flaw and defect in all their actions. The mention of questioning on the Day of Judgment is found in several verses; see Surah Al-Hijr (92) and As-Saffat (24).