| Al 'Imran: (160) If Allah should aid you...

There are several issues concerning this verse:

It is said that the purpose of the verse is to encourage obedience to God and warn against disobedience. This is because God previously stated that whoever guards against God's prohibitions, God will aid him, as in: {Nay, but if you are patient and fear God, and they come upon you in their rage, your Lord will aid you with five thousand angels marked out} (Al 'Imran: 125).

Then, this verse clarifies that whoever God aids, none can overcome him. Thus, from the combination of these two premises, it follows that whoever fears God has attained the happiness of both this world and the Hereafter. He attains happiness without misery, and honor without humiliation, becoming a victor whom no one can defeat. As for one who commits disobedience, God forsakes him, and whoever God forsakes falls into misery without happiness, and humiliation without honor.

The scholars used this verse as evidence that faith (Iman) is only achieved through God's assistance, and disbelief (Kufr) is only achieved through His forsaking. The reasoning is clear, as the verse indicates that the entire affair belongs to God.

'Ubayd ibn 'Umayr recited it as {Wa in yakhdhulkum} (And if He forsakes you), derived from akhdhala, meaning "to make someone forsaken."

Regarding the phrase {min ba'dihi} (after him), there are two interpretations:

1. It means after His forsaking (i.e., after God forsakes them).
2. It is like your saying: "You have no one to do good to you after so-and-so."

Then He said: {And upon Allah let the believers rely.}

This means that since it is established that the entire affair is in God's hand, and no one can repel His decree or repel His judgment, it is obligatory that the believer relies only upon Him.

The phrase {Wa 'ala Allahi fal yatawakkal al-mu'minun} implies restriction (exclusivity): meaning, the believers must rely upon Allah and no one else.

< {And it is not for a prophet to embezzle. And whoever embezzles, he will come forth with what he embezzled on the Day of Resurrection. Then every soul will be fully compensated for what it earned, and they will not be wronged.} >