Transliteration:( Wa man jaahada fainnamaa yujaahidu linafsih; innal laaha laghaniyyun 'anil 'aalameen )
"And whoever strives, [10] strives only for himself. Indeed, Allah is Self-Sufficient and free of need from the worlds."
The term “strives” here includes all forms of worship—both monetary and physical—such as prayer, fasting, charity, and Hajj.
This verse emphasizes that the entire reward of one’s effort returns to oneself. Allah gains nothing from our acts of devotion, for He is completely free of need.
Importantly, this verse does not negate the concept of Isāl-e-Sawaab (conveying the reward of good deeds to the deceased). On the contrary, it reinforces the idea that since Allah is unconcerned with gain, the distribution of reward from one's good deeds to others is fully within His generosity and wisdom.
Thus, every act of striving in worship ultimately benefits the servant, not the Creator, who is independent of all creation.
The tafsir of Surah Ankabut verse 6 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Ankabut ayat 5 which provides the complete commentary from verse 5 through 7.
(29:6) Whosoever strives(in the cause of Allah) does so to his own good.[8] Surely Allah stands in no need of anyone in the whole Universe.[9]
8. The word mujahadah means to struggle and exert one’s utmost against an opponent, and when the particular opponent force is not pointed out, the word implies an allout, many sided struggle. The struggle that a believer has to make in the world is of this very nature. He has to fight against Satan, who frightens him every moment of the possible losses that they have to incur for the sake of good and allures him with the benefits and pleasures of the evil. He has to fight his own self also, which exerts to make him the slave of its lusts. He has also to fight all those men, from home to the world outside, whose ideology, trends, morality, customs, way of life and social and economic principles may be in conflict with his faith. And he has to fight that state too, which enforces its laws independent of obedience to Allah, and employs its forces to promote evil instead of the good. This struggle is not of a day or two, but of a lifetime, of every moment of the day and night. And it is not a struggle in one field only but on every front of life. It is about this that Hasan Basri has said: “Man exerts in the way of Allah, even though he may not strike one sword at any time.”
9. That is, Allah is not asking you to exert your utmost because he stands in need of any help from you to establish His Godhead and keep it established and sustained. But He instructs you to enter this conflict because this opens the way to your own progress. Through this way only, you can get rid of the evil and follow the way of truth. Through this way alone you can develop the ability and power to rise as the standard bearers of goodness in the world and become worthy of Allah’s Paradise in the Hereafter. By waging this war you will not do any favor to Allah but will only be helping your own selves.
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