Quran 6:101 is not saying Allah lacks the power to create a child without a wife. It is denying that a real "son" can belong to Allah in the creaturely sense of offspring, lineage, need, or divine partnership.
The strongest form of the challenge
The objection is fair enough to state sharply: Quran 6:101 asks how Allah could have a son when He has no consort. That can sound as if God needs a wife in order to have a son. But Quran 39:4 says that if Allah had willed to take a son, He could have chosen one from what He created. And Quran 3:47 says Mary had a child without a husband by Allah's command. So, the critic argues, either 6:101 gives a weak argument, or it limits divine power.
What Quran 6:101 is actually denying
"Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He has no consort? He created all things, and He is Knowing of all things."
Quran 6:101
The verse is not discussing whether Allah can create a human being without normal parents. It is addressing the claim that Allah has a "walad" - a child, offspring, one who belongs to Him by generation. In Arabic, this word naturally evokes birth, descent, and lineage. So the verse answers that idea on its own terms: offspring, in the known meaning of offspring, comes through creaturely pairing, species, need, and reproduction. Allah is the Originator of the heavens and earth, not a member of a species.
Classical commentators read the verse this way. The point is not "Allah cannot create without a wife." The point is: "Sonship of this kind is incoherent for the One who created everything." A true offspring would either be created, in which case he is a servant and not divine, or uncreated, in which case he is not offspring at all. The category does not fit Allah.
Quran 39:4 is a concession, not a contradiction
"Had Allah intended to take a son, He could have chosen from what He creates whatever He willed. Glory be to Him; He is Allah, the One, the Overpowering."
Quran 39:4
This verse does not affirm that Allah might have a literal begotten son. It argues hypothetically: if people insist on speaking of a "son," the only possible meaning would be a chosen created being - not a divine offspring. Then the verse immediately declares Allah exalted above that and affirms His absolute oneness.
So 39:4 and 6:101 work together. Quran 39:4 denies that any chosen creature could share divinity. Quran 6:101 denies that Allah could have offspring in the biological or metaphysical sense people attribute to Him. Neither verse says Allah is unable to create without means.
The virgin birth proves creation, not divine sonship
"She said, 'My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?' He said, 'So it is: Allah creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, "Be," and it is.'"
Quran 3:47
Mary's son was created by Allah's command. That is exactly why he is not God's son in essence. Being brought into existence by "Be" makes one a creature of God, not a part of God, not an offspring of God, and not a partner with God.
Omnipotence means Allah has power over all possible things. It does not mean that contradictions or defects become real perfections. Allah can create a man without a father; He cannot be dependent, divided, born, or biologically generative, because those are not powers - they are creaturely limitations.
So the objection establishes only that the verse can be misread if "son" is treated vaguely. It does not establish a contradiction in the Quran or a limit on Allah's power. The Quran's argument is precise: Allah creates sons and mothers; He is not Himself a father within creation.