Quran Garden

Session 490

Chapter 3

Verse 160

If God helps you, there will be none who can overcome you; if He forsakes you, who is there that can help you thereafter?  In God, then, let the believers put all their trust. (3:160)

We ended the previous session with a discussion on how to make the best decisions and then trust God.  The Almighty continues, "If God helps you, there will be none who can overcome you," Remember that the materials and means God made available to you are His helping hand on earth.  Thus, you must utilize them to the best of your ability and follow the divine commands and the example of the Messenger before you look to the heavens for help.  But be careful!  Do not compare your numbers, gear, or means to those of your opponent, for God advises against it.  He did not command you to match your enemy number for number and gear for gear; He only ordered you to prepare what is within your ability.  Why?  Because Allah wants you to add His support into the equation.  He says, "If God helps you, there will be none who can overcome you." If matters were decided solely by numbers and means, forces would have to be matched.  But God wants the numbers to be few, the means fewer, and for us to admit and say: "This is what we were capable of doing, O Lord.  This is what You have made available to us through Your wisdom.  We trust in You, Our Lord, to provide assistance alongside the small numbers, for You are the All-Powerful Supporter."  God says,

This is because God surely is the Guardian of those who believe, but those who disbelieve have no guardian.  (47:11)

When you enter into conflict in truth and with the goal of making God's word prevail, you will undoubtedly guarantee victory.

Remember that reality never contradicts the laws set by the Almighty.  Life's events, however implausible, will always confirm the heavenly law.  Otherwise, the believers would have been deceived –God forbid.  This is a critical point because if reality contradicted religion in one event, people would not only say that the heavenly doctrine disagreed with the particular event but would logically conclude that the entire religion is invalidated.  Likewise, when small Muslim forces overcame the great armies of the day, the validation of faith was not restricted to the battlefield, but it extended to everything God informed us about.  Matters of the unseen, such as judgment day, angels, Jinn, and much more, are confirmed.   

We reach similar conclusions from the scientific secrets God instilled in the universe.  What was once considered impossible for human minds to accept is the norm for today's generations.  For instance, Louis Pasteur discovered the microbes, but weren't microbes present before Pasteur?  Indeed, they were not visible to us because their size was beyond our perception, and we lacked the necessary tools to detect them.  Once the microscope was invented, a whole new world of minuscule life opened before our eyes.  Equally, when people invented the telescope, the world of distant yet colossal objects unraveled before us.  Likewise, when the Quran tells me that God created things beyond my senses, such as the angels and Jinn, I firmly believe in its authenticity.  I could not perceive the bacteria on my own skin till the microscope was invented, so it is not farfetched for other life to exist outside my perception. 

When God says: "If God helps you, there will be none who can overcome you," it means to engage in conflict only to advance God's teachings on earth and make His word the highest and that of the enemies of faith and justice the lowest.  It is natural to ask: "But does God need my help?!" Of course not; God wants you to step up and fight for His cause so you can help yourself into heaven.  Listen to the following verse,

Even if you do not help the Prophet, God helped him when the disbelievers drove him out: when the two of them were in the cave, he said to his companion, 'Do not worry, God is with us,' and God sent His calm down to him, aided him with forces invisible to you, and He made the word of the faithless the lowest; and the word of Allah is the highest.  God is almighty and wise.  (9:40)

Allah wants you to understand that falsehood cannot overcome the truth, as the truth is always the uppermost.  Falsehood and corruption may appear on top, but it is just a temporary illusion similar to how scum and dirt rise on top of the pure stream water.  After heavy rainfall, we observe that streams carry lighter materials like foam and husks that float on the surface, but does it stay there?  No, it gets pushed to the sides by the force of the current, and the water remains clean.  God says,

He sends water from the sky that fills riverbeds to over?owing, each according to its measure.  The stream carries on its surface a growing layer of foam, like the froth that appears when people melt metals in the fire to make ornaments and tools: in this way, God illustrates truth and falsehood- the froth disappears, but what is of benefit to man stays behind- this is how God makes illustrations.  (13:17)

I want to turn your attention to a specific phrase from Aya 40 of chapter 9.  God says, "He made the word of the faithless the lowest; and the word of Allah is the highest." Grammatically, this phrase is a bit unbalanced.  Logically, the phrase should have read, 'He made the word of the faithless the lowest; and made the word of Allah the highest.' But this is an example of the eloquence and accuracy of the Quran.  Allah wants you to appreciate the absolute universal fact that his word is always the highest.  There is never a time when it is lower or when it needs help to rise.  Thus, the verb 'made' is unnecessary.  Indeed, "the word of Allah is the highest" is a universal reality independent of the sentences preceding or following it.       

The verse continues, "If He forsakes you, who is there that can help you after that?" This question is directed to the Muslims who assume that they will always enjoy God's support for the mere fact that they are Muslim.  God's help is conditional; you must earn it by staying on the straight path.  It is of God's love for Muslims that when they stray, He disciplines them by temporarily lifting His support to nudge them back in the right direction. 

Verse 160 ends with, "In God, then, let the believers put all their trust," and verse 159 ends with, "God loves those who put their trust in Him." When you declare your belief in God, it is clearly implied that you trust that He is the All-Competent, All-Wise, and best Acquainted with your interests; hence, there is no better one to rely on but Him.  Whoever does not rely on God must re-examine his or her faith.