Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:65
O Prophet, urge the believers to battle. If there are among you twenty [who are] steadfast, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are among you one hundred [who are] steadfast, they will overcome a thousand of those who have disbelieved because they are a people who do not understand.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ حَرِّضِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى الْقِتَالِ إِنْ يَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ عِشْرُونَ صَابِرُونَ يَغْلِبُوا مِائَتَيْنِ وَإِنْ يَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ مِائَةٌ يَغْلِبُوا أَلْفًا مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لا يَفْقَهُونَ (65) ("O Prophet, urge the believers to fight (qitāl). If there are among you twenty steadfast ones, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are among you a hundred, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people who do not understand." (65))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — may His mention be praised — says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: O Prophet, urge the believers to fight (qitāl), that is: incite your followers and those who affirm you, with respect to the truth that you have brought them, to armed fighting (qitāl) against whoever has turned his back upon the truth and turned away, from among the polytheists (mushrikīn) = if there are among you twenty, men = steadfast ones, at the encounter with the enemy, who devote themselves and stand firm in the face of their enemy = they will overcome two hundred, of their enemy, and they will subdue them = and if there are among you a hundred, in that case they will overcome, of them, a thousand = because they are a people who do not understand. He says: because the polytheists are a people who fight without hope of reward, nor in seeking a recompense or devoting themselves, for they have not understood that Allah will grant to whoever fights in expectation of reward, and in seeking what Allah has promised at the appointed time, that which He has promised the strivers (mujāhidīn) in His path. Therefore they do not stand firm when they sincerely engage in the fight, out of fear of being killed and thereby losing their worldly life.
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Footnotes:
(23) See the explanation of "al-taḥrīḍ" (the inciting) in what preceded, 8: 579.
