Tafsir of Al Imran 3:160-162

"If Allah helps you..." Just as He helped you on the day of Badr, then no one can overcome you.

"And if He abandons you..." Just as He abandoned you on the day of Uhud.

"Then who is there that can help you?" This is a reminder that all matters belong to Allah and that it is obligatory to rely upon Him. Similar to this is His saying: "Whatever mercy Allah opens for mankind, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none can send it forth after Him" (Fatir: 2).

"After Him" Meaning: after His abandonment. Or, it is like saying, "You have no one to do you good after such-and-such a person," meaning once you have passed him by. Ubayd ibn Umayr recited wa-in yakhdhulkum (if He abandons you) from akhdhala, meaning "to cause one to be abandoned." This contains an encouragement toward obedience and the means by which they deserve victory and support from Allah, and a warning against disobedience and the means by which they incur the punishment of abandonment.

"And upon Allah..." Let the believers reserve their reliance and entrustment for their Lord, knowing there is no helper besides Him, and because their faith necessitates and requires this.

"It is not for a prophet to yaghulla (betray/embezzle)..." It is said: ghalla something from the spoils of war—ghululan and aghalla—ighlalan, if he takes it secretly. It is said: aghalla al-jazar (the butcher embezzled) if he steals some of the meat along with the hide. Al-ghill is the hidden hatred in the chest, and from this is the saying of the Prophet (ﷺ): "Whoever we appoint to a task and he embezzles (ghalla) something, he will come on the Day of Resurrection carrying it on his neck." And his saying: "The gifts given to rulers are embezzlement (ghulul)." And from him: "There is no guarantee of liability for the borrower who is not an embezzler (mughill)." And from him: "No embezzlement (aghlal) and no stealth (islal)." It is said: aghallahu if he finds him to be an embezzler, just as you say abkhalta-hu (you found him stingy) and afhamta-hu (you found him unable to speak).

The meaning of "It is not for a prophet to yaghulla (embezzle)" is that it is not valid for him to do so. It means that prophethood is incompatible with embezzlement. Likewise, for those who read it in the passive voice (yughalla), it returns to the meaning of the first, for it means it is not valid for him to be found embezzling, and he cannot be found embezzling unless he is an embezzler.

There are two aspects to this:

1. That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is declared innocent and purified of this, and it is a warning regarding his infallibility, as prophethood and embezzlement are incompatible, so that no one might suspect him of anything, and so that no one might doubt him. As it is narrated that a red velvet cloth went missing on the day of Badr, and some hypocrites said, "Perhaps the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took it." It is also narrated that this was revealed regarding the spoils of Uhud when the archers left their post seeking the spoils, saying, "We fear that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) will say, 'Whoever takes something, it is his,' and that he will not divide the spoils as he did not divide them on the day of Badr." The Prophet (ﷺ) said to them, "Did I not covenant with you not to leave your post until my command comes to you?" They said, "We left our brothers standing." He (ﷺ) said, "Rather, you thought that we would embezzle and not divide among you."
2. That it is an exaggeration in the prohibition for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), based on the report that he sent out scouts who took spoils, and he divided them but did not give a share to the scouts. So this was revealed, meaning: It is not for a prophet to give to one group and withhold from others; rather, he must divide equally. He called the deprivation of some of the warriors "embezzlement" to emphasize and condemn the nature of the matter.

"He will come with what he embezzled on the Day of Resurrection" He will come with the very thing he embezzled, carrying it, as stated in the Hadith: "He will come on the Day of Resurrection carrying it on his neck." It is narrated: "Let me not recognize any of you coming with a camel that has a bleat, or a cow that has a lowing, or a sheep that has a bleat, calling out, 'O Muhammad! O Muhammad!' and I say, 'I possess nothing for you against Allah; I have already conveyed the message to you.'" One of the rough Bedouins stole a musk pod, and when this verse was recited to him, he said, "Then I will carry it, for it is sweet-smelling and light to carry!" It is also possible that it means he will come with the burden, consequence, and sin of what he took.

If you ask: Why was it not said, "Then every soul will be paid in full for what it earned," to connect it to the previous statement? I say: A general term was brought in, under which every earner—the embezzler and others—is included. It is connected in meaning and is more eloquent and firm, because when the embezzler knows that every earner of good or evil is rewarded and paid their due, he knows he will not escape among them, despite the magnitude of what he earned.

"And they will not be wronged" Meaning: Justice will be served among them in the reward; everyone’s reward will be according to their earnings.