Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 21 Al-Anbya, Ayat 16-16

وَمَا خَلَقۡنَا السَّمَآءَ وَالۡاَرۡضَ وَمَا بَيۡنَهُمَا لٰعِبِيۡنَ‏ ﴿21:16﴾

(21:16) We did not create in sport the heavens and the earth and all that lies between the two.15


Notes

15. This was to refute their entire conception of life which was based on the assumption that man was free to do whatever he liked, and there was none to call him to account or take him to task: that there was no life in the Hereafter where one’s good deeds would be rewarded and evil deeds punished. In other words, this meant that the whole universe had been created without any serious purpose and therefore there was no need to pay any heed to the message of the Prophet.