Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

dear Burhan, AsslaamOAlaikum

Please shed some light as to the change of equation in Sura Al-Anfal verse 65 and 66.

regards

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Answer:

Meaning of aayah 6-65-66

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 8 Surah Anfaal verses 65-66:

65 O Prophet! Rouse the believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding.

66 For the present, Allah hath lightened your (task), for He knoweth that there is a weak spot in you: but (even so) if there are a hundred of you patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred and if a thousand they will vanquish two thousand with the leave of Allah: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.

This reduction of the ratio of the power of the believers in a war to that of the disbelievers from ten to one, to two to one does not mean that this was due to some deterioration in the morale of the believers. It simply means that in Aayah 65 the general principle of the ratio of the power of the believers and the disbelievers was enunciated and in Aayah 66 that principle was applied in accordance with the then existing condition of their morale.

At the time of the Revelation (two years after Hijrah) the morale of the believers had not attained perfection, for many of them had only recently entered the fold of Islam and were still under the preliminary training. In the subsequent years when their morale reached the desired standard under the guidance and leadership of the Messenger of Allah (saws), the ratio of ten to one was actually established, and demonstrated practically in the battles during the later half of the Medina period, and during the reign of the Rightly Guided Khalifahs in their wars with the disbelievers, the Byzantines and the Persians.

Even to this day, when battles are fought the number of men and their morale play a significant role in who is victorious in the battlefields. Allah Subhanah implies to exhort the believers that if the believers loved Allah and His Messenger and the Last Day, were patient and persevering in the battlefield against the disbelievers; regardless of their shortage of numbers, they would triumph over a disbelieving force who were twice in number or even if they were ten times as many! And the exhortation of that morale is and will remain invaluable in the battles between the armies of Truth and the armies of falsehood.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan