(65–66) “O Prophet, urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty steadfast men among you, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are one hundred among you, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people who lack understanding. Now Allah has lightened your burden, for He knows that there is weakness among you. So if there are one hundred steadfast men among you, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand among you, they will overcome two thousand by Allah’s permission. Allah is with the steadfast.”
Allah Most High says to His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “O Prophet, urge the believers to fight.” That is, exhort and rouse them to it through everything that strengthens their resolve and invigorates their determination: encouraging them to wage jihad and confront the enemy; warning them against doing otherwise; mentioning the virtues of ⦗326⦘ courage and steadfastness and the good they bring in this world and the Hereafter; and explaining the harms of cowardice, which is a reprehensible trait that diminishes both religion and honor. Courage is more befitting of believers than anyone else: “If you are suffering, they too are suffering as you are, while you hope from Allah for what they do not hope.”
“If there are among you”—O believers—“twenty steadfast men, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are one hundred among you, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve.” Thus, each believer would stand against ten disbelievers. This is because the disbelievers “are a people who lack understanding”; that is, they have no knowledge of what Allah has prepared for those who strive in His cause. They fight to seek supremacy on earth and spread corruption therein, whereas you understand that the purpose of fighting is to make Allah’s word supreme, manifest His religion, defend Allah’s Book, and attain the greatest triumph with Allah. All these are incentives to courage, steadfastness, and boldly advancing into battle.
Allah then lightened this ruling for His servants, saying: “Now Allah has lightened your burden, for He knows that there is weakness among you.” His mercy and wisdom therefore required that the burden be eased. “So if there are one hundred steadfast men among you, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand among you, they will overcome two thousand by Allah’s permission. Allah is with the steadfast”—with His aid and support.
These verses take the form of a statement about the believers: when they reach the specified number, they will overcome the specified number of disbelievers opposing them, and Allah thereby favors them through the faith-inspired courage He has placed within them.
Their meaning and true purport, however, are imperative: Allah initially commanded the believers that one of them was not permitted to flee from ten, ten from one hundred, or one hundred from one thousand.
Allah then lightened this requirement, making it impermissible for Muslims to flee from disbelievers numbering twice as many as themselves. If the disbelievers exceeded twice their number, however, they were permitted to flee. Two objections may nevertheless be raised against this interpretation.
The first is that the verses are declarative in form, and the basic rule is that a declarative statement should retain its ordinary sense. The intended meaning would therefore be to bestow favor and report what will actually occur.
The second is that the specified number is qualified as being steadfast—that is, trained to remain steadfast.
This would imply that if they are not steadfast, they may flee even when the enemy numbers less than twice their own, [if they have a strong expectation of suffering harm] (1), as divine wisdom requires.
The response to the first objection is that His words, “Now Allah has lightened your burden,” through the end of the verse, show that this is a binding command (2), indeed a categorical injunction, which Allah then lightened to the stated ratio. This clearly indicates that it is a command, even though it is phrased as a declarative statement.
It may also be said that expressing it in declarative form contains an exquisite rhetorical benefit that would not be present if it were phrased as a command: it fortifies the believers’ hearts and gives them glad tidings that they will overcome the disbelievers.
The response to the second objection is that qualifying them as steadfast is intended to urge steadfastness. You should therefore adopt the means that bring it about. [Once they do so, the means rooted in faith and the material means together give promise that Allah’s foretold victory for this small number will be realized] (3).